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Master Planning Program Notes 

by Ben Urbonas, P.E., Chief, Master Planning Program

Planning Projects 
Ten planning projects were completed in 2003; 12 projects are in progress; and we hope to begin six new planning projects in 2004. It is clear that the planning activities continue to be strong as the cities and counties continue to expand urban areas and begin to address the water quality issues mandated by the stormwater discharge permit program of the Federal Government as administered by the State.

We now have a total of over 120 completed watershed-level major drainageway and outfall system plans in our inventory. Some of these studies are updates of master plans completed many years ago. When completed, the master plans serve as a roadmap for how to deal with major drainageways as the lands develop and redevelop, and as a guide for the District's programs.

One unique feature in three of the master planning projects was the development of project web pages. To help reach the affected public, web sites were developed for the Cherry Creek Corridor - Reservoir to Scott Road, Denver High Line Canal and Little Dry Creek, and the Rocky Mountain Ditch master planning projects. The use of these web pages by the public was mixed and the District will evaluate whether the use of web sites is an effective way of reaching the affected public for future projects. We suspect that the more controversial or visible projects will benefit from web sites, while lesser projects will not. It will be up to the project sponsors to decide if any specific project should have one.

Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual 
We no longer publish in printed form updates to the Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual (USDCM) and remind all owners and holders of this manual that all revisions and updates are posted on our web page. Updates for Volumes 1 ands 2 are under www.udfcd.org/usdcm/vol1&2.htm for free downloads of the revised pages in Adobe PDF format. Although there were no updates to the Manual in 2003, everyone should keep checking our web page www.udfcd.org for revisions and corrections to USDCM.

Volume 3 of the USDCM is no longer available in printed form. It is now available for free download from www.udfcd.org/usdcm/vol3.htm. You can choose to download the entire document or download the latest revision of any single chapter.

Several of the spreadsheets that assist with the calculations and design of facilities recommended in the manual, along with a few AutoCAD™ details were updated and/or added to our list of tools available for downloading. There is no charge for any of the documents, software or spreadsheets that are made available to the public on our web page.

District Software 
We now have a very stable beta test version of UDSWM software (FSA GUI with SWMM 2000) available for downloading. This version provides a graphical user interface for the UDSWM and is designed to import old input files for this software. In addition, we hope to have the entire UDSWM and CUHP packages rewritten in VB.NET in 2003 as a combined software package that will be windows compliant and network capable. In time we hope to integrate the CUHP and UDSWM into a single package with a continuous simulation option.

In addition, UDPOND and NeoUDSEWER, both coded in Visual Basic are also available for downloading free of charge. Both have been totally rewritten by John-Michael O'Brian with the help and guidance of John O'Brian and Prof. James C.Y. Guo.

At this time we are working at developing a graphical interface for the preparation of inputs for the current UDSWM package.

BMPs in Semi-Arid Regions 
In April of 2003, the District was a co-sponsor along with CASFM of a one-day seminar on the experience with BMPs in Colorado and semi-arid climates. It was chaired by Jonathan Jones and its organizing committee had representatives from public and private sectors of the stormwater management profession. The attendance by 240 participants from municipalities, federal and state governments, consultants and other organizations made this seminar a great success. The proceedings for this event are available from: http://www.udfcd.org/conferences/conferences.htm

Douglas and Arapahoe Counties Criteria Manual Update Project 
The District is helping to fund and otherwise assist with the preparation of updated stormwater criteria manuals for Douglas and Arapahoe Counties and the City of Centennial. The effort began in 2003 and is expected to be completed in 2004. All three manuals will base their technical recommendations on the District's Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual. However, each will have specific requirements for development/redevelopment projects within their jurisdictions and will add details and aesthetic features that the District's Manual does not have.

Denver is preparing a BMP Implementation Manual 
Under the leadership of Terry Baus of Denver's Wastewater Management Division, Denver has contracted with Wright Water Engineers, Inc. and its sub-contractors to develop a BMP implementation guidance document. All departments of the City are participating in this effort and the District has also been invited to be a member of the project's advisory committee. This promises to result in a thoroughly rich document that will offer an array on options of how to make BMPs work in an ultra-urban infill and redevelopment areas as well as land development projects with more elbowroom.

In addition, many issues specific to Denver and similar cities across the United States will be addressed to one degree or another. For example, two issues of importance are: (1) what may be feasible to retrofit on a regional or sub-watershed basis versus on-site BMPs, and (2) aesthetics of stormwater management facilities within an urban setting. We look forward to continuing our participation in this project and towards the final product that will be produced to guide us in the selection, design and site integration of BMPs into the urban landscape.

Reporting on District's BMPs Testing 
Since early 1990s the District has been testing several BMPs at the Lakewood Public Works Maintenance facility. We were hoping to report on the results in this issue, however the drought and an epidemic of equipment problems required us to extend field testing for one more year. Look for a report on the results of this testing effort on our website to appear by mid- to late-2004. A summary of the findings will be presented in the next annual issue of Flood Hazard News.

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