Master Planning Program Notes

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

Planning Projects

The projects that were under way or completed in 1998 and the ones we hope to begin in 1999 are listed in "Status of Planning Projects." The planning workload is intense and some of the projects we hoped to get under way by mid-1998 will begin next year. The workload is expected to be as intense in 1999 with six new projects scheduled to be funded that year.

Technology Transfer & Education

Erosion Control Training

Red Rocks Community College is continuing to offer training in runoff quality management during construction. Red Rocks also can certify for the Colorado Department of Transportation that an individual has successfully completed the Erosion Control Supervisor Training program. A certified supervisor is now required on CDOT construction projects. Scott Olson at Red Rocks (telephone 303-988-6160, X-282) can provide you with more information.

Software

I reported last year that the District and Computer Software Library, Inc. upgraded CUHPFPC and UDSWM386. CUHPFPC now provides an option to account for the effects of hydraulically unconnected impervious areas and UDSWM386 has corrected some of the reported problems and can now handle up to 1900 gutter/pipe elements. Since then, both have been recompiled using Version 4.0 of the Microsoft FORTRAN Power Station(tm) 32 bit compiler and have been labeled CUHPF95 and UDSWM95 and will shell out directly from Windows 95(tm) and NT operating systems without having to reboot in DOS. Both programs, and other District supported software, can be obtained through Computer Software Library, Inc. P.O. Box 27517, Denver, CO, 80227, Tel. 303-947-3413, FAX 303-985-8882, the District's software distribution agent.

Volume 3 of the Criteria Manual

In 1998 we started a three-year effort to update the Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual. With the help of CH2M-Hill we are completing and updating Volume 3 - Best Management Practices. To help with this effort, we established a Stormwater Criteria Advisory Committee (SMAC) comprised of representatives from large and small municipalities in and outside the Denver area, CDOT, industry, and the Home Builders Association.

We hope to have the first draft of the manual available early in 1999. If you are willing to volunteer your time to review and comment on this draft, please let me know. We want and need broad review to insure technical accuracy and consistency and the latest thinking from end users before it is published.

The final version of Volume 3 will be published in printed form and in an interactive CD form. The latter will contain some AutoCAD(tm) and Excel(tm) spreadsheet files as well. These will be provided for the use of the manual holder to help size, design and draft BMPs used in land development. If you have any AutoCAD(tm) details that you are willing to share with us, please contact Jim Wulliman of CH2M-Hill at 303-713-5583.

Volumes 1 & 2 of the Criteria Manual

The work to update Volumes 1 & 2 of the Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual will begin in 1999. These two vintage volumes have served us well since they were originally released in 1969. Several sections have been updated since then, but most of the manual has not been touched. Our goal is to reformat these two volumes to be consistent with the same format as the new Volume 3. In addition, outdated sections will be updated, the whole document modernized, known defects corrected and many of the computational procedures computerized to the extent our budget permits. Volumes 1 & 2 will also be published on a CD ROM as well as in traditional printed format.

Volume 3 Seminar

On January 22, 1999 the District will again sponsor a one-day seminar, this time to present the draft of the updated Volume 3 of the Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual. The program will include a presentation on the selection and design processes for structural BMPs contained in the updated manual. We hope to have active audience participation on how the draft Volume 3 may further be clarified and improved.
Registration fee for this seminar will be $35.00, which includes lunch, handouts and coffee breaks. Space, unfortunately, has to be limited to 200. For more information contact Sandy Gonzales at 303-455-6277 (FAX 303- 455-7880).

Stormwater NPDES Activities

New EPA Initiatives

EPA published proposed Phase II regulations for stormwater permits affecting municipalities with less than 100,000 in population (see related article by John Doerfer). We worked with local cities and counties on formulating comments which we and a number of municipalities in Colorado submitted to EPA. Final proposed regulations have to be issued in 1998 under a court ordered deadline. EPA received a large number of comments and the release of the final document is likely to not meet the deadline.

What municipalities need to get concerned about is the recently released advance notice proposed regulations. If EPA follows through on all of the topics it hopes to address by regulation over the coming years, land use decisions at the local government level will be controlled to a much greater degree than now by the requirements of the Clean Water Act. I urge city and county governments to become familiar with them and their potential long-term impact on local activities, decisions and budgets.

Continued Offer of Assistance

Should your city or county within the District's service area decide to work toward preparing information that may be eventually used to support a permit application, or is taking an initiative to develop its own stormwater quality management program, or simply wants to develop a stormwater system inventory, call us. We can provide you with advice and a fully developed set of consistent protocols and data management tools that can help make your job easier and consistent with others in this region, thereby qualifying your community for further support and assistance as you enter the world of stormwater permitting.