Master Planning Program Notes

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

Planning Projects
The projects ongoing in 1999 and to begin in 2000 are listed in accompanying "Status of Planning Projects" table. The master planning workload has grown immensely in the last three years and shows no sign of letting up. For example, in 1999 we added 11 new projects and completed five, and in 2000 we expect to begin seven new planning projects and complete six. Most of the completions are expected to occur towards the end of the year.

Technology Transfer & Education
Erosion Control Training
Scott Olson is no longer with Red Rocks Community College. Nevertheless, Red Rocks is hoping to continue 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. Contact Red Rocks (telephone 988-6160) if you are interested in obtaining more information.

Software
We are beginning to convert the CUHPFPC and UDSMPC to run totally under the Windows 95 system. This was prompted by some of the software users being unable to run it on the new operating systems such as NT 4.xx. This will be a slow and protracted process. We need to maintain the same mathematical engine, while providing a user interface for data entry, edit and output that is user-friendly. At the same time, the software needs to recognize, read and convert old input files. In the meantime, 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.

We will probably do the conversions in stages. First we will do a basic conversion to make it run on the Windows 95 system. After we have an operating package, user interface enhancements will be added. If you have any suggested improvements to the current software you want to see incorporated in the update, please e-mail me your suggestions.

Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual Updates
In 1998 we started what we thought will be a three-year effort to update the Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual. With the help of CH2M Hill and the Stormwater Manual 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 have completed updating Volume 3 – Best Management Practices and it is now available to the public. If you want to purchase a copy, contact Dena by mail or phone or go to our web page (www.udfcd.org) for ordering instructions.

Volume 3 now is available in printed form and as an interactive CD. The latter contains some AutoCAD™ details for pond outlets and Excel™ spreadsheet files to assist in the design of BMPs. If you have any AutoCAD™ details that you are willing to share with us, please do so. We will incorporate the most useable ones into our future updates of the manual.

We have begun the consultant selection process for the update of Volumes 1 and 2 and hope to have the first draft of the manual available early in 2001. If you are willing to volunteer your time to review and comment on this draft, please let me know. We will need broad review to insure technical integrity and to incorporate the latest thinking from end users before it is published.

Stormwater NPDES Activities
New EPA Initiatives
In October, 1999, EPA published the final Phase II regulations for stormwater permits affecting municipalities with less than 100,000 in population (see a 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. EPA received a large number of comments and because to this, the release of the final document was delayed. What this means is that Phase II municipalities will have to have their permit application or a Notice-of-Intent (NOI) filed with the State of Colorado by March 2003.

In the meantime, the State of Colorado has to promulgate its own regulations that define what information these applications or NOIs will need to contain and whether the permits will be individually issued to each applicant or will be issued as a general permit for all Phase II municipalities in the State. If the latter, then the State will need to decide it the applications will take a form of a NOI or as an individual application.

New Regulatory Initiatives by EPA
Last year I advised the readers that Colorado municipalities need to be concerned about the Advance Notice of Proposed Regulations published in 1998 by EPA. If EPA follows through on all of the topics it hopes to address by these regulations, land use control decisions of the cities and counties will be governed, to a large extent, by EPA regulations promulgated under the Clean Water Act. I again urge city and county government staff and elected officials to get on top of these issues. If followed through as published, these regulations will have a profound long-term impact on local government activities, decisions and budgets.

Monitoring Program.
The District, on behalf of Denver, Aurora, Lakewood and Arapahoe County, has coordinated a water-quality monitoring program. This effort follows through with their municipal stormwater permit requirements. Since 1998, the U.S. Geological Survey, under a cooperative agreement with the District, has been collecting water samples during storm runoff and snowmelt events at three sites along the South Platte River and two sites along its tributaries. The goal is to provide long-term monitoring data for the analysis of water quality trends in the receiving waters of this metropolitan area, and to also provide data for the total maximum daily load (TMDL) studies being conducted by the State of Colorado under the Clean Water Act.

Offer of Assistance to Municipalities
The District held a workshop on December 7, 1999, with municipalities within the District to review the requirements of the Phase II rule. Those requirements which may be addressed in a more cost-effective way by joining forces were also discussed. The District is prepared to assist local municipalities, as a group, in preparing for their permit applications and implementation of their permits. Towards that end, many of the products that were developed for the Phase I municipalities, such as educational brochures, erosion control training, and Volume 3 of the Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual may be usable to meet Phase II permitting activities.

Should your city or county within the District’s service area decide to work toward preparing information 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 probably provide you with advice and some of the developed products and data management tools that can help make your job easier and consistent with others in this region. Because of staff and budget limitations, our support will be targeted towards activities and products that serve all municipalities in our metropolitan area.

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