BMP’s in Sprague – A description of the tools and processes used to protect and preserve

This article will be addressing the current processes occurring in my local watershed in Sprague, CT that are used to protect and restore the watershed and discuss these best management processes (BMPs). The local watershed is called Little River, there are several streams and rivers in this watershed, and throughout the watershed, there are about 42.8 square miles of land that drains into these streams as shown in Figure 1. and Figure 2. (Streamstats, n.d), we also see in this figure that 6.22 percent of the land is developed around Little River.

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Around my local area, there has been little strategic building in order to better protect the watershed in recent years. In the area, we have several business plazas in the neighborhood, as well as a park so there is a lot of developed land. However, with the park, there are a lot of trees that are conserved in order to keep the beauty or aesthetic of the park. There’s also foliage near the roads that although they get trimmed back commonly, they aren’t removed from the area. This is unfortunately the most that the community has really been doing in terms of building strategically. With most of the roads paved, and many homeowners switching to paved rather than dirt or gravel driveways we are switching to more of the impervious covers. Although the only good side to this is that there hasn’t been much more development in the general area than that, businesses have come and gone but in the same building; There hasn’t been any more land cleared for newer buildings or extremely large and unnecessary parking lots.

If I had to suggest any ideas in order to strategically build better, I would certainly suggest that we incorporate more land preservation than we are already currently doing, and also express the importance of it to neighboring towns that might be doing more development than us. We could also choose to minimize our lots that aren’t being used as much, in order to give the opportunity for nature restoration – if the lots aren’t being used very often there is no real point in continuing the impervious cover that they provide. Finally, we could also encourage and incorporate more open space designs in neighborhoods and stop constructing culdesacs as often. By building more open concept communities we could minimalize our impact on watersheds and the overall environment, which will prove to be beneficial to us at the end of the day (Better Site Design, 2019).

Another management practice you can see quite commonly in my local area to assist the protection of my watershed is the usage of non-stormwater discharges. Sewer grates can be seen all over where I live, and these can help since during a storm when you see all the water gliding down into these grates, they are collecting all the water into a pipe under these grates, that water is then transported to a municipal treatment plant. The goal of this plant is to remove the pollutants from the water in turn making it more sanitary (Environmental Protection Agency, 8 Tools of Watershed Protection in Developing Areas). This can be a win or lose situation though since there are many cases when there have been significant waste reduction rates, however, it usually comes with the threat of more development of land as well as the risk of something going wrong, such as overflows.

Another form of non-stormwater discharges present in my area is the usage of septic systems, which I am sure many of us are familiar with but these basically take the waste from toilets, bathtubs, etc. and treat as well as discharge the water from them (Environmental Protection Agency, 8 Tools of Watershed Protection in Developing Areas). These systems are in the ground, however, and a problem that can occur occasionally is, unfortunately, should the septic system fail, it can pollute the water nearby in lakes, rivers, or just the groundwater in general. 

These BMPs are very important to keeping the integrity of the watershed intact because although Little River is relatively clean compared to many other watersheds, it still is polluted and needs to be improved. Our watersheds are very crucial to our environment, but luckily with courses like these, we are becoming more informed on how to proceed in the future and conduct better research on them.

Reference:

Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). 8 Tools of Watershed Protection in Developing Areas. EPA. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://cfpub.epa.gov/watertrain/moduleFrame.cfm?parent_object_id=1341

Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). National Menu of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Stormwater-Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination. EPA. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/npdes/national-menu-best-management-practices-bmps-stormwater-illicit-discharge-detection-and

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. (2019, September 27). Better Site Design Better Site Design. Better site design – Minnesota Stormwater Manual. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://stormwater.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/Better_site_design

StreamStats: Streamflow Statistics and Spatial Analysis Tools for water-resources applications active. StreamStats: Streamflow Statistics and Spatial Analysis Tools for Water-Resources Applications | U.S. Geological Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/streamstats-streamflow-statistics-and-spatial-analysis-tools 

Best Management Practices Within My Watershed

By: Nicholas Perreault

I live in Plainfield, Connecticut, which means that I live in the Quinebaug River Basin. This watershed covers a total of 743 square miles in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, though dominating in Connecticut at 425 square miles. This watershed has plenty of water that is in fairly healthy condition. The annual precipitation in the watershed is about 45 inches (USGS, 2016). My home falls into the hydrological unit code 011000010702, which is called the Cory Brook-Quinebaug River Watershed. As seen in Figure 1, I saw that it was 2.66 square miles with a mean elevation of 210 feet. The report also told me that there is 7.84% developed land with 1.84% impervious surface (USGS, 2016). The mean annual precipitation, which is very similar to that in the Quinebaug River Basin report, is 48.686 inches, while the total length of streams is 3.76 miles and it has 16.2% of wetlands (USGS, 2016). Best management practices for water are structural, vegetative, or managerial practices used to treat, prevent, or reduce water pollution (Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project, n.d.). In this article, I will be analyzing a few BMPs that are in my own personal watershed.

Figure 1: An analysis of my personal watershed, as defined by USGS StreamStats (USGS, 2016).

One water management practice that takes place in my watershed is the use of storm drains, as seen in Figure 2. The storm drains are used in areas of the roads to move ponding water away from the road to make it safe for cars to drive down the road. These drains also move water away from areas that could easily wash out the road and carry off sediment. These drains empty into pits in the woods that help hold the water giving it time to percolate into the ground. This is important to reduce the amount of sediment that would eventually run off into the rivers and streams. This is practical and effective as it can be implemented anywhere there’s a problem and it is relatively cheap to implement. Once put in the storm drains can last a very long time. 

Figure 2: A storm drain located by my home in Plainfield, CT.

Another water management practice is building strategically. All the houses and roads are built around a wetland that eventually leads to a river. All the drains and other sources of water end up in these wetlands. This allows the surrounding community to be relatively dry while also allowing the water time to enter the groundwater in a healthy way. Wetlands help trap fertilizers and chemicals to allow microbes time to break them down. This makes them less harmful once they enter groundwater or a waterway. This works well because keeping the development away from the waterways keeps all the chemicals away from an area that could quickly enter the water. It also keeps construction away from the waterways, limiting the amount of extra sediment load going into the water. This is especially important in my watershed as we have a small quarry in the watershed. If this quarry was right next to the water it would definitely have a lot of sand and silt washing into the water. 

There is very little development near the waterways in the watershed. There is only one roadway that crosses sugar brook, the brook in my watershed. This means that my watershed has a healthy riparian zone allowing plants a sufficient amount of time to uptake excessive nutrients and help retain some of the water. A riparian zone is the land around the banks of a river or another water body, and a healthy one has a large covering of plants. This helps to keep the water clean in my watershed and also down river. Having little development in the waterways also means that there is very little impervious cover in the waterways making less run off improving the water quality of the brooks in our watershed. 

In my watershed we have strategically placed storm drains that help reduce the hazards of water while also moving the water ultimately into the ground in a responsible way. In the watershed the houses and roads were built away from waterways to help limit the amount of pollution being close to the water. We also have healthy riparian zones that take up pollution while also helping to trap some of the sediment.

References

Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project. (n.d.). Demo Info.

USGS, 2016, StreamStats Report, StreamStats Application version 4.3.0, U.S. Geological Survey, accessed

March 18, 2022, at https://streamstats.usgs.gov/ss/

BMPs In Sturbridge Massachusetts

Throughout this article I will be discussing the best management practices, otherwise known as BMPs, in my local watershed of Sturbridge Massachusetts. 

When it comes to discussing best management practices in watersheds, the practices can be broken down into several different categories that are outlined by the United States Environmental protection agency (EPA). These categories include; Land Use Planning, Land Conservation, Aquatic Buffers, Better Site Design , Erosion and Sediment Control , Stormwater Best Management Practices, Non-Stormwater Discharges and Watershed Stewardship Programs (Kwon and others, 2021).. It is crucial for a watershed planner to take all of these categories of BMPs into consideration when dealing with a watershed, in order to properly care and protect the watershed in question. 

My local watershed of Sturbridge Massachuserrt is illustrated by Figure One, and is outlined in the highlighted section. This image was captured using the application “Streamstats” on the United States Geological Survey (USGS) website. In Figure Two you can also dive into the basic characteristics of the watershed including the drainage area, percent of developed line, soil permeability, etc…. 

Figure One: Map of Watershed 

Figure 2: Basin Characteristics for Figure 1 Watershed (USGS, 2016)

Best Management Practices being  Practically Applied 

Watershed Stewardship Programs in Action

If you take a drive through Sturbridge in the summer season of May 1st through September 30th, you will notice signs stating that there is a mandatory water ban for the town. This ban goes in accordance with the Quabbin reservoir in an effort to conserve water, especially in the dryer months. There is also a voluntary water ban that suggests that houses with even numbers water lawns on even days and odd numbered houses water on odd days, as well as limiting outside watering to the hours of 8AM-5PM. Below in Figure 3 you can see a sign that promotes one of these water bans  Both of these acts fall in accordance with the BMP outlined as Watershed Stewardship Program, where in doing these bans, gets the local landowners of Sturbridge aware of Watershed maintenance and why it matters (Sturbridge Water Department 2017). There is also a report that goes out for the Town of Sturbridge in regards to Drinkingwater that points readers into the direction of selectmen’s meetings that specifically discusses the communities decisions when it comes to drinking water. This can also be considered a way of a Watershed Stewardship program as a way of sharing information with the public. Below in Figure four you can see an example of the report that is shared with the town. I think, although mandatory at some points, this gets the citizens of Sturbridge involved in water management and gets them asking questions about why and how this is happening. 

Figure 3: Picture of water ban sign for town of Sturbridge

Figure 4: Example of Drinking Water Quality Report

One of the best management practices that can not only be seen in this watershed, but also throughout the town of Sturbridge is the protection of the natural lands that surround these watersheds. In this watershed, you can find that much of the land is still uninhabited and forests occupy most of the space. This is important to the watershed as it allows it to not have additional human interference. In this watershed lies 57 acres of protected land that is known to be the site of the former Tantasquites mine that was owned originally by the Nipmuc tribe who used the leads to make paints (Tantiusques 2022).  This not only is important from a historical standpoint but also when water is considered as well as this area of 57 acres will never be industrialized or used to build houses on, which will ultimately protect the water. In Figure 5 you can see the sign for the reservation as you enter the trail. This is one of the many trails in Sturbridge that is on protected land and will benefit water sources and in turn the  population of Sturbriidge for many years to come.

Figure 5: Sign from the entrance to the Tantiusques reservation 

The last best management practice I will discuss is the buffer that is given to all water sources in Sturbridge from impervious covers. According to a report done by the town of Sturbridge, a zoning law assists in source protection by prohibiting the removal of earth within 6 feet of historically high groundwater levels that have been recorded. This goes for all areas of land in the town and can be illustrated in an example through Figure 6 that exhibits how specifically in this watershed, the land coming off of a water source is 6 feet, in this example, from a road. This benefits water sources as it leaves space for contamination (Sturbridge Water Department 2017).

Figure 6 :  Example of how the zoning law in Sturbridge prohibits an impervious cover from being 6 feet from a water source.

Overall, the town of Sturbridge seems to be well informed when implementing BMPs in their local watersheds. The three that were mentioned above, (Watershed Stewardship Program, Land conservation, and the use of buffers from Impervious land covers), all suggest that a great deal of time and thought has been put into protecting these waters. It is vital that the officials of Sturbridge continue to do so as BMPs are of the utmost importance as they keep the health of watersheds in good condition. In doing so will not only protect the aquatic life and nature surrounding the water, but the citizens that inhabit these areas safe as well.

References 

Developing Areas, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Watershed Academy Web,

accessed April 18, 2022 at https://cfpub.epa.gov/watertrain/moduleFrame.cfm?parent_object_

Operated by – sturbridge.gov. Sturbridge.Gov. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.sturbridge.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif3881/f/uploads/2017-ccr_final_pdf.pdf 

Tantiusques. The Trustees of Reservations. (2022, February 14). Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://thetrustees.org/place/tantiusques/ 

USGS, 2020, StreamStats Report for 41.85479, -72.35982, StreamStats

Application version 4.3.0, U.S. Geological Survey, accessed April 8th, 2022 at

https://streamstats.usgs.gov/ss/

Yeong Kwon, H., Winer, R, Schueler, T., 8 Tools of Watershed Protection in

BMP My Watershed Practices

Introduction

From my previous articles we have learned about my watershed’s characteristics and the inevitable changes it undergoes. In this article I will be discussing the practical and effective tools applied to restore or protect watersheds known as best management practices (BMP). From Watershed Academy Web we know there are 8 tools of watershed protection in developing areas to provide comprehensive watershed protection. My watershed is located along the perimeter of ECSU, a campus that is continuously evolving. By using the resource “StreamStats”  was able to learn about the characteristics of my watershed. The percentage of developed land is 100% due to being surrounded by a college campus and close-knit neighborhoods consisting of families and college students. Furthermore, the percentage of impervious area is 53.6% which is for the same reason. The area that drains to a point on a stream is 2.98 square miles. The mean annual precipitation basin average is 49.797 inches and the average soil permeability is 5.11 inches per hour. The mean basin elevation of my watershed is 367 feet (USGS, 2016). In this article I will be focusing on the BMP my watershed undergoes which consists of aquatic buffers, non-stormwater discharges, and better site design.

Aquatic Buffers

An obvious BMP my watershed practices is aquatic buffers which is simply land adjacent to a wetland edge, a lake or estuarine shoreline, or steam bank where critically important ecological processes and water pollution control functions take place (Kwon and others, 2021). In simpler terms, aquatic areas where land and water meet require special protection which the buffers are in charge of. For my watershed you can clearly see the aquatic buffers in Figure 1 along the stream that is within my watershed that has many uses and benefits. The buffer along a portion of my watershed allows land development to be restricted, and physically separates the stream from future disturbance. This is extremely important for my watershed because it is located i an area that is constantly being renovated and developed, and the buffers prevent the stream from being harmed. As mentioned, my watershed is located along the perimeter of ECSU. Therefore, there is a significant amount of land use close to the stream, especially with a walking trail and Eastern’s Arboretum being alongside of it. Therefore, the buffer protects the water from pollutants and habitat impacts that come along with significant land use.

Furthermore, the buffers are responsible for regulating floods and sustaining the stream’s ecosystems and habitats. Buffers are land conservation areas that are essential to regulate light and temperature conditions, improving the habitat for aquatic plants and animals, effectively removing sediment, nutrients, and bacteria from stormwater and groundwater, and help stabilize and protect the streambanks (Kwon and other, 2021). For the stream within my watershed the buffers come along with streamside zones which is landscape the regulates the movements of sediment, nutrients, and other chemicals from upland forest and agricultural management into streams (USDA, 2022). In my case, my streamside zone is a mature forest with strict limitation on other uses because it is owned and maintained by the university. The university uses this area for science labs and to feature student artwork. As you can see, buffers are essential for protecting watersheds and their quality of water by separating the exposed stream.

Figure 1: Aquatic Buffers

Better Site Design

The next BMP my watershed practices is better site design. With my watershed being along the perimeter of a university and neighborhood there are significant amounts impervious areas. The stream of my watershed is located within a large cul de sac and surrounded by streets, driveways, and sidewalks within the university and neighborhoods that have consumed natural areas, as you can see in Figure 2. Before COVID I was living on campus in Burnap Hall. My mom attended ECSU in the 1980s and had told me Occum, Burnap, and Crandall halls had little to no updates since. While living in Burnap there were rumors that the university was going to connect Crandall and Burnap with a hallway since the dorms are exactly the same layout to become one hall. The good news is that the university would only be updating already impervious and developed land, and not extending to new grounds which allows the conservation of natural areas. The goal is to protect all bodies of water and existing vegetation by minimizing clearing (Kwon and others, 2021). Furthermore, another wat Eastern practices better site design is by having parking garages because this limits the impervious coverage in the form of parking lots, roads, and driveways for cars specifically. This is an example of innovative site techniques because with a parking garage less natural areas are used with more parking by building up instead of wider. In conclusion, the better site design tool is used to reduce the impacts of land development by utilizing innovative site planning techniques. Unfortunately, even with the proper planning significant development can still degrade water resources, but with the correct plan the harmful affects can be significantly reduced by maintaining undeveloped land.

Figure 2: Better Site Design

Non-Stormwater Discharges

The last tool that is utilized for my watershed’s BMP is non-stormwater discharges that dispose wastewater and non-stormwater that flows in a watershed. Non-stormwater flows include runoff from sources other than rainwater which is mostly due to human activities such as car washing (Kwon and others, 2021). The three basic methods of discharging non-stormwater is with septic systems, sanitary sewers and other miscellaneous non-stormwater discharges. For my watershed the septic systems are crucial for disposing wastewater. Septic systems are located all around my watershed around the neighborhoods and the university’s campus. The septic systems are used to discharge wastewater from toilets, wash basins, bathtubs, washing machines, etc. that cause many gallons of highly polluted waters. ECSU includes 8 halls for student living which include washing machine rooms, showers, toilets, and at least 2 sinks for each dorm room along with the several education and resource buildings on campus that have public restrooms. Therefore, imagine the trillion gallons of wastewater each year Eastern alone produces. Due to the widespread use of on-site sewage disposal and the high volume of discharges, septic systems have the potential to pollute groundwater, lakes, and streams if the septic systems fail or are improperly located (Kwon and others, 2021). There is an estimate of 20-25% of septic systems nationwide are not operating correctly, but even properly functioning septic systems can be a source of substantial nutrient loads. Therefore, for my watershed especially, non-stormwater discharges with the use of septic systems is crucial due to the substantial amount of wastewater and non-stormwater a college campus produces around my watershed.

Figure 3: Septic Systems

Conclusion

In this article I discussed what BMP my watershed participates in and why those BMP is essential to protect the quality of the watershed located in developing areas. The aquatic buffers are crucial for protection, the better site design tools are important for maintaining undeveloped land, and non-stormwater discharges are in charge of disposing the wastewater and non-stormwater that pollutes our watersheds. In conclusion, each BMP tool requires strategic planning in order to protect and maintain our watersheds, but is beyond crucial so land development does not overwhelm and compromise our watersheds.

References

8 Tools of Watershed Protection in Developing Areas. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://cfpub.epa.gov/watertrain/moduleFrame.cfm?parent_object_id=1346

Streamside management zones: Rocky Mountain Research Station. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.fs.usda.gov/rmrs/streamside-management-zones#:~:text=Streamside%20management%20zones%20(SMZs)%20are,agricultural%20management%20areas%20into%20streams.