CICEET Progress Report for the period 3/01/09 Through 8/31/09

Project Title: SWAMPs in Coastal Oregon Communities
Principal Investigator(s): Derek Godwin, Desiree Tullos
Project Start Date: 12/01/07 (Date when OSU Sponsored Programs completed process for setting up the grant)
Report Compiled By: Derek Godwin

Figures

Figure 1

Tasks to Meet Objective
The following is a list of tasks with the original proposed completion dates:
Outreach Education
1. Basic presentations – delivered locally as needed (on-going)
2. Train-the-trainer on GIS, Explorer and analytical tools (9/2007)
3. Train local communities on existing analytical and visualization tools (GIS, ISAT, NSPECT, etc.); as requested in pilot communities (3/2008)
4. Assistance on reviewing/updating/developing incentive and regulations for implementing LID practices (on-going)

Oregon Land Use Explorer
1. Phase 1 – develop portal web design, contribute statewide data, build mapping tool and land use reporting tool (2/2007)
2. Phase 2 – build county-based mapping tool, refine land use on county pages, perform outreach on tools, enhance with additional data (8/2007)

SWAMP development
1. Stormwater design algorithms completed (1/2008)
2. Integrated tool calculation and reporting verified (7/2008)
3. Interface completed offline (9/2008)
4. Interface functioning online (12/2008)

SWAMP and Land Use Explorer training
1. Training workshops (1-4/2009)
2. Application of tool (4-6/2009)

Progress on Tasks
Outreach Education
1. Basic presentations – SWAMP will eventually be the primary tool in helping communities design LID practices. Until it is created, we work with our agency partners to deliver a wide variety of programs in Western Oregon communities to increase awareness, knowledge and skills related to conducting LID practices.

1. We have formed advisory committees in the Rogue Valley, North Coast, South Coast (Curry County), Mid-Willamette Valley (two) and South Willamette Valley to aid in the planning and delivery of Low Impact Development education workshops. We are in the process of creating a committee in Coos County (South Coast). The North Coast, South Coast and Rogue Valley will be the target areas for reviewing and using the SWAMP tool. We have delivered four LID trainings in the Rogue Valley and two in the South Willamette Valley. We have five trainings planned for the Mid Valley, one in South Willamette Valley, two on the South Coast and one on the North Coast in the next 6 months. (6 delivered, 9 planned).
2. Two day-long rain garden workshops aimed at training Master Gardeners, landscapers and Soil and Water Conservation Districts have been delivered in the Mid-Valley and Southern Willamette Valley, and three more are planned for the next 6 months. We have also delivered numerous presentations and several three-hour rain garden trainings. We will complete our rain garden publication and training materials by December 1st, 2009. We will be working with our partners to deliver trainings in strategic areas around Western Oregon in 2010. We will also be working with our partners to build several rain garden demonstration projects.

2. GIS and spatial analysis tools –

1. Trainings on the Oregon Explorer on-line tools have been delivered on campus and in a variety of communities to different audiences. The Land Use Explorer and Wildlife Explorer projects can be viewed on this website http://oregonexplorer.info/.
2. The National Estuarine Research Reserve on the South Coast partnered with OSU Extension and the NOAA Coastal Services Center to deliver a 4-day ISAT, NSPECT and other ArcGIS tools training this past summer. This was a follow-up training to the basic ArcGIS workshop delivered in 2008.

3. Assistance in land use planning and code/ordinance review –
The Oregon Coastal Management Program has provided small grants to individual communities for the purpose of code/ordinance review to support LID practices and create/update stormwater management plans. They have completed work with the City of Brookings and North Bend in which codes and ordinances were updated to support LID practices.

Oregon Land Use Explorer – This project has completed phase 1 and 2 with the exception of the outreach education component. You can view the on-line resource at the Oregon Explorer website http://oregonexplorer.info/. The OSU library and Institute of Natural Resources have been conducting focus group sessions to review the portal and make suggestions for final revisions. They are planning to conduct outreach education in the fall, 2008 – summer, 2009.

SWAMP development and trainings – We have been working to develop a draft of the complete SWAMP website and support tools. We expect to have a complete draft completed in October. We will highlight this draft at a Coastal Planning conference in October and the CERF conference in November. We are planning the delivery of outreach workshops in 8 locations in the winter and spring. We will use our advisory committees to advertise the programs, and we will build on the existing LID related education programs. We will gather input on the draft and make final changes in Spring 2010.

Building SWAMP – We are in the process of creating the following tools as part of SWAMP.

• Data for project area (in tabular and map form) that is needed to determine pre and post-construction runoff and feasibility of low impact development practice
• 24hour Precipitation (6mth, 2, 5, 10, 25 year return intervals)
• Soil hydrologic classes (A,B,C,D) 10 meter resolution
• 10 meter DEM, slope
• Land cover (CCAP Landsat 2001)
• Infrastructure (roads, cities) and Rivers (hydrography)
• Suitability maps for various LID practices
• Runoff Calculator – pre-construction, post-construction, post with LID
• Decision Process for choosing practices to reduce and treat runoff
• LID design guidance (sizing based on runoff to be treated)
• LID fact sheets with basic design drawings and information
• Case Scenarios to help people learn how to use the tool
• Model Documentation – data used, references, calculations, limitations, etc.
• Other useful information – submit a question, outreach plans, etc.
• Vegetation list – list of plants and their characteristics for being used in stormwater facilities.

Difficulties in accomplishing tasks
The development of the SWAMP tool has been progressing at a reasonable pace over the past 9 months. We filed a one-year extension for the project.

We have come to realize that the SWAMP project won’t be able to “stand alone” without other LID workshops. Our target audiences, primarily planning departments and real estate professionals, need to be exposed to LID concepts before they will seek technical assistance. This is why our outreach program for SWAMP will build on other related education programs to increase the likelihood of project success.

Outreach efforts have continued to be planned and implemented. We have been working with members of our target communities to create advisory committees and plan programs. Our target communities have been requesting workshops and information related to the design and on-the-ground management of stormwater practices. We have several workshops planned for the fall/winter of this year. These workshops will be followed by our presentations of the SWAMP tool.

Data Generated
N/A

Project Objectives for Next Reporting Period
Describe technical and non-technical objectives
We will continue to work towards meeting our overall project objectives outlined above. In particular, we will have completed a complete draft SWAMP tool and provided outreach workshops. We will gain feedback from these presentations and use the information to refine and create the final product.

Outline work plan to meet identified objectives
Our work plan has not changed significantly from the tasks outlined above but our expected completion dates have changed. We completed drafts of parts of the SWAMP tool and conducted presentations for reviewing the project. We will focus on creating a complete draft SWAMP tool and plan the delivery of workshops in our pilot communities to test the tool. We expect to have a draft tool completed by the end of October, 2009. We will be delivering workshops using this tool in November, 2009 – March, 2010. This will lead to a refinement of the tool and project completion in June, 2010.

Expenditures
All of our faculty and student positions are part-time. We have hired a faculty member to build the SWAMP tool. We have hired a grad student to help develop the BMP fact sheets and supporting documentation for the tool. We have hired an outreach coordinator to help create advisory committees and plan and deliver the workshops to evaluate the SWAMP tool. We have also hired an undergraduate student to help create user-friendly interfaces for the tool. We are in the process of contracting with a consultant to build the website.

A budget summary as of August 31, 2009 is shown in Figure 1. The U0513A is for the outreach component and the U0513B is for the on-campus faculty and students that are creating the tool.