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

Project Title: The StormWater Management Information System: Coastal Water Quality Enhancement Through the Use of an Internet-based Geospatial Tools for Planning Stormwater Management Systems
Principal Investigator(s): Richard G. Lathrop, Lisa Auermuller
Project Start Date: September 1, 2007
Report Compiled By: Richard G. Lathrop

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 2

Objective 2: Provide a geospatial inventory of existing SWMS infrastructure in relation to the watershed/hydrological system.
Tasks to meet objective:
Digitize/attribute historical SWMS data;

Compile GIS for Toms River pilot study: DEM, soils, SWC/Hydro, parcels - Completed and Previously Reported On
List of possible mitigation targets (i.e., failing retention/detention basins needing BMPs) - Completed and Previously Reported On
Document time and costs for development of SWMS GIS database - Completed and Previously Reported On

Objective 3: Undertake an analysis highlighting SWMS basins upstream of known impaired waterways.
The NJDEP Stormwater BMP Manual (2004) specifies that MSWMPs must also consider downstream features deemed as "sensitive receptors." Sensitive receptors include features sensitive to changes in water quality changes, ground water recharge and flooding. The bulk of the sensitive receptors will be identified using a combination of existing state level publicly available GIS data sets, as well as more specific county level engineering and soil conservation district data. Additional data will be developed by enlisting the help of municipal, county and state officials to document local knowledge (i.e., problematic culverts and bridges; eroding/widening stream banks).

Progress on Task
We have assembled most of the required GIS data sets required to determine the "sensitive receptors". We have enlisted the help of municipal, county and state officials to document local knowledge (i.e., problematic culverts and bridges; eroding/widening stream banks) to help develop additional data that is useful in identifying sensitive receptors.

We will complete this objective during the next time period.

Objective 4: Develop on-line GIS tools/models to evaluate a proposed development project and SW management/mitigation plans to.
The NJDEP Stormwater BMP Manual (2004) provides specific guidance for the evaluation of proposed development projects that will be translated into geographic rules as part of the geospatial toolkit of SWMIS. We have used the suggestions coming out of the Front End Assessment (March 12, 2009 meeting) to inform the software tool development. We contracted with a commercial firm, Vertices, Inc. to include this functionality to the web-based geospatial SWMIS. This work is on this task has been largely completed.

Tasks to meet objective:
1. Assess the water quality/quantity impacts of the proposed project;
Progress on Task
The following analytical functions have been developed and incorporated into the Website to put existing storm-water basins as well as proposed basins into a broader watershed context to help assess water quality/quantity impacts.

• Identify: Query and identify map objects.
• Basins: Query and identify individual storm-water basins. Stored attribute data is displayed as well as a link to a scanned pdf of the full permit information concerning the basin.
• Watershed: Identify the watershed that the basin/point falls in. Provides info on the USGS Hydrological Unit Coding (HUC) at several levels of resolution.
• Stream Path: Trace downstream flowpath to identify sensitive receptors. The user can click on a location and the flowpath to the nearest mapped stream is charted (uses a digital elevation model to determine the shortest route downhill using flow modeling) (Figure 2).
• Stream Source: to determine the upstream receiving watershed that drains (as determined through flow modeling of a digital elevation model) to a selected basin/point

2. Determine the potential runoff and loading impacts of contributing catchment basin;
Progress on Task
We will address this objective during the next time period.

3. Evaluate the conformance of the plan with existing regulations and red-flag outstanding issues.
Progress on Task
We will address this objective during the next time period.

Difficulties Encountered
The programming needed to undertake these sophisticated hydrological modeling tasks took longer than we originally planned for. There are still a few bugs to work out during the next time period in anticipation of rolling it out to the user community. However, we are pleased with the results and it was worth the wait.

Objective 5: Conduct training and outreach to local officials.
Tasks to meet objective:
Front End Assessment;

Progress on Task
A meeting was held on March 12, 2009 to update the partners on progress and to solicit feedback at this "beta" stage of the project. Or partners included representatives from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Ocean County Planning, Ocean County Engineering and a local engineering consulting firm. In particular, solicited input on resolving some of the remaining geo-location issues we have encountered. We have subsequently worked with the NRCS, the agency responsible for the initial storm-water basin permitting and record keeping, to identify problematic basins.

Follow-up Assessment
Progress on Task
We have scheduled a second meeting of our key partners for late September to update them on the project and solicit additional feedback on SWMIS website. This will be followed up with our first "training" session which is being opened up to all local agencies. The training session is scheduled for October 21, 209 and will be held at the JCNERR Education Building, Tuckerton, NJ.

Data Generated
We have not finalized any of the datasets to the point that they are ready for transfer.

Expenditures
While the nominal start date for this project was 09/01/2007, the final approval and funding did not start until mid-December 2007. The expenditures are within the range anticipated for the work accomplished to date.

We requested and received a no-cost budget modification to shift approximately $26,000 of salary costs to a sub-contract to Vertices, Inc. for the design and programming of the interactive mapping web application. We are requesting a six month no-cost extension to complete the project.