Innovative Approaches for Urban Watershed Wet-Weather Flow Management and Control

The overall objective of this project was to identify innovative strategies for managing the effects of wet-weather flow (WWF) control and failing infrastructure in an urban setting. The intent was to establish areas where external information can benefit US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) research. This includes gaining an understanding on developing priorities, research breakthroughs in other countries, potential overlaps or duplications, and common needs across locations. Specific technologies and topics that can be implemented or researched for implementation in the US were targeted outcomes.The approach used involved: (1) building on earlier EPA advanced topics research (which among other things evaluated emerging needs with a focus on combined sewer overflows (CSOs)); (2) completing a literature review to establish focus and assemble communities from outside the US; and (3) conducting workshops to enable a more specific review beyond day to day preoccupations. Workshops were held in Edinburgh, Scotland and Lyon, France in September and November of 2008, respectively, with a total attendance of 89 international experts.Investigations of WWF treatment approaches through source control and treatment made up the setting of the project. Innovative systems that treat stormwater as a beneficial resource through reclamation and reuse were also explored. The effort focused on practices and technologies that can be implemented at the urban watershed management and infrastructure interface to combine cost-effective, integrated solutions. The final document contains both a national and international perspective on urban watershed WWF management and control approaches.