Alternate: Developing Comprehensive, Cooperative Solutions for Improved Stormwater BMP Operations and Maintenance

Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD), a special purpose local unit of government in the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota, developed a comprehensive stormwater facility (infrastructure) management program to ensure long-term effectiveness and functionality of public facilities that provide water quality and/or flood control benefits. Over the past twenty years, CRWD has been involved in the planning, design and implementation of over two thousand stormwater best management practices (BMPs) through its grant program, permitting program, and partnerships with other public agencies. With more and more BMPs being installed and CRWD's public partners struggling to provide adequate inspection, maintenance and management, the demand for CRWD taking on a bigger role in stormwater infrastructure ownership and/or maintenance is increasing. CRWD embarked on developing the program by first gathering information from its staff and stakeholders on issues, barriers, and challenges to inspection and maintenance of BMPs and the benefits and opportunities for consolidating these responsibilities under one organization. CRWD also conducted a literature review of existing stormwater and other types of infrastructure management programs that could be of value to the development of its own program and then followed up with one on one interviews of staff from the programs most applicable to CRWD's program goals. The key takeaways from information gathering included partners have limited budgets for inspection and maintenance, have significant difficulty in sustaining adequate staffing levels, lack staff expertise and time to perform O&M especially for green infrastructure practices, and have strong interest in CRWD-led cooperative maintenance approaches and agreements. Using these findings, CRWD developed a Comprehensive Stormwater Facility Management Program that defines CRWD's role, policies, criteria and terms for three different approaches to assist public agencies in maintaining the long-term effectiveness and functionality of stormwater management facilities. The first approach is a cooperative, fee-based O&M service program for publicly-owned stormwater BMPs. CRWD will coordinate annual inspection and routine maintenance of smaller scale BMPs located on individual public parcels through an invitation to join a pooled contract. CRWD will procure and manage contractors and coordinate inspections and routine maintenance work. Bundling similar types of maintenance under one contract achieves economies of scale and addresses the barriers of cost, lack of in-house expertise and limited staff time. The second approach is applicable to publicly owned regional stormwater facilities that are of significant scope and geographic scale (greater than 50 acres) designed to manage the adverse water quality and/or water quantity impacts from stormwater runoff. CRWD will consider taking on responsibility for inspection, operation and maintenance of regional facilities but will not assume ownership of the regional facility or maintenance of the underlying or adjacent land. CRWD may offer to pay up to 50% of the costs with the remainder covered by partner agencies whose share may be determined by watershed-based calculations. For the third approach, CRWD will consider ownership of regional stormwater facilities that are directly connected to its Trout Brook Storm Sewer Interceptor or other infrastructure owned by CRWD, or are deemed high priority facilities that were initiated by CRWD. The policies and criteria outlined in the second approach are all applicable here, however, this third approach shall require the most in-depth review and must provide multiple environmental, social and economic benefits for CRWD to assume ownership. Assuming ownership of a regional facility does not negate the need for partners to share O&M costs with CRWD. The three program approaches, a decision-making flow chart, BMP screening and evaluation forms, and a phased implementation plan of future staffing, workspace, and budgetary, legal and IT needs for the program will be described in this presentation. In addition, CRWD will share the results of applying the criteria, tools and forms to determine the approach for assisting a local partner in maintaining a system of stormwater ponds and the implementation steps taken to date.