The Center’s work on improving stormwater management in Georgia continues to expand.  With assistance from the Center, the Georgia Stormwater Management Manual was published in 2016.  The Manual updated the rules regarding better site design, water quality best management practices, and perhaps most importantly, introduced the concept of Runoff Reduction (application of strategies that minimize the increase in runoff associated with developed lands) as a means for improving water quality. In response to publication of the Georgia Stormwater Management Manual, Gwinnett County published its own version of the Manual. The Gwinnett County Stormwater Management Manual largely mirrors the statewide version [...]

In Pennsylvania, many local jurisdictions are grappling with the complexities of stormwater and watershed restoration practices as they develop and implement Pollution Reduction Plans as part of their EPA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) stormwater permit requirements.  In some parts of Pennsylvania, local regulated jurisdictions are uniting at the county-level to combine resources and identify the projects that are most cost-effective and beneficial to the larger community. The Blair County Intergovernmental Stormwater Committee (ISC) is an example of such a collaborative.  In 2017, the Center worked with the ISC to develop and submit a Pollution Reduction Plan that covers [...]

By Jane Bellmyer of the Cecil Whig RISING SUN — With the work at Veterans Memorial Park finished Brian Seipp, watershed manager with the Center for Watershed Protection, waited for the rain to fall to assure his months of work there was successful. And it was. Even in the torrential downpours of late the stormwater remediation project at the Rising Sun park successfully kept the town property off Wilson Road from going underwater. “This was the biggest project we’ve done in Rising Sun,” Seipp said of the grant funded $634,700 effort that redirected and redesigned the creek and added drainage [...]

Once again, Ellicott City has been drowned by torrential rain and ravaged by deadly flood waters. It was painful to witness yet another devastating flood in this old and beautiful town, but it wasn’t surprising. I serve as executive director of the Center for Watershed Protection, a nonprofit based in Ellicott City that provides watershed and stormwater management consulting services to state and local governments and other clients. Our downtown offices were flooded several times before we moved to higher ground in 2014 — an ironic outcome for a stormwater management organization. While our reasons for moving went beyond flooding, [...]

By: Adam Bednar Daily Record Business Writer May 29, 2018 Any rebuilding of historic old Ellicott City requires profoundly rethinking the use of the former mill town, according to one expert. Hye Yeong Kwon, executive director of the Center for Watershed Protection, warned that the area is in a flood plain and would be inundated by water again. While there have been efforts to mitigate the impact of flooding, she said, ultimately there’s only so much that can be done because of its location in the Tiber-Hudson watershed. “It’s in the flood plain … if we’re going to invest in rebuilding [...]