Stormwater watershed delineation, analyses, and regulatory requirements; County of Monterey. Patricia Cubanski. Graduate Student

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1 Stormwater watershed delineation, analyses, and regulatory requirements; County of Monterey Patricia Cubanski Graduate Student Coastal and Watershed Science and Policy, MS California State University Monterey Bay Academic Advisor Frederick Watson PhD County of Monterey Public Works Department Thomas Harty P.E.

2 Table of Contents Acknowledgments... 3 Executive Summary... 4 Project Context... 5 Stormwater Concerns... 5 Stormwater Regulation... 5 Project objectives... 6 USDA Career Path... 7 Project Methods... 7 Study Area... 7 Available Data... 9 Field Methods GIS Methods Watershed Analyses Project Results and Discussion Conclusion References

3 Acknowledgments This project was supported by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Additionally, I would like to thank: Tom Harty, County of Monterey Heidi Niggenmeyer, Monterey Regional Stormwater Management Program Fred Watson, California State University Monterey Bay Rikk Kvitek, California State University Monterey Bay Gabriella Alberola, California State University Monterey Bay Kirk Post, California State University Monterey Bay 3

4 Executive Summary This report provides descriptions of my project funded by the USDA Experiential Learning in Watershed Management and of my project s relevance for a future career with USDA agencies. My project assisted the County of Monterey in fulfilling the requirements of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Phase II small municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) Permit. More specifically, my project addressed spatial analysis requirements of stormwater outfalls thus providing an understanding of factors contributing to stormwater quality and of quantity entering receiving waterbodies. The primary objectives of this project were to 1) gather, develop, and organize data necessary for spatial analyses, 2) develop a model to automate watershed delineation and watershed land cover analyses, and 3) provide recommendations concerning methods to complete the new Phase II MS4 requirements (adoption pending). The presence of urbanized areas in a landscape can have multiple effects on the hydrology and water quality of the area. Impervious surfaces decrease the capacity for stormwater and dry weather runoff to infiltrate soils. In addition, these areas and the activities associated with urbanization can generate pollutants that can be transported to downstream waterbodies or sensitive areas by runoff. While water discharge is associated with other regulations and permits, the Phase II MS4 Permit directly involves storm drain network structure and requires spatial analysis of storm drain outfalls within urbanized areas as defined by Census information. The County of Monterey has multiple urbanized areas within its jurisdiction. The urbanized areas of Carmel Valley, located approximately 10 miles south of the Monterey Peninsula, parallel the Carmel River which is identified as critical habitat for steelhead. In this area, the storm sewer system empties to the river potentially introducing pollutants to the receiving sensitive waterbody. To help the County comply with discharge regulation, I conducted watershed delineations for County property on the Monterey Peninsula as well as in Lower Carmel Valley. I also created maps of the watersheds with regard to land cover, soil type, slope, and relative topography. From this initial study, I developed a model to complete watershed analyses on the other urbanized areas within County jurisdiction that have dynamic landscapes. To account for the storm drain system, the watershed delineation model incorporated the storm drain network structure into the surface digital elevation model (DEM) which channeled the flow direction toward the network. While this model adequately delineated most outfalls for the regions examined, the infrastructure of the storm drains for two outfalls prevented using this model for those specific areas and needs further investigation on accurately estimating these outfall watershed boundaries. In reference to watershed management, this internship project allowed me the opportunity to explore skills related to water discharge management. Water discharge quantity and quality are concerns for hydrologists within the United States Forest Service. Understanding flow patterns and potential pollutant sources provides a hydrologist with information to lessen the negative effects of runoff on waterbodies and sensitive ecosystems. 4

5 Project Context Stormwater Concerns Traditional developed areas and the activities associated with these urbanized areas create concern for the water quality of downstream waterbodies and other sensitive areas. The increase of impervious surfaces such as pavement, rooftops, and asphalt resulting from development decreases the opportunity for runoff to infiltrate the landscape and thus runoff from urban areas increases in volume and pollutant loads. The Environmental Protection Agency has identified a variety of pollutants that can originate from both point and non-point sources within urbanized areas. Typical non-point source pollutants include, but are not limited to sediments, nutrients, pathogens, petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, and herbicides (SWRCB 2012). These pollutants, deposited by vehicular emissions, household hazardous wastes, landscape irrigation, and a variety of other sources, drain into storm sewer systems and receiving waterbodies during storm events and dry weather runoff. In addition, the increased runoff volume can alter erosion and accretion patterns of receiving waterbodies and thus disrupt aquatic ecosystems. Due to these concerns, municipalities and other entities with separate storm sewer systems are required to monitor and mitigate potential negative effects. A variety of factors influence what mitigation techniques might be appropriate for an area. For example, the capacity of the soil to infiltrate runoff water and the slope and relative topography of the land all contribute to what mitigation technique or suite of techniques to choose. Stormwater Regulation In the Monterey Bay region of California, federal and state regulations require a variety of analyses, mitigation, and monitoring of the stormwater discharge to the surrounding waterbodies and sensitive areas. As currently outlined in the final draft of the permit, based on 2010 Census blocks, urbanized areas with populations under 100,000 residents must comply with the requirements of the Phase II MS4. The County of Monterey has multiple areas under its jurisdiction through which this permit will affect management practices. The permit will require the county to provide educational information to and participation opportunities for the public and train appropriate county staff on illicit discharge detection. In addition, the county must comply with water quality monitoring and implement a construction site stormwater runoff control management program and a pollution prevention/good housekeeping for permittee 5

6 facilities program. The main requirement addressed by this study involves the detection and elimination of illicit discharges entering the sewer system and subsequently outletting to receiving waterbodies. As part of this regulatory requirement, the county at a minimum must have a map of all stormwater outfalls and the receiving waterbody for the outfall discharges as well as photo documentation of all outfalls. In addition, the county requested information concerning the dimensions and the construction material of each outfall to assist in field identification of outfalls during monitoring activities. The pending regulation also requires the permittee to determine the watershed area for each outfall and show the land use present within the outfall watershed. Based, in part, on land use, the permittee may need to impart additional monitoring if the watershed contains a high risk land use type. Additionally, Permittees must sample discharge from outfalls occurring over 72 hours after a storm event. Project objectives In the Monterey Bay Region, the County of Monterey has multiple urban storm sewer outfalls that discharge to rivers and other waterbodies classified as waters of the US. Currently, the County does not have a complete inventory of all outfalls under its jurisdiction and as such cannot complete the stormwater watershed analysis as required by the draft Phase II General Permit. The main objective for my project with the County Stormwater Program was to design watershed analytical models based on County of Monterey data and spatial data available from online sources to assist the County in complying with NPDES outfall requirements and in selecting post-construction BMPs. As mentioned above, to meet the minimum requirements for the Phase II MS4 Permit, the County must delineate outfall watershed boundaries with respect to storm drain networks, determine percent land use cover of each watershed, identify areas for potential illicit discharges, and illustrate storm drain networks with catch basin inlets. Additionally, as required by Attachment J of the draft permit, Permittees within the Central Coast Region must implement post-construction stormwater BMPs to reduce runoff from new development that creates and/or replaces over 2,500 ft 2 of impervious surface. The attachment includes maps of watershed management zones that indicate what BMPs should be implemented if the development falls within a certain zone. However, while this gives further specification on what BMPs are 6

7 appropriate, to select and tailor a BMP specific to the site, information concerning soil properties and relative topography, among other variables, will also be necessary. USDA Career Path In reference to USDA career paths, this project emphasizes watershed management with responsibilities similar to that of a US Forest Service (USFS) Hydrologist. USFS Hydrologists analyze and monitor surface water and the parameters influencing quality, quantity, and flow of these waters. My project addressed the flow and management of water through municipal systems with the goal of reducing pollutants entering receiving water bodies. Project Methods Study Area The County of Monterey, located on the central coast of California, has multiple urban properties with outfalls to a variety of waterbodies. Urban areas under the County of Monterey s jurisdiction cover approximately 49.4 square miles of a total 3,771 square miles. These urban areas drain into rivers containing endangered steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Carmel River and rivers with Total Maximum Daily Loads programs (TMDLs), Salinas and Pajaro Rivers. To establish a watershed model, I focused the pilot study on the Lower Carmel River (LCR) and a singular outfall emptying into Del Monte Lake (DML) on the Monterey Pennisula (Fig. 1, Fig. 2). 7

8 Figure 1. County storm drain emptying to Del Monte Lake (DML) located on Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) property. 8

9 A B Figure 2. County outfalls emptying to the Lower Carmel River illustrating Outfalls A and B for the purposes of this report. Available Data Spatial data for the County were acquired from a variety of sources. The watershed analyses required information regarding Elevation: Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), 1/9 arc-second or ~3 m resolution, downloaded from United States Geologic Survey (USGS) National Map Viewer (06/22/2012) 9

10 Storm Drain Infrastructure: Data on catch basins, culverts, and stormwater sewers were available from the County of Monterey Geodatabase. However, as mentioned previously, the storm drain data was incomplete and not field checked. Soils Data: Spatial information concerning soils was acquired from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service- Soils Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) County of Monterey urban area and land use information: County urban area boundaries and land use zonation data for County properties were available from the County of Monterey Geodatabase Field Methods Due to a lack of data regarding existing storm drain infrastructure on LCR, I conducted field surveys of storm drain catch basins and networks. I began examining storm drain infrastructure at the lower reaches of storm drain network. Few building plans were available that identified the storm sewer system. Where building plans were unavailable, I took GPS coordinates of catch basins, culverts, and outfalls using a Trimble Geo Explorer and recorded the directions of pipe connections and other storm drain properties in a data dictionary file I created. Each feature recorded was based on an average of 30 collected readings. GIS Methods At both sites, based on field visits, the DEM was verified and appropriately modified to match existing topography. Prior to delineating watersheds for each outfall, the collected data concerning the lower Carmel River s catch basins, culverts, and outfalls were processed to develop a polyline shapefile representing the storm drain network of the area. I developed the network based on the pipe direction connections for each storm drain structure and on building plans when available. To delineate watersheds for each outfall I used ArcGIS 10 (Hydrology toolset within the Spatial Analyst extension) which based watershed boundaries on DEMs. To incorporate the storm drain network within both the Lower Carmel River and Monterey Peninsula regions, the DEMs were conditioned such that the presence of a storm sewer main would redefine the elevation 10 m below the original elevation. This created a channelization effect intended to mimic the storm drain system. From this new conditioned DEM, I analyzed flow direction and flow accumulation to generate drainage patterns and watershed boundaries for 10

11 stormwater outfalls. I selected the last inlet prior to a stormwater outfall as the outfall delineation point. To allow for consistent analytical methods, I developed a GIS model within Arc Model Builder through which a user could enter the original DEM and storm drain data and receive watershed boundaries output. Watershed Analyses I performed further analyses on each outfall watershed. The percent and total area of soil type, land use type, and percent impervious cover within each watershed were determined based on existing available data. Watersheds were also summarized based on relative topography and slope to provide information for future BMP stormwater mitigation techniques. I determined relative topography based on a topographic position index generated by the Land Facet Corridor toolset (Jenness 2010). This toolset examines the elevation differences between a target pixel and the pixels in a user defined neighborhood. From this information, I was able to determine which areas were depressions, peaks, flat or mildly sloped based on relative location. Project Results and Discussion Monterey Peninsula Area: Based on field visits, I determined that prominent topographic features within the outfall s potential drainage area were represented in the DEM and that no modifications to the DEM were necessary. The analyses indicated that the outfall drains an area of approximately 840 acres (Fig. 3). The majority of that area consists of medium residential use (MDR) land cover. For the permit in its current draft form the above data in addition to outfall diameter and age of outfall are all required for compliance. Understanding the spatial contributions and characteristics of the outfall watershed provides the foundation from which to develop other analyses and mitigation techniques. The watershed area also consisted largely of Pfeiffer fine sandy loam and Santa Lucia shaly clay loam soil type and contained depression areas potentially suitable for runoff infiltration sites. With additional data on water table height and hydrologic flow, frequency, and area drainage among other characteristics, a map may be developed that can identify areas for potential stormwater treatment and flow reduction sites. 11

12 Figure 3. Watershed boundary for the storm drain emptying to Del Monte Lake. Lower Carmel River: A portion of the urbanized areas contributing to the LCR are located within the Carmel River flood plain. A comparison of existing ground features affecting hydrology with the area s DEM indicated that the DEM resolution was not fine enough to depict Highway 1, a subtle, but important feature within the flood plain. To incorporate this topographic feature, I selected the associated stretch of the highway and created a raster layer 12

13 with a 6 m Euclidean distance from the highway. Then, I combined this corrected feature with the original DEM. As previously mentioned this region required gathering spatial data to define the current location of municipal storm drains. The field work revealed that the current sewer network is a result of multiple decades of overlapping networks which (Fig. 4). Figure 4. Representation of the storm sewer network of areas surrounding the Lower Carmel River showing overlapping storm sewers for two different outfalls. Three of the identified outfalls last inlets were determined to be located at a minimum of 500 m from the respective outfall. Since the regulations are concerned with the end of pipe flow, I generated watersheds from the last inlet as opposed to the location of the outfall instead of using 13

14 the outfall as the final downstream point. This would also incorporate the area directly surrounding the outfall, but these areas do not enter the storm sewer system. Adding to the complexity of this analysis, two of the outfalls had underground inlets that, if using this method, could not be incorporated into the conditioned surface DEM without introducing area that might not contribute to end of pipe runoff. As such manually defining the outfall watershed boundaries of these two outfalls in the flood plain section of the drainage area may be necessary. To demonstrate a process by which to use both the method employed at DML as well as a manual delineation, I delineated the watershed for Outfall B. The initial delineation analysis used the developed model to identify watershed boundaries of the upper reaches where the landscape is high relief. This provided the general shape the watershed and the boundary then was manually modified in ArcGIS 10 to reflect stormwater movement within the floodplain (Fig. 5). Previous studies have also noted the limitations of using surface topography in which the MS4 has hydraulic modifications such as pump systems (Jankowfsky et al 2012). Augusto et al (2009) indicated that GIS floodplain watershed analysis may be limited by DEM resolution. 14

15 Figure 5. Watershed for Outfall B on the Lower Carmel River illustrating the approach of first using the developed model to delineate upper reaches of a watershed (red) and then to manually alter the watershed (alterations shown in orange for illustration only). To address the two outfalls with underground inlets, other methods such as creating sinks in the DEM may yield results that are more accurate. Another option may be the use of software other than ArcGIS. For example, Watershed Modeling System (Aquaveo 2012) and XPSWMM are 15

16 programs designed to help analyze the flow of stormwater through municipal systems and delineate watersheds. Applications for other County of Monterey areas: While this model may not accurately delineate the complete watershed for some outfalls, the model still has applications for the county. Running delineations of outfall subwatersheds where the terrain is high relief, provides a partial automation for delineating watersheds Conclusion As a pilot study for Phase II MS4 Permit watershed analyses, my project provided a method for outfall watershed delineations as well as feedback for the Public Works Department of the County of Monterey concerning the challenges encountered while establishing municipal watershed boundaries and conducting related analyses. In addition, this internship allowed me the opportunity to study regulations regarding watershed management and non-point sources as well as the opportunity to develop methods to fulfill these NPDES regulatory requirements. These skills and experiences have provided me appropriate background to support a career as a USDA Hydrologist. References Aquaveo, LLC WMS Available at: Augusto CVG, Bonnet MP, Filho OCR, Mansur WJ Improving hydrological information acquisition from DEM processing in floodplains. Hydrological Processes 23: ESRI (Environmental Systems Resource Institute) ArcMap 10, ESRI, Redlands, California. Jankowfsky S, Branger F, Braud I, Gironás J, Rodriguez F Hydrological Processes. DOI: /hyp Jenness, J., B. Brost and P. Beier Land Facet Corridor Designer: Extension for ArcGIS. Jenness Enterprises. Available at: [SWRCB] State Water Resources Control Board May 18, 2012, Draft Water Discharge Requirements from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) (General Permit). [Internet]. [cited 2012 September 5] Available from: 16

17 XP Software, Inc XPSWMM v Portland, Oregon. 17

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