Improve water quality within the Ashley and Cooper River basins by providing educational opportunities on stormwater impacts and our community roles in supporting healthy, fishable, and swimmable waterways. In attendance: Tuesday, October 15, 2013 Clemson University Restoration Institute, North Charleston 9:00 AM 2:00 PM Meeting Summary Name Clint Busby Sonia Shahnaj Ashley Holley Chuck Jarman Kevin Limehouse Neil Desai Stuart Ruelle Bo Ellis Chick Foster Brett Champion Mike Dalrymple John Peckham Merry Barton Debbie Eckard Lisa Hajjar Tim Callahan Carl Taylor Blaik Keppler Elizabeth Vernon Bell April Turner Samantha Bruce Marty Morganello Andrew Wunderley Joe Fersner Kim Counts Affiliation Berkeley County Berkeley County Berkeley County Charleston County Charleston County Charleston County Charleston County Dorchester County City of Goose Creek Town of Mount Pleasant City of North Charleston City of North Charleston City of North Charleston Charleston Soil and Water Conservation District Charleston Soil and Water Conservation District College of Charleston College of Charleston SC DNR ACE Basin Coastal Training Program SC SeaGrant Consortium SC SeaGrant Consortium SC SeaGrant Consortium Surfrider Foundation Charleston Waterkeeper Woolpert Carolina Clear
Guinn Garrett Katie Giacalone Sara Pachota Angela Crouch Amy Dabbs Mark Arena Jennifer Schlette Harry Crissy Derrick Phinney Anand Jayakaran Carolina Clear Carolina Clear Carolina Clear Clemson University and Extension Sign in, collect materials, refreshments, 8:45 AM to 9:00 AM Meeting Start at 9:00 AM Welcome, Introductions Kim Counts began the meeting by welcoming all participants. Kim also offered special thanks to guest speaker Dr. Anand Jayakaran, for his participation in the meeting, Katie Giacalone, for travelling from Clemson to be present at the meeting, AJ Arena, for helping to coordinate the meeting location logistics, and Angela Crouch, for providing coffee and light morning refreshments to the group. Guinn Garrett then officially welcomed Mount Pleasant as the newest member of the ACSEC, Brett Champion (present) and Hillary Repik (not present) represent the Town of Mount Pleasant in the ACSEC. Guinn asked everyone to introduce themselves and to share a recent interesting or excited programming update related activity in their organization: Chuck Jarman, Charleston County: Updating tech manual at Charleston County. Clint Busby, Berkeley County: Getting more calls on illicit discharges relating this increase to education. Sonia Shahnaj, Berkeley County: Sangaree Community Day was a big success, the ACSEC was present and used the enviroscape model to discuss stormwater pollution. Ashley Holley, Berkeley County Roads and Bridges: increase in education leading to a greater awareness. Carl Taylor, College of Charleston: College of Charleston student performing floating wetlands research. Tim Callahan, College of Charleston, Stormwater-related research of recent and current graduate students in the Masters of Environmental Studies Program. Samm Bruce, SC SeaGrant: SC SeaGrant spearheading stormwater pond research for a better understanding of stormwater ponds and their lifespan in coastal SC. Chick Foster, City of Goose Creek: Shorescaping project was a big success on pond behind the City of Goose Creek town hall.
Kevin Limehouse, Charleston County: Charleston County wants to promote all that the Consortium does; for example, helped to spread the word about the June 1 rain barrel sale. Blaik Keppler, SCDNR: Project in the ACE Basin in which 40+ community leaders are to identify and prioritize shoreline needs so far, the result has been the DNR restoring one mile of oyster reef shoreline. Derek Phinney, : New Agent is getting to know more about Consortium activities. Jennifer Schlette, : Clemson 4-H agent participated and led the 2013 4-H2O Summer camp. John Peckham, City of North Charleston: Recognizes the consortium for the latest annual report. Mike Dalrymple, City of North Charleston: Also working to update their stormwater design manual. Katie Giacalone, Clemson Carolina Clear: Announced two upcoming programs: Clearly Doing Good and program-wide outreach effort. Mark Arena, Horticulture: Recent HOA outreach on pesticide application. Lisa Hajjar, Soil and Water Conservation District: Shared about the Toogoodoo Creek Project to address a bacteria TMDL, including education involving septic system repairs and replacements. Debbie Eckard, Soil and Water Conservation District: Homeowner outreach on septic systems. Andrew Wunderley, Charleston Waterkeeper: Water quality monitoring with College of Charleston MES program. Bo Ellis, Dorchester County: River Sweep with several hundred people, great turn out on Sawmill Branch. Matt Moldenhauer, CCPRC: CCPRC is planning better access to water through parks, working on stormwater recommendations. Sara Pachota, Clemson Carolina Clear: Continuing work with the Clemson Carolina Yards Program. Elizabeth Vernon Bell, SC SeaGrant: Work with the From Seeds to Shoreline Project offered 3 teacher workshops in summer 2013. Angela Crouch, : New development in the stormdrain marking program with the addition of metal stormdrain markers. Form and Function of Lowcountry Ditches, Dr. Anand Jayakaran 9:20 AM-10:00 AM Kim Counts introduced Dr. Anand Jayakaran, from Clemson University s Baruch Institute of Applied Ecology located just north of Georgetown, SC. Dr. Jayakaran s research focuses on understanding the impacts of human and natural alterations to waterways and discovering innovative ways to manage stormwater in urbanizing landscapes.
Dr. Jayakaran presented on the Channel Evolution Model in which ditches will eventually return to a more natural state if humans do not attempt to restore and reshape. A natural state in which littoral benches form which have a higher capacity to trap sediment, remove nutrients and slow flow rates. Dr. Jayakaran s research proposes an alternative shape for traditional ditches to include a low water level channel and a higher level, flood stage, channel. Dr. Jayakaran has partnered with Horry County to create a 2500 foot two stage channel as part of Crabtree Canal, these efforts could lead to recommendations on alternative ditch design. Dr. Jayakaran is seeking projects and possible partnerships in the Charleston Tri-County area to further this type of research. Discussion included question from Dr. Tim Callahan concerning easement and space needed for such a project, in which Dr. Jayakaran answered this type of effort does require more space than a traditional ditch. The channel must be allowed to shift and is wider as it allows water energy to dissipate over a wider area. This could potentially be the limiting factor to this type of ditch design; however, some potential to market as a city park/amenity. Ashley Holley raised another question concerning the required maintenance of such a system. Dr. Jayakaran answered that this sort of model is less highly controlled than a traditional ditch, meaning less weeding and attention, so therefore, may even be less maintenance. Chuck Jarman asked about tidally influenced ditches in which Dr. Jayakaran replied that ditches upstream of tidal influence tends to be more stable than the tidally influenced ditches. ACSEC Resolution Discussion- G. Garrett 10:00 AM 10:20 AM Guinn opened the discussion by describing the need for a Phase 2 resolution signing due to new faces and community additions. Guinn proposed either individual signings with each community or a single event with all the communities at one table. Chuck liked the idea of a planned event for single signing event; individual signing events do not have the same impact. The group agreed that a single event provides an opportunity for the mayors from smaller communities and mayors from larger communities to all sit at the same table, and the opportunity for publicity is much greater. Follow with plaque for council, not planning committee. Timing looking at January and February 2014. Annual Report Distribution- K. Counts 10:20 AM 10:30 AM ACSEC Year 5 Annual Report of Activities was distributed to meeting participants. Community partners also received an electronic form on CD for distribution to SC DHEC as well as one for MS4 files. A few minutes were spent discussing the features of the report including an Executive Summary page in which 2.7 million impacts were documented, up from last year s approximately 2.2 million impacts. These impacts include indirect and direct educational methods. The report includes many pictures and
some graphs to provide a visual aid in understanding Consortium-related efforts and activities. The Year Five Report, as well as past reports, can be found at ACSEC website (www.clemson.edu/carolinaclear/acsec) in the Archives folder. ACSEC Graduate Students Key Highlights and Outputs- K. Counts, K. Giacalone & T. Callahan 10:30 AM 10:50 AM The College of Charleston is a core education partner of the ACSEC through a number of activities including three ACSEC demonstration sites located on CofC campus, student involvement including litter sweeps, and faculty such as Dr. Tim Callahan, who are increasing student awareness of and interest in stormwater issues. The most obvious form of partnership between the ACSEC and CofC is in the graduate student internship projects. The ACSEC has hosted four students to date, with a fifth in progress. These efforts provide an excellent opportunity to utilize the innovation, energy and creativity of students to further develop ACSEC programming. The ACSEC Strategic Outreach Plan has provided guidance on choosing student projects directly related to outreach needs of the Consortium. Two examples of this coordination occurred during the 2012-2013 school year with graduate students, Sara Pachota and Sarah Rollins. The project of Sara Pachota directly related to the Home Landscaping- Nutrient Management and Proper Fertilizer Application educational priority for residential audiences as identified in the ACSEC Strategic Plan. Sara s graduate committee includes Dr. Tim Callahan, academic advisor, Kim Counts, internship advisor, Amy Dabbs and Blaik Keppler. Sara s project sought the input and expertise of countless others including Guinn Garrett, Katie Giacalone, Jennifer Schlette, Mark Arena, Harry Crissy, etc. The effort resulted in a five week online course entitled Carolina Yards, An Online Guide to Environmentally Friendly Gardening. The class ran from April 9 to May 14, 2013 at a cost of $99, with the option of purchasing a rain barrel for an additional $64. Major topics of the course included soils, plant selection, fertilizer and pesticide application, water wise gardening and backyard wildlife. Some preliminary results are as follows: 39 participants in pilot course 11 purchased rain barrels 19 earned Carolina Yard Certification 96% indicated the course was useful Next steps are to refine and expand the course to re-distribute on a statewide level. Katie Giaclone presented on the outputs of the work of graduate student Sarah Rollins. Katie mentioned that this internship started under Dave Joyner and evolved as Katie took over internship advisor responsibilities after Dave left. Sarah Rollins, as part of her internship work, digitized aerial photography of the Tri- County and identified more than 6,000 stormwater ponds in the Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester communities. Katie is reviewing the metadata for the files now and once ready, this pond database will be available for partner use and distributed to each partner on a portable USB stick.
Sarah also assisted Carolina Clear in developing a Stormwater Pond Maintenance binder for pond owners, like HOAs, that includes the information provided through the Clemson Stormwater Pond Management website (developed by Ben Powell), a pond identification log, a semi-annual inspection log, and a maintenance log. This binder was piloted with several communities and available through download on the Stormwater Pond Management website. Katie distributed several copies of the binder to community and education partners in the audience. Katie then asked how this binder and the information and resources it contains would best be distributed to the target audiences of residential and commercial pond owners. Chuck Jarman suggested development of a one-page fact sheet on the binder, website, and accessibility of these resources which could be distributed during a project s original permitting process. Bo Ellis commented on the difficulty of maintaining contact information with HOAs with their periodic board turnover. Katie acknowledged she knew this was a difficulty and mentioned that also included in the digitized pond layer was all the contact information for the parcel or ponds mapped. Andrew Wunderley suggested contacting and distributing the binder information to specialty law firms and property management companies who regularly communicate and work with HOAs. Chuck Jarman asked if there was a mechanism to keep the database of ponds and contact information updated. Katie agreed that some type of mechanism was needed and some type of update, including the potential to continue working with students at the College of Charleston, should be done on a periodic interval. Also, Dr. Tim Callahan told the group about the Peace Corps Masters International (PCMI) program opportunity as part of the CofC Masters of Environmental Studies (MES) program. The PCMI tract is an option to MES students, thus far 15 to 20 students are in the tract. These students stay on campus one year while receiving training and performing their coursework. In the summer, the student departs for Peace Corps training and volunteer service where they perform their research abroad during their two year duration. At the completion of their time abroad, they return to campus to defend. Students in the program are now serving in several countries but the program is new and no students have yet gotten to the point of project defense. CofC has chosen the ACSEC as the recipient of a PCMI student for the 2013 to 2014 school year. This student, Leslie Wooten, has a civil engineering background and will work with the ACSEC and CofC to perform some rainwater harvesting water quality research and testing. Carolina Clear Program-wide Updates- K. Giacalone 10:50 AM 11:30 AM Lever Initiative Announcement: This year marks the 100- year anniversary of the Smith- Lever Act, which established the land- grant institute and was the start to associated extension programing. In an effort to celebrate this landmark, Clemson
University issued an internal RFP for one-time funds available for projects that truly demonstrated the intended nature of Extension Service. Of the five proposals awarded, four were awarded to the Clemson Water Resources Team. The first proposal is the development of a blended webinar platform based out of the Center for Watershed Excellence. This program would serve to promote water resource related education and outreach through online learning opportunities. Included in this project will be the development of a Watershed Management course, headed by Katie Giacalone as the PI. The other proposals, which will also be offered through the blended webinar platform, include a post-construction best management practice (BMP) inspection program, headed by Dan Hitchcock as the PI. Cal Sawyer will also be involved in this program as it will be similar to the CEPSCI program as a certification program for inspectors to receive the information they need to complete post-construction inspections of infrastructure. Another funded proposal, developed by Sara White and Dara Park, PIs, offers a recognition and training program targeting environmentally-friendly commercial landscaping practices. Lastly, Guinn Garrett is the PI on the development of a Master Pond Manager course to teach stormwater pond owners and recreational pond owners the management techniques needed to maintain these systems for function and downstream water quality protection. Katie also distributed a summary handout to describe the awarded projects. Phone Survey Update- The phone survey has been revised and includes 100 data points with the goal gaining feedback from 2000 residents. The effort to refine questions included using a focus group to test questions as well as identifying questions specific to local areas (the ACSEC representatives participated in this activity during the Spring 2013 meeting). The survey will be administered to participants in the Tri-county region this fall. Progress of the survey will be housed on the Carolina Clear webpage with preliminary results available in spring of 2014 and final analysis available during summer of 2014. This data set will provide an opportunity to compare results to the 2009 survey as well as compare results with other regions of the state. Katie handed out questions to the group to review, the survey should take participants roughly 15 minutes to complete. Samantha Bruce recommended placing the storm drain marking question at the end of the survey since preliminary results show that this question has been shown to confuse participants. Mass Media Update- The third statewide mass media campaign, which in the past has been focused on educational messages, is set to launch. This current effort is an awareness campaign concerning the Carolina Yards program. The Carolina Yards program is a vehicle to educate residential audiences about watershed friendly landscaping practices. The Carolina Yard program needed branding and increased awareness of its existence to justify time and energy spent on the program s development. The commercial will air locally on Knology and WOW, with match funding from the network provider. Three billboards will also follow. April Turner commented that she had seen the CY commercial locally.
Water Resource Engineer- A new Clemson University position has been announced for a Water Resource Engineer. The position is currently open. The group received a handout on position description. 2014 Stormwater Pond Management Conference Discussion- K.Counts, B.Keppler & G. Garrett 11:30 AM Noon Kim began the discussion by presenting on the 2012 Stormwater Pond Management Conference. This inaugural effort was positively received as nearly 200 individuals participated in the Conference and participant feedback was largely positive. The 2012 effort included two general sessions for topics identified as important to everyone, concurrent sessions, created to cater to the unique needs of participants as no two stormwater pond is the same, and lastly a vendor floor to help participants identify professional groups who work on stormwater pond issues. The survey results, which included open and closed-ended feedback, demonstrated that participants largely liked the format of the conference. Furthermore, the audience was diverse in nature consisting of federal, state, city and county employees as well as pond managers, HOA s and POA s, among others. Blaik led the group through a rating activity in which ACSEC meeting participants were given the opportunity to vote on topic ideas for the 2014 effort, as well as write in potentially new topics. Guinn wrapped up the discussion by gaining additional verbal feedback from the group. New topics included emphasis on discussion and hands-on learning for basic pond function, LID and treatment train options, upland best management practices, and geese or nuisance wildlife management. Break for lunch Noon-12:45PM Resource Development Update 12:45 PM-1:15 PM Business Recognition Program Guinn Garrett summarized that the ACSEC Strategic Plan identified initially targeting restaurants under a business recognition program to address stormwater pollution prevention in commercial audiences. A program advisory committee met in June 2013, members were composed of some of the ACSEC s MS4 partners, education partners, and. Since then, criteria and requirements for the program have been finalized with actions including: FOG management, site maintenance and waste management; landscaping; stormwater pollution prevention and water conservation; and training, education and awareness. As part of the training, education and awareness sections, participants will be encouraged to get involved in other green programs.
A workbook has also been developed with links to resources, tool tips, and fillable portions. Additional resources were identified for production and in draft format include: equipment wash procedures; spill response guidance, spill kit and lists of materials, training log, and more. Work is being done with a designer to include these resources in a similar format and look as some of the original FOG guidance developed through Carolina Clear. Guinn mentioned that the committee agreed this project is unique in that it needs to be specific to the restaurant industry and received positive response on the committees suggested name change to Carolina Clean Watershed Restaurant branding and logo. Guinn also took a moment to introduce Harry Crissy, Economic and Community Development Agent for the Tri-County, who has provided much of the guidance and insight into what the committee hopes is a successfully marketed and promoted program. Ø Carolina Yard Program Sara Pachota presented on the work being done to further develop the Carolina Yards program on a statewide level. Stemming from her initial internship with ACSEC and CofC MES, Sara has been hired as part of the Clemson Carolina Clear team to revise and update the Carolina Yardstick workbook and begin outreach to teachers through Carolina Schoolyards. The new Carolina Yards website can be found at www.clemson.edu/cy. Ø Stormdrain Marking Program Additions Angela Crouch presented on the new metal storm drain markers to be utilized in high visibility areas. The first installation of metal storm drain markers is to take place on Folly Beach at 60 locations using the Surfrider Foundation volunteers. A brief presentation was given to Folly Beach City Council and positive response was received. Angela asked that if anyone is interested in a metal storm drain marking program or the traditional plastic markers, they should contact her to coordinate. Ø Ivy Rain Barrel Sales From January 2013 to June 2013, the ACSEC hosted four rain barrel sales and sold more than 200 rain barrels to the Tri-County community. Sales included a Master Gardener sale, Carolina Yards Gardening School offering, Carolina Yards Online offering and a general public sale in partnership with Charleston County. Neil Desai helped to coordinate site logistics for the general public sale. Rain barrel sales are provided in partnership with RainWater Solutions. Rainwater Solutions provides a press release, website and any other technical support to make the process go as smoothly as possible. In spring 2014, Kim mentioned the interest in looking to work in Berkeley County and potentially, using the DHEC Lawnmower Exchange event to also offer rain barrels for sale. If anyone is interested in hosting a sale, they should contact Kim.
Ø Outreach Material Additions Guinn presented on the addition of general stormwater pollution prevention signage and illicit discharge reporting signage, available to community members. Guinn shared that Paul Zorba, with Charleston County, has already used some in the island communities and planning on printing and distributing more. Guinn is getting additional signs printed for community members and asked that interested consortium members contact her if they want copies or, for electronic copies of the signs for their own printing. Guinn also presented as a reminder to the group that there is education signage available that focuses on residential rain gardening, rain gardens for youth, stormwater pond, and ditches. Katie Giacalone also added that there is a preference for communities to print and install the Don t Pitch in the Ditch signage in neighborhoods. Guinn mentioned that all signs are customizable and community logos can be included. Discussion Items 1:15 PM 1:45 PM Ø Elizabeth Vernon Bell spoke to the group about the From Seeds to Shoreline Teacher Workshops of summer 2013. The workshops were designed to provide a sense of autonomy in teachers, to lead their students in this year-long project. The workshops emphasized protocol for seed harvesting, germination and cultivation as well as S2S curriculum and classroom activities. The three workshops were one day each and targeted different areas of the coast; Waddell Mariculture Center, Fort Johnson Marine Center (15 teachers participating from the Charleston Tri-county), and Hunting Beach State Park. Over 1200 students were involved during the 2012 to 2013 school year. Ø Marty Morganello presented on the Surfrider Foundation s Blue Water Task Force water quality monitoring initiative. Surfrider Foundation has 86 chapters worldwide committed to protecting the world s oceans, waves, and beaches. A major partner of the Blue Water Task Force is Emergen-C, for every packet of Emergen-C sold, a portion is donated to this Sufrider effort funding test kits for monitoring. Locally, the Charleston Chapter of Surfrider is partnering with Charleston SUP Safari to perform water quality testing as part of an education effort with visiting tourist and school children (James Island Middle School). Results from the monitoring are posted to a website which hosts monitoring points across the country. Ø Blaik Keppler from the ACE Basin NERR provided an update on the Coastal SC LID Manual. The Manual has been drafted and is in the early review phase. By mid-november the document will be distributed to a wider audience for review and comment. On January 9, 2014, a workshop will take place to gain feedback on the manual. Blaik also mentioned additional NERR Trainings to take place locally include: Wading Bird Rookery Management Training upcoming on Spring Island
Feb 25 and 26: CTP will be hosting a NOAA Coastal Services Training on facilitating collaborative meetings training April 17 th : Wetland identification training Future potential workshops include trainings on sediment basin, surface water skimmers and baffles workshop. Ø Andrew Wunderley provided an update on efforts of the Charleston Waterkeeper. Waterkeeper is working with Peace Corps intern at CofC MES to conduct water quality monitoring. The results are being mapped at charlestonwaterkeeper.org/waterquality. The Waterkeeper will publish a scorecard for monitored sites with a pass and fail or may be creek based. Other project is partnership with Mt Pleasant Waterworks, the Town of Mount Pleasant, and the CofC MES program working in small tidal creek in Mt Pleasant that has been closed for shellfish harvesting due to high bacteria loads. The project is collecting one year of data with a CofC grad student to track bacteria levels, as well as sediment and optical brighteners. Enterococcus and fecal coliform are being monitored. The SwimGuide is also available, this is a mobile app for bacteria monitoring results at beaches. Lastly, the Waterkeeper s Pump Out Program was recently launched, in partnership with DNR. This 19-foot boat is a mobile pump out unit. Currently, Waterkeeper is getting internal mechanisms in place currently as the program has been in place for less than one month. Once addressed, Waterkeeper will do more outreach to increase the number of participants. Ø April Turner announced the Tidal Creeks Summit to take place in December in Wilmington, NC. Many of the ACSEC partners are participating. Ø Chuck Jarman also mentioned that the Southeast Stormwater Association (SESWA) will have its southeastern regional conference in Charlotte. Next Meeting Date Set, Evaluations and Adjourn K. Counts and G. Garrett proposed several dates for the next ACSEC meeting and members agreed on Tuesday, April 29 th for the spring meeting date. Members completed meeting evaluations. The meeting was adjourned at 2 pm. Following the meeting a tour was provided of the Clemson University Wind Turbine Drivetrain Testing Facility to those who were interested. About 15 Consortium members stayed to tour the facility with AJ Arena and Konstantin Bulgakov.