After you’ve read and/or seen those, take a look at another Roanoke Times article by Christian Trejbal “The registrar’s office needs a change“. While I do like the people at the Registrar’s Office here a great deal, there have been some issues. Now, exactly how many of those issues are a function of monetary cuts to that department by the County is certainly open for debate. There have been times when they have had to rely on volunteers to help get the jobs done.

What links these two articles together? Why the failure of Christiansburg elected officials to read, comprehend, and follows the rules/laws. Mistakes made during campaigns are extraordinarily similar to those made at the Town Council meeting in that there was a was either ignorance of, or disregard for, the laws of the State of Virginia. Verbal promises are pretty much meaningless when the actions undertaken effectively undermine those promises. Those promises are cheapened even further when there is a disregard for the law. Pretty words from politicians also known as empty rhetoric.

I have heard that some Town Council members feel that they are being pressured because of the way citizens are coming to the meetings and people are being kept informed of what is happening because of blogs and video recordings. The fact that citizens are watching to be sure that their elected officials are deserving of citizen respect and future votes should not be a surprise to Town Council. If there is nothing to hide, and you are following the rules, then all should be fine. It is the right of citizens to watch their government perform, to ask questions, to expect (and where necessary demand) answers. It is the right of citizens to hold elected officials accountable and to point out when elected officials talk a good show but do nothing to see that the issues are dealt with.

For example, during the 6/1/2010 meeting, I asked Town Council again to do something about the Urban flooding being caused in Cambria by the Town’s failure to manage stormwater in the area. Through both act (increasing development with impervious surfaces, failing to anticipate the amount of storm water runoff, and channeling storm water from surround areas directly into the floodplain area rather than insuring it runs into an effective storm water management system) and omission (failure to do anything when FEMA determined flooding was the result of inadequate storm water management, failure to do anything when citizens came forward on multiple occasions over the last several years asking the town to correct the issues) the Town has caused the problems at the area where Cambria and Depot St. intersect. (As an aside here, as one person at the meeting pointed out, there was flooding in Cambria during the 1960′s. It was during a little cloudburst named “Hurricane Camille” and the year was 1969 and a record 27″ of rain fell in the mountains of Virginia. Flash flooding took the lives of 153 people. (I wonder what would happen if that same type of storm hit again today.)

The Mayor’s response was that the Town had sent out an Engineer. The fact that the Town had sent out an Engineer was verified by the Town Manager, and I added the fact that Engineers had been out several times. The sending out of a handful of engineers has been ineffective. The perimeter of a berm necessary to hold water away from the historic depot is approximately 400 feet. If you assume an average of 6′ in height for each engineer, you would need 66.66… engineers to build a berm with and that would only be 1 engineer thickness in height. Given that the thicknesses of engineers varies significantly from engineer to engineer, another 30 or so engineers would be needed to equalize the height of the berm for a total of 100 engineers. At the rate of 3 – 4 engineers annually coming out to look at the problem, acknowledging the problem, and still seeing nothing done about the problem, it would take approximately 25 to 30 years for there to be enough engineers in place to protect the building.

I have written the EPA to ascertain if there would be any problems with the use of engineers as berm material due to the byproducts developed by a well fed and maintained berm of engineers. I have yet to receive a response but I anticipate there would be problems. If not properly fed and maintained, the environmental impact could be far worse. Although I do suppose it is possible to make an argument that in either case, an act of nature could be blamed for the problem thus making it okay with the Town of Christiansburg.

All in all, I’m betting that there could be more effective measures taken to control the runoff than to pay 100 or so engineers to lay down on the job.

I am sorry for any inconvenience this has caused customers, but the Historic Structure has to have priority. The floors are American Chestnut which as most of you know is extinct, so there is NO replacing it. Drying out those floors has been a very slow process to insure there was no warping or other damage. Except for a bit more painting that needs to be done, the store is about ready. Our inventory is a bit low because we were unable to verify that there were no hazardous chemical or sewage in the stormwater so anything that got possibly damp… got gone! The safety, health, and well being of you and your families is and always will be our primary goal within the store.  We hope to start with hours from 10:00AM to 5:00PM Wednesday through Saturday and 1:00PM to 5:00PM on Sundays starting July 29th, Wednesday.

After being closed for over two months trying to repair damage to the Depot from the stormwater flooding that occurred (by the way, the stormwater drain by the other train station is still funneling a ton of water directly into the floodplain. (A short video is available but it may be a bit slow to load right now.) That water comes off of all the area above the Main Street intersection. During a good rain, it creates a kinda kewl waterfall, unless, of course, you have to be out in that rain trying to keep more flooding from happening. That should be a heads up to all of you who live in that area. Whatever you put in your yard or in the ditch ends up coming through that pipe under the road and dumping on to the ground then goes directly into the Creek. That means, what you dump you (or someone else) drinks. What you dump affects aquatic life and the nearby plants and animals relying on that Creek to stay alive.

It also means that a lot more sedimentation is going into the Creek. When that settles out, you will find the water level slowly increasing and more flooding is likely. If you can remember a time when the water didn’t come over the bank nearly as much, this process is a likely culprit. Try filling a glass of water to the brim, then toss in a couple of tablespoons of dirt and what happens. Be sure you have a towel handy or do it on a surface that you don’t mind getting wet though!

Then you really, really have to wonder about the number of sewage issues and how much of that ended up going into the stormwater. That adds the potential for a lot of nasty bacteria and such ending up in the water supply. Thus far, we are still fighting against future flooding in Cambria.

Before you start saying, well it’s in a floodplain so it is suppose to flood, remember that it has been in that floodplain for decades without any flooding. The problems did not start until the town raised the road level again (now a total of 18″ in 20 years), installed that crazy concrete ‘dam’ in the middle of the road, installed a drainage – sidewalk system that looks nice but is totally dysfunctional, and started allowing a lot of development in the surround area without enforcing the town’s codes (and state laws) concerning stormwater and erosion/sediment control.

Remember that glass of water experiment I spoke of earlier? In the real world that dirt is picked up and carried by water going to stormdrains. Some of that sediment settles out in those basis designed to collect and channel stormwater flow. As time goes by, layers of sediment build up and the result is that the catch basins cannot hold as much water. That is why people saw the Town’s trucks out in Cambria at 6AM on the morning of the 15th. They were trying to pump out the sediment that had built up, preventing the system from draining effectively. The fact that that is a fairly new system shows that there is a significant problem with either the amount of sediment going into the drains or that town staff have not been given the latitude to do the type of monitoring and maintenance required to make sure these types of situations do not occur. Preventative maintenance is much less expensive than dealing with the affects of doing nothing.

By the way, there are those who are reporting that they have been assured by one council member that their problems will be taken care of by the Town. Cambria Emporium and Cambria Depot, two of the buildings in Town listed in the Federal Registry of Historic Places have not been provided such assurances from anyone in the Town. We do however, have new painting for parking and crosswalk which is appreciated as it adds to customer and tourist safety. I just hope the paint surface used can be seen from several inches under muddy water.

By the way, in any situation where you have reported these types of erosion and sediment control issues, notify the Town first. You do not have to accept being ignored as many have complained to me has been done to them. If the Town does not deal with the problem, your next course of action is to contact the Department of Conservation and Recreation for help.

At the webpage you will find options to be able to see or download individual chapter or the overall ordinance. Funny thing is that (I haven’t finished the line-by line analysis yet) in the individual Chapters there is a Chapter 10 Erosion and Sediment Control. It is a 14 page .pdf document.

Now, if you go to the full copy of the Code, Chapter 10 is titled: Erosion and Sediment Control and Stormwater Management. It is 47 pages long and broken down into 3 sections. These sections are: Article I. Erosion and Sediment Control, Article II. Stormwater Management, Article III. Illicit Discharge.

Maybe that is what was meant by the State of Virginia directive that the Town must update it’s Storm Water Management section of the Town Code. Maybe it was to remove it from visibility in order to be able to ignore it more effectively. Maybe the Town is actually working on the updates, but such a note should be found. Where is this update that was ordered? If the codes were out of complaince was that a significant part of why all of the flooding occurred.

What happened here was what is known as Urban Flooding, Flooding due to increases in impervious surfaces and sections of disturbed land surface. T he same amount of water fall would NOT have had the same impact 5 or 10 years ago.

I can just see the new real estate ads now: Free Personal Flotation Devices with Every Home Purchase!

New photos on myvaresources.com. Check ‘em out!

This omission in the Codes would be funny if the very thing that got me started on this whole process had not been the fact that I raised an issue on parking and was told I had no standing. To prove the point, I was provided a copy of the relevant State Code that did show that I had no standing. Unfortunately, the copy I was given was not complete. I went to the actual State Code and found that the lines that were omitted clearly stated that I did have standing and my request was valid. Once someone lies to me I never believe that person again without checking out what that person said. In this case the person was the Town of Christiansburg. Over time, they have proven that my beliefs were well founded.

Wikipedia does have informtion on the 100 year flood: A one-hundred-year flood is calculated to be the level of flood water expected to be equaled or exceeded every 100 years on average. The 100-year flood is more accurately referred to as the 1% flood, since it is a flood that has a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any single year. Based on the expected flood water level, a predicted area of inundation can be mapped out. This floodplain map figures very importantly in building permits, environmental regulations, and flood insurance.

First, let me point out a few little details that the Town Manager may want to check out:
1. the National Flood Insurance Program has copies of current flood plain maps available online. More of that nasty Freedom of Information, Empowering Citizens junk:) Just looking at the section in Cambria, if this most recent rainfall would have met the criteria for a 100 year (much less than a 1000 year flood) businesses on both sides of Crab Creek along Cambria and Depot Streets would have been flooded, including some of those on the far side of Depot. The railroad tracks would have been underwater. All of those areas on the opposite side of the track from the Depot would have been underwater.
2.A Public Information Statement from the National Weather Service in Blacksburg VA notes unofficial precipitation totals for a 15 hour period ending at 8 AM Friday and shows the Christiansburg level at 2.37″. Having been in the Cambria area, I would argue that it was closer to a 4″ rainfall there, and there was one report of over six inches there from a source who had positioned a personal rainguage in a location where the level was compromised by flow from a roof.
3. A local Storm Report from National Weather Service Blacksburg, VA notes that there was a flash flood on North Franklin Street at Spradlin Farms that closed the road due to high water reaching a depth of 3 feet. Road was re-oped around 4:00 AM (What creeks are there in Spradlin Farm area? Shouldn’t that be high and dry if storm water management is adequate?)
4. At 2:40 AM the National Weather Service Blacksburg, VA released a flash flood advisory reporting flash flooding all across the town. (Flooding should be the result of water having no place to go. If there is more water trying to go into the same location, a phenomenon that occurs when you significantly increase the amount of impervious surface without upgrading stormwater management features to accomodate that flow.)
5. Also at 2:40 AM several basements reported flooded in various locations across town.

I spent part of today out taking more photos of damage in Cambria and in other areas. Those photos will be loaded on online in the next few days. They are currently enroute to storage. Those photos clearly show that the elevation of the railroad track is higher than either the Cambria Emporium or the Depot and the buildings on the other side of Crab Creek.

It should further be noted that the large grassy areas which are at a lower elevation that the Cambria Emporium or the Depot but are on the opposite side of the track are untouched by water flow or debris. In full investigative mode, I wandered down the track looking and taking photos on both sides. No evidence of flooding was found on the Creek side of the railroad tracks. However, there is extensive evidence to indicate that water running downhill from properties on the otherside of the track pushed debris up to the very edge of the track. A lot of debris flowed down a channel along side the track headed straight for….yep you guessed the Cambria Depot and Emporium, which ironically (NOT) did get flooded.

I’ll be loading the audio of today’s PC meeting in a bit but I was in another meeting with the camera so I only have partial videos of that meeting. The audio fortunately caught something I would have missed. A citizen asking for a rezoning to allow a used carlot, uphill from the depot and the train track, which will include a newly paved area for the cars to be parked upon.

The owner of the property noted that he had some problems with water running off of Depot St. onto his property but that the town had a drain there and that took care of it, pretty much. But, in the past 2 years he did add two drains of his own to keep his buildings from flooding. Those drains run downhill and drop off the slope at the tracks……(at about the same place I found where part of the slope had been washed away, several large limbs had been washed down, oh, and a large black cable that runs between two large wooden poles has been pulled down and is now tangled in the debris. Wanna bet the next good rain takes out that power line?

Walking down the track shows a clear path of water running down the track headed to Cambria Street. Debris is pushed up onto the track, maybe a train derailment in the future?

What in the heck is it going to take for these guys to get a clue and realize that it is stormwater management that is the issue? The Town needs to have professionals come in to look at these. (I have a nightvision feature on my camera and I can’t wait to see what the shots from the grates down inside those drains show:)

Back to processing audio and video recordings:) Got some more photo albums to put together on stormwater. Keep checking at http://myvaresources.com for updates of existing and new photo albums.

Mr. Terpenny, you might want to get those comments from ‘specialists’ in writing to present to Town Council. It is probably just that you accidentally mispoke again, but that is so common, you really should take steps to help keep those mistakes from happening. If you come up with a document I can verify, I will be happy to post it on my website.

I began looking more closely at Crab Creek when I found out that it was being damaged by runoff because of developments and stormwater. And I did a blog specifically related to Stormwater.

The Roanoke Times article provided more information.

Heavy rains fuel isolated flooding

The final piece came in the form of a statement by a property owner:

McCoy said Crab Creek floods every five to 10 years. “Each flood, it gets worse,” he said. “We’ve had a few floods,” Vickie McCoy said, “but nothing like this.”

Well, unless the average amount of water in a raindrop has increased, or the creek bed has shrunk, you have to look at some other reason for a pattern of flooding that is worsening over time. That common element is the loss of pervious surfaces.

Wikipedia reports:

Because impervious surfaces (parking lots, roads, buildings, compacted soil) do not allow rain to infiltrate into the ground, more runoff is generated than in the undeveloped condition. This additional runoff can erode watercourses (streams and rivers) as well as cause flooding when the stormwater collection system is overwhelmed by the additional flow. Because the water is flushed out of the watershed during the storm event, little infiltrates the soil, replenishes groundwater, or supplies stream baseflow in dry weather.^[3]

We have existed in what is essentially considered a drought condition for the last decade. Decisions were made by the Town of Christiansburg to allow rapid growth with huge expansions in the amount of impervious surfaces. Well, the water has to go somewhere. Maybe you don’t care because it doesn’t affect you. Or does it? Will it affect your insurance rates as these flood damage claims continue to climb over the years when we go back into normal water fall patterns? Will it affect the value of your property? It is obvious from the statements in the Times article that Christiansburg residents are not the only ones who will suffer the consequences. The storm water doesn’t stop in Christiansburg, it continues on down the Creek doing damage, creating fear, potentially spreading disease and providing great breeding grounds for mosquitos (that also carry disease).

Decisions made by Town Council affect more than just Christianburg residents. Issues of stormwater have been brought before Town Council before and those citizens with the courage to complain have been brushed aside and/or laughed at by those in power.

It is time for this type of arrogance and ignorance to stop. We need to elect Town Council members who take the job seriously. We need to elect Town Council members who get accurate information and follow their own codes. We need Town Council members who will make sure that the codes of the town are followed by those who work for the town. For instance:

From Chapter 25 of the Town Code (found on myvaresources.com and at christiansburg.org):

Sec. 25-4. Grading–Plans to show elevation or lowering.
Whenever the paving, grading or making of sidewalks or streets anywhere in the Town is ordered by the Town Council, it shall be the duty of the Town Manager, when in his opinion such street or sidewalk should be so graded as to raise or lower the same materially with reference to the property of abutting lot owners, to make his plans of such improvement, showing accurately in feet and tenths of feet the elevation or lowering of the street with reference to such adjacent property. (Code 1972, Sec 25-4)
State law reference(s)–Grading streets, etc., Code of Virginia, Sec 15.1-368 et seq.

Sec. 25-5. Same–Waiver of damages by property owners.
Before proceeding with the work mentioned in Section 25-4, the Town Manager shall obtain from the owners of the property to be affected by such change of grade a written waiver of all damages. If such property owners refuse to sign such waiver, the Town Manager shall report
the situation to the Town Council and receive authority from that body before proceeding with the work.
(Code 1972, Sec 25-5)

It would seem that in situations such as the one in Cambria where the road surface was raised higher than the entrances to buildings, this would be an appropriate step to take. It was not done.

I’ve gone around Town looking at other areas where the same situation has evolved. Is this incompetence, arrogance, or a combination of both?

What do you, as a citizen, have a right to expect from your town? Is this what you are happy with?

I’m still waiting to see the updated stormwater management code that the State came in and required Christiansburg to complete.

Despite the fact that the Town was out fighting stormwater problems during a fairly light rain a few days ago (I’ll get those pics up when I can), a bigger rain comes and low and behold, the Cambria Emporium has a new mud floor, the Historic Cambria Depot has a watermark about 16″ up from ground level on the side of the building.

Some of this can be attributed, I’m sure, to the fact that a local business’s dumpster turned over and blocked the one extra drain in the area that diverts stormwater under the railroad and into the Creek. (By the way, the Creek level is fine, it never flooded.)

Some of this, particularly given how extensive this flood damage has been throughout the town, is more likely due to poor planning for stormwater management.

By the way, did you know that per the Town Code any work done on streets/sidewalks, etc. that raises the level of that entity requires that the Town Manager provide written notices to adjacent property owners and that waivers are obtained before the work begins? (Just a quick aside.)

Please let me know what you are hearing as to the flooding in Christiansburg. I want to know where it occurred and, if possible, the types of damage done. Thus far, I have heard that a tremendous amount of it has been in the Mall area. (Let’s see….massive, expansive development, poor stormwater management, and flooding? Is there a relationship?)

So I guess the goal of saving taxpayer money by taking shortcuts only works if you live on the higest property in Town.

Williamsburg Environmental Group, Inc provides basic information on LID’s in it’s October 2003 Tecnical Update. The discussion on “What is LID?” covers what and LID is supposed to accomplish as an alternative to conventional methods of stormwater management. They go further in their discussion to note that while it may not be practical in all situations, even partial application of LID can have positive overall results. Although the specific State Code referred to at the end of the article causing the creation of a Low Impact Development Assessment Task Force has expired, language is now included in Virginia State Code Section 10.1-603.4 (Development regulation.) Subsection 8: “Encourage low impact development designs, regional and watershed approaches, and nonstructural means for controlling stormwater;” (This section of the State Code also gives some other useful information, so if you take the time to look up the section I’ve quoted here, please take a few extra minutes to read the rest.)

The Norfolk District Regulatory Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a site that provides information that may be important for those jurisdiction that may want to look grant money as possible sources for revitalization of neighborhoods. (See some of what has already happened concerning some of these Water Quality Improvements by way of Virginia grants on this press release from Governor Tim Kaine.What elected officials may find helpful is the “Report on December 2003 Low Impact Development Workshops…” as it identifies some of the issues that would need to be addressed in order to implement LID’s locally such as ordinances and enforcement issues.

Brining the issues involved in effective stormwater management is the “2007 Virginia/West Virginia Water Research Symposium: The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center, Blacksburg, VA; November 26-30, 2007“. This document simply contains an overview of some of the presentations but there are links to authors and department listings that could prove useful in tracking down more information. On page 2, There is an overview (actually, all of these are abstracts of papers presented at the conference that I have not found yet) on “The Adoption of Low Impact Development in Virginia Local Governments”, by Moonsun Jeong of the Environmenta Design and Planning Department at Virginia Tech. All of hte information here constitute good places to begin the process of understanding the importance of effective stormwater practices and how this issues is not simply about one person’s yard. It is a process with far reaching implications from headwaters to the Ocean and returning in the form of rain.

The Valley Concervation Council has a website with a lot of great links to Low Impact Development information sources. One such document is the final report from the Low Impact Development Assessment Task Force noted above. Another one is from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: The Parctice of Low Impact Development. (Note, this is a bit slow to download but is well organized and very informative.)

Why heck, there is even a Low Impact Development Center, Inc. These folks cover the issues, the newest products, and provide a great resource for any developers brave enough to use this approach. (Unfortunately, there have been some attempts in other jurisdictions that have been shut down because of their elected officials!) Lack of information provided to public officials is just as dangerous as having information given to those officials who ignore it!! Some of the featured topics I found include Green Highways & Green Infrastructure and Rain Garden Templates. The even have a link to resources for people who are trying to plan LID’s complete with examples and designs in AutoCAD and JPEG formats as well as information as to construction, cost, maintenance, specifications, and watershed benefits.

Chesterfield County, Virginia, Fairfax County, Virginia and Stafford, Virginia are both taking Low Impact Development seriously. The DCR (Department of Conservation and Recreation) Erosion and Sediment Control 2009 LID Product Order Form allows individuals, companies, and even elected officials the opportunity to order products in DVD and/or CD format that provides and introduction to Low-Impact Development, brochures, manuals, worksheets and sample codes. Strategies for implementation can be found at the RiverFriends.org site’s report: Low Impact Development Strategies for Rural Communities,by John Tippett, Executive Director, Friends of the Rappahannick, Inc. Fredericksburg, Virginia and Neil Weinstein, Executive Director, Low Impact Development Center, Beltsville, Maryland . This contains a good discussion on how the Town Manager of Warsaw, Virginia found that conventional methods of stormwater management would not be as cost effective as using the TID approach.

It is clear there is no lack of information on how effective and efficient Low Impact Development is in the area of stormwater management. If you take the time to read some of the articles noted here, you will see there are a lot of opportunities for local government, civic groups, home owner groups, and individuals. An investment made today, can have a long lasting impact on reducing the cost to taxpayers for conventional storm water management and mitigation of streams/streambanks, providing grant money for rennovating older communities, increasing property values (and, of course, taxes), helping to protect our food supplies (as both land and aquatic organism require clean water, preventing pollutants from entering our drinking water, and perhaps, restoring some of our waterways into features that can be fully utilized by future generations. We have the opportunity to prevent further damage to our waterways and even undo some of the destruction that has already occurred. With all of this information available, it looks like the only thing missing is the will to do it.

I do so love Wikipedia:

Based upon that definition, it is clear that there are two key components of stormwater, quantity and quality. A large quantity of reasonably clean stormwater or a small quantity of polluted stormwater can each do a tremendous amount of damage. Clearly, it is as important to be able to anticipate problems with both quantity and quality in land use decisions.

Every square inch of asphalt or concrete represents the loss of pervious surfaces that will allow rainfall to be absorbed into the ground. This means that more water runs off of that surface, adding to totals in other areas. If the rainfall is fairly light, the additional water may well be absorbed by surrounding soil. In situations where the rainfall is heavy , the soil cannot absorb it quickly enough, and it simply cascades down slope until it reaches the lowest possible point, where it sits until it can be absorbed. That spot where the water sits could be your backyard, a man-made retention pond or lake, a ditch, or it could run into a stormwater drain, a creek (or other natural water source), etc.

Most people will notice if there are a couple of inches of water hanging out on a water-type vacation in their backyard. Some will even notice that levels in local waterways seem to be elevated or the water is moving a bit faster than usual.What goes unnoticed by many is what that water may have picked up in its travels and the slow erosion of soil that can occur over time.

Whatever heavy metals (zinc from parking lots and roadways), chemicals, bacteria, organic fertilizers (poop to many of us), petroleum-based products, bits of soil, etc. that the water passes over in it travels can be picked up and carried by the water. All of those little bits and pieces hold a ‘meet and greet’ where ever  the water pools. Some of it gets sidetracked along the way, leaving small samples along the entire course of the water. But, the bulk is carried to that backyard, ditch, creek, pond, etc.

Unless the area where the runoff is deposited is a moving body of water, the various items picked up will accumulate over time, sometimes growing to levels that create a hazard to various lifeforms including humans. The areas where filtration down into the soil is particularly slow, you have the added bonus of providing a breeding ground for mosquitos which can, an often do, carry diseases which can be transmitted to humans and animals. As solids settle to the bottom, the area where the water stands become larger in surface. (If you want to test that theory, take a small bowl of water, fill it to the brim, then add a handful of sand to it. Please be sure you do not try this around electrical appliances:)

If the recipient of that runoff water happens to be a moving body of water, only the heaviest of particles will settle out in the early stages. It will not be until the size of the stream increases and the flow slows down some that more of the particles will filter out. This could mean that those same types of deposits settling in someone backyard could show up hundreds of feet or miles away. Those deposits, along with the deposits from other steams, come together and become part of some of our major food source systems: the water is used for irrigation,  provides habitat for fish and seafood, and  enters the drinking water is provided to homes.

Maybe all of this sounds a bit off topic coming from someone who usually comments on local government and laws. Well, it seems to me that stormwater quality and quantity should be a top issue for our local government. Land use decisions made by our local officials can have far reaching affects. It is important to see that people’s backyards are not flooded. It is also important to make sure that the water flowing from areas of impervious surfaces is as safe as possible. In the long-range view, both quality and quantity of stormwater are important to our futures and for generations to come. There is no reason why we have to accept the minimum state standards. We can and should do more.

No matter how much ‘green space’ we have, if we do not make efforts to effectively monitor and manage stormwater run-off and improve stormwater protection methods, those green spaces will simply become repositories for all of those chemicals, biological organizisms, etc. and simply become toxic areas.

As usual, these are just the opinions I arrived at after doing a lot of reading. I’m sure there are plenty of readers out there who know more about the subject than I do. These may seem like pretty small things when compared to the problems note in a recent Roanoke Times article about the Radford Arsenal’s claim to fame as the largest polluter in the state for the second year in a row. Despite the fact that the pollution levels are well below the allowed criteria, it is noted in the article that those responsible at the Arsenal are serious about taking steps to reduce it even more. Perhaps we, as individuals and as a Town, could try to do the same thing and no longer accept the minimal state standards as the standards for Christiansburg. The Town can adopt more stringent guidelines for stormwater management. We can learn more about the chemicals we use on our lawns and gardens, how we dispose of chemicals (gasoline, diesel fuel, paints, etc.), and maybe even where brick and mulch patio area might work as well as solid concrete.

oh…shoot…so many things to learn about..and so little time…. If the Town had higher standards and each of us did one thing to help to either prevent stormwater runoff or improve the quality of stormwater escaping from our properties and neighborhoods, it could make a big difference for us, our children, and our grandchildren.

Some informative links (I do not necessarily agree with everything contained in these documents, but that are good starting points for building the foundation of knowledge required to understand stormwater issues. There are a lot of other sources of information at your fingertips using Google.):
Stormwater Pollution Workbook
Natural Resources Defense Council
EPA’s Mid-Atlantic Stormwater site
Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans
DCR’s Virginia Stormwater Management Program

By Carol Lindstrom On March 26 at 1:35 AM