Smoke and mirrors. That is how magicians encourage your eyes to be deceived and convince your brain that what you imagine is reality.

Smoke and mirrors 1: Town Council goes through the motions of producing a budget and passing tax increases. OOPS! The eye was not deceived on this one. The vote to increase taxes did not meet the legal criteria for a vote. A state code required a 2/3 majority, but what the town had was had was a tie broken by the Mayor. Back to the wood pile.

Smoke and mirrors 2: Town Council goes through the motion of dealing with budget cuts. Yada-yada-yada…all talk and no action. Ideas were put forward, shot down, revitalized, and then left laying on the table to die of neglect. Oh, wait, there was something about revisiting them in the future. That came about the same time that the Mayor acknowledged that a 5% increase in real estate tax would be needed next year to deal with the rapidly dwindling ‘reserves’ that are being used to offset the deficit. Hold your breath until you see those budget cuts on the table again before the next budget meetings in say…June of next year.

Smoke and mirrors 3: Town Manager wants a 3 plus year contract and the Mayor calls for action on it. Outraged citizens and a little thing called State Law put a crimp in that siphon hose.

Smoke and mirrors 4: Town Manager is asked to resign because they have no faith in his continuing in the position. Okay, that’s kinda hinky wording and sounds a lot like legalese for you want to resign but if you do, you will not get the benefits you want, so we’ll give the appearance of ‘terminating’ you without really ‘terminating’ you so that you get all of your benefits. Actually, it sounds a lot more like there was concern on someone’s part that something was going to happen that would mean the Town Manager’s contract might not be renewed … something like new members of council or possible investigations from outside sources? Maybe a few new lawsuits? I’d bet the Town Council Members who think that they know what has been going on really don’t know more than about 10% of the real facts.

Smoke and mirrors 5: Sage Lane revisited. If it isn’t bad enough to have elected officials paying with fire to create all that smoke. We have to have developers, planning department staff, and planning commissioners contributing some diesel fuel so that the smoke is particularly dense. (By the way you can see the videos of this discussion, copies of documents — including the deed discussed for the right-of-way on Albert Lane at: 07_12_2010 Planning Commission Meeting

At the beginning we get a bunch of rhetoric about VDoT critera (with a mention or two, very causually, of how VDoT criteria is not applicable to Town Roads). Suddenly, Planning Commissioners are focused on VDoT standards. Fortunately, a Sage Lane resident caught the drift and asked for clarification which ultimately indicated that the Sage Lane Road would not be needed in order to meet even VDoT standards (which are not required). Then we get all of this focus on the Sage Lane Rd. being necessary for emergencies. Nothing is said to indicate that the developer simply wants a road there. No…it’s all about safety and emergency access, until someone in the audience pointed out that it is not necessary to have a road in order to have access. Then, the topic shifts to the necessity of the agreements and proffers being vague because of an ordinance change concerning sidewalks. Duh…..this application must be based on current ordinances, you do not base plans on ordinances that might be enacted at some time in the future! What is submitted and approved now would be binding and future changes would not have an affect. Furthermore, the proposed changes would only affect certain types of developments (which currently do not exist in the Town) and would be optional. (This is a whole different smoke and mirrors scam where the Town pretends to be addressing citizen issues while writing ordinances in such as way as to be useless unless the developer wants to do things a certain way.)

Whenever you go to any of these meetings, listen well to what is actually being said. All too often, in the rush of things, the human ear hears what it wants to hear, not what is actually being said. Carefully choosing words can result in statements that appear to say one thing while in actuality say something entirely different. Thank goodness I can watch these videos over and over again to see the gaps.

Yep! The EPA might have to come visit Christiansburg because of all that smoke in the air. On the other hand, if the smoke continues to billow, there is a growing number of citizens with damp pieces of fabric (aka wet blankets) who will find the smoke useful in sending messages to other areas of the State.

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.

There is a section on soils that uses data from a 1985 soil survey done for Montgomery County in September 1985. I have a copy of this document and will be scanning some of the maps to load online. This data included soil types for the Town of Christiansburg. In paragraph 1 of this Soils section it is noted: “While a general survey of this type cannot replace detailed on-site soils investigations, this, this survey can significantly enhance the ability of the Town to make broad based planning and land use decisions.”

The document then provides information of 2 dominate types of soils groups in Christiansburg. They are noted in a very nice little two color General Soil Map that simply identifies classes of soils. Nothing is there to address slope and the issues related to runoff, stormwater, and possible flooding. Pretty but pretty uselss for effective planning. But it requires a lot less work to look at and make judgments.

However, that is just one map of many in this particular document. Sheet 31 of the actual Soil Map is specific to the Town of Christiansburg. What it contains, is a more specific analysis than the generic map the Town of Christiansburg elected to use in the Comprehensive Plan. This map even gives information on those areas which have a high likelihood of problems with runoff and rapid soil saturation in certain areas. Additionally it councils against development in certain areas due to soil types and slopes. This is a really kewl document. 1985 is the most current map available. Much of what is now Christiansburg was not noted as being part of Christiansburg when the map was made. The only way to make effective land use decisions would have been to use these more specific maps.

The Hydrology section of the Comprehensive plan notes that the “Town of Christiansburg is drained primarily by Slate Branch and Crab Creek and its tributaries: Town Branch and Walnut Creek.”

And (can we say karst? Well, if you do say karst there are a whole lot of legal issues that come up as to how that has to be manaed.): “According to the Groundwater Map of Virginia, the Town of Christiansburg lies within the Carbonate Groundwater Area of the Valley and Ridge Province. Due to the prevalence of carbonate bedrock (limestone and dolostone), the presence of underground drainageways in Christiansburg is fairly widespread. Such paths are formed when slightly acidic groundwater dissolves the bedrock, forming breaks, fractures, and caves.” (This slightly acidic groundwater is caused when water releases some of the carbon it has temporarily trapped as it travels to and across the earth. Increase carbon in the air by increasing traffic, loss of vegetation that removes carbon from the air, and carbon based fuels in asphalt or on the roads, and voila, you have increased the amount of carbon available for release and decreased the water pH – more acid. The action of the acid on the rock results in things like sinkholes, collapsing pavement and driveways, etc.).

Another section “Floodplains” starts with: While the majority of Christiansburg lies in upland areas not generally subject to flooding, the Town does experience limited flooding from Crab Creek and its tributaries. Some of the most severe flooding has been the result of heavy rains associated with major weather fronts or local thunderstorms, as occurred in 1940, 1972, and 1978.

In the “Storm Draininage” subsection of “Floodplains” I found: “Storm drainage within the Town of Christiansburg is accommodated in part by a publicly maintained closed conduit system as well as by paved and grassed ditches. Developers are required to install underground storm drains as well as curb and gutter or paved ditches where the potential for erosion is high. (Those areas can be easily identified on the map I noted previously – yes, I will be putting it online.) Public storm drainage improvements were made by construction of underground storm piping along Roanoke Street, between Robers and Main Streets, which was completed in the early 1990′s.”

“Localized storm drainage problems have been experienced along Route 460 near the Corning facility, the New River Valley Mall area, along College Street, along Ellett Road, near Silver lake Road, and in the Hans Meadow area. The Town has acquired property for the installation of a storm water facility to alleviate the problems experienced in the Hans Meadow area.”

“After periods of concentrated precipitation (storm events of 50-100 year recurrence intervals), ponding and the eventual inundation of Route 460 have occurred. The severity of this flooding has warranted temporary closure of the road on several occasions; this situation was corrected.”

“The Town is now required to do regional storm water planning as required by the Town’s classification as an urbanized area. The Town anticipates requiring the Phase II Stormwater planning be implemented on a Town-wide basis, though only required to do so for the areas classified as urban.”

Well that’s a few of the highlights. Believe me, there is a lot of other very interesting information found in that document. And, if you compare it other documents existing with other agencies, it can get real entertaining, like a horror movie.

Ultimately, this shows the significant role that Planning Commission members of the past and those current play in whether stormwater issues have been dealt with effectively. Was proper judgment used in determining where new construction occurred? Was the actual topography of the land taken into consideration. Has anyone on the Planning Commission or the Town Council even heard of, much less looked at the map I referred to above that shows very specific information on the land within the Town of Christiansburg?

One of the most important duties a Town Council member has is in appointing qualified people to the Planning Commission. Of course, if the Planning Department is doing the job it should do and providing this type of information to the Planning Commission in the form of a staff analysis (assuming, of course, that they know that these other maps exist) then it falls upon the Planning Commission and Town Council members to read these documents before making landuse decisions.

Sorry ya’ll but you’re not going to solve stormwater issues, flooding, and pollution by throwing more concrete and asphalt on top of the land creating more runoff.

By the way, anybody else noticed all the roads crumbling? It is particularly noticeable in those areas where the Town has built up these little asphalt banks to prevent some properties from flooding. It looks like if you complain enough, they come out and dump a mound of asphalt where the roadway abuts your property. What does that do to your neighbor’s property?

There are some serious problems, and they have been around for awhile just getting worse as time goes by…….maybe money should have been put into stormwater management rather than some other things.

And another by the way, I did a bit of checking and there is a culvert under the road on Depot Street near Craig and Main that takes water from ditches and roadways and dumps them out on railroad property where it cascades down to drains dumping straight into Crab Creek. A few months back, there was an incident where a school bus dumped a tank full of diesel on Main right about where it would go into that drain. But, they washed it all off with water….straight into the storm drains……straight into Crab Creek. I asked the Town about management of such spills and if any reporting was necessary to EPA, etc. and I pretty much got the “we’ve taken care of everything” respoonse.

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.

In the form of rainfall, where the surface upon which the rain falls is also in a natural state (dirt, stone, grass, woodlands, etc.) nature does some truly remarkable things to make good use of the rainfall while minimizing negative impacts. Humankind, however, does not seem to have the same type of understanding that nature does.

In recent decades, the philosophy seems to be build, build, and build more. Most often, this ‘building’ has occurred in such a manner as to be in direct defiance of all of those measures used by nature to effectively utilize stormwater. Where nature would have plants growing that were consistent with the rainfall patterns of a specific geographic area, human kind has planted vast ‘farms’ of asphalt. Where the leaves of trees would have helped slow and direct the flow of water, making sure that plenty of that water was available to nourish the roots of the tree, there are now houses stacked side by side. Of course, each of those houses usually wants to have a paved roadway to access it and a paved parking area, and for good measure, maybe a garage.

The grass, plants, shrubs, trees, and even rocks that nature used to make the flow of water a productive contributor to the environment have been supplanted by vast acres of impervious surface. All of the natural ways of handling stormwater are dwindling away into non-existence. Or, are they?

There is a new trend in land development called Low Impact Development (LID). The United States Environmental Protection Agency has a nice website where you can obtain more information on this idea. What seems to be the key component to this Low Impact Development is that it works in new developments and can be integrated into existing developments. It provides opportunities for the property owner and the developer to both play active parts in helping to minimize stormwater problems such as flooding, damage to homes, pollution, waterway degradation, loss of habitat for fish and wildlife..

Of course, there are a lot of things already being done to handle stormwater, very costly things. What nature managed to do for centuries for free, humankind has developed into a process that has become a ‘black hole’ for taxpayer money.

A recent study provided by the EPA, Reducing Stormwater Costs through Low Impact Development (LID) Strategies and Practices is available on the Internet. This document shows that the benefits of Low Impact Development are not restricted to simply the cost of handling stormwater.

While this study focuses on the cost reductions and cost savings that are achievable through the use of LID practices, it is also the case that communities can experience many amenities and associated economic benefits that go beyond cost savings. These include enhanced property values, improved habitat, aesthetic amenities, and improved quality of life. This study does not monetize and consider these values in performing the cost calculations, but these economic benefits are real and significant. For that reason, EPA has included a discussion of these economic benefits in this document and provided references for interested readers to learn more about them. (p.iii, Forward)

As noted on page 1, para.2 of this report: “Extensive development in the United States is a relatively recent phenomenon. for the past two decades, the rate of land development across the country has been twice the rate of population growth”. It is this very fact that makes it mandatory that RESPONSIBLE development must be required by local governments. Low Impact Development is one such approach to responsible development yet, it has many features that the average homeowner/renter can incorporate into existing landscapes to further reduce the negative impact on our natural resources.

The techniques discusses affect various areas of stormwater management (p.3-5)

1. Conservation designs

2. Infiltration practices

3. Runoff storage practices

4. Runoff conveyance practices

5. Filtration practices, and

6. Low impact landscaping

Each of these contain applications that mimic those stormwater management techniques used by nature for centuries. This is a significant change from the more recent historical approach to stormwater management that approaches it from an engineering perspective.. This approach has often created situations in which a solution generated different types of problems later in the process.

Some of the benefits of Low Impact Development (p.6) include:

1. Environmental Benefits

   1. Pollution abatement

   2. Protection of downstream water resources

   3. Ground water recharge

   4. Water quality improvements/reduced treatment costs

   5. Reduced incidence of CSO’s (sewage related)

   6. Habitat improvements

2. Land Value and Quality of Life Benefits

   1. Reduced downstream flooding and property damage

   2. Real estate value/property tax revenue

   3. Aesthetic value

   4. Public spaces/quality of life/public participation

3. Compliance Incentives

   1. Regulatory compliance credits

4. Cost Considerations

   1. Use of natural drainage rather than infrastructure (reduced infrastructure costs)

   2. Reduction in impervious surface (reduced construction cost)

   3. Incorporated into landscaping could yield room for additional housing units.

   4. Natural management methods require less maintenance

Of particular note is Table 2 (p.12) where the study evaluated 17 different projects and compared as to Conventional Development Cost and Low Impact Development Cost. In all but one of those, there was a significant savings. Only Kensington Estates reported that the LID cost was higher than the conventional development cost.. In part this was due to the choice of a semipervious material for paved areas.. Furthermore their design brought imprevious area from 30% down to 7%!!!

This study shows some of the potential benefits to Low Impact Development, and, at the least, warrants some attention by our local elected officials and planning departments. There is a lot more information readily available on the Internet and from other government resources that would provide local jurisdictions in Virginia more than enough information to begin incorporating some of these criteria into zoning and subdivision ordinances.

There is no need to do things the way they have been done for the last 30 years simply because it is the easy way out. After all, would you go to a doctor or dentist that still practiced based on how things were done 30 years ago?

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