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Orange County Water Authority - Watershed Design Guide
- 1. The New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Compact The Orange County Water Authority
- 2. A tool for planners, designers, developers, municipalities, board members and citizen activists
- 3. Meritorious Achievement American Planning Association 2011
- 7. Ensure clean water Protect and restore habitat
- 8. Ensure clean water Protect and restore habitat Provide water recreation and river access
- 9. Ensure clean water Protect and restore habitat Provide water recreation and river access Adapt to climate change
- 10. Ensure clean water Protect and restore habitat Provide water recreation and river access Adapt to climate change Conserve scenery
- 12. Changing Climate
- 14. Our Community’s Resiliency To major storms and heavy precipitation
- 15. Depends on Green Infrastructure
- 27. Green Infrastructure’s many benefits
- 28. Functions, Maintenance & Effectiveness
- 30. The Watershed Design Guide was sponsored by the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Compact and the Hudson River Estuary Program, and produced by the Regional Plan Association, The Orange County Water Authority, and the Orange County Planning Department
- 31. For further information and to obtain copies of the Watershed Design Guide Please call the Orange County Water Authority : 845 615 3869 Or visit our website: waterauthority.orangecountygov.com
Editor's Notes
- Good evening- introduce audience, thanks I'm here to introduce the Watershed Design Guide, produced by the Regional Plan Association, the Orange County Planning Department, and the Orange County Water Authority. The sponsors of this new Design Guide are the new England Interstate Water Pollution Control Compact, the NYS DEC and the Hudson River Estuary Program
- The Watershed Design Guide is a tool to help planners, designers, developers and municipalities implement green infrastructure in new and existing projects.
- This new design guide is an extension and expansion of the 2010 OC Design Manual. That manual illustrated multiple management best practices for Smart Growth, complete communities and connectivity for planners and designers to incorporate into projects. It was adopted by vote of the OC Legislature in 2011 as an amendment to the county comprehensive plan. The 2010 Design Manual won a Meritorious Achievement award from the American Planning Association in 2011.
- The best practices illustrated in the 2010 Design Manual are relevant beyond OC's borders. The New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Compact and other funders asked us to expand the guide to focus on water, stormwater and watersheds, and to promote Green Infrastructure methods for the entire region.
- The new Watershed Design Guide can be used throughout the Hudson River Estuary- our familiar, common environment with terrain and land use issues that are similar throughout our region. The Design Guide reflects the Hudson River Estuary Program's 5 point action agenda-
- Ensure clean water;
- Protect and restore habitat;
- Provide water recreation and river access;
- Adapt to climate change;
- Conserve scenery
- The guide is structured to help designers locate and look at the components of green infrastructure, add them to landscapes and projects The Design Guide follows the prescription for reducing runoff and improving groundwater recharge specified in the 2010 NYS Stormwater Management Design Manual. The Design Guide complements that Stormwater manual by illustrating the Green infrastructure techniques at large and small scale, and by specifying the regulatory requirements for introducing Green Infrastructure, in plain english for non-engineers
- Climate change and Global Warming have been controversial subjects in the US lately. The Design Guide is a means by which communities can become resilient to climate change Every municipal official, planner and active citizen has seen, recently, how intense storms can overwhelm our existing infrastructure.
- It has become pretty obvious that we live in a time of unpredictable climate. It is the responsibility of town leaders to take these possible changes into consideration, even if there is no absolute certainty they will occur. In OC's Water Master Plan, the engineers of consultant Stone Environmental put it this way: planners do not have the luxury of certainty. They must act to protect their citizens even if they are unsure of what the future will bring. The Design Guide is a tool to assist them in that effort.
- Changes such as rising sea level as well as the increasing frequency of major storms and heavy precipitation events require improvement in stormwater infrastructure in every community in the Hudson Valley.
- A community's resiliency depends adopting key aspects of green infrastructure. Green Infrastructure is the combination of design and technology to slow runoff and calm streams in storm to prevent flood damage AND to eliminate the non-point-source pollution associated with runoff The goal is: slow or eliminate runoff, let it pond and soak in, allow wetlands to flourish, keep surfaces permeable to water,
- The Design Guide works at three scales: Landscape scale- the scale of whole towns, watersheds, master plans, zoning and environmental review; Public Spaces scale- the scale of streets, plazas, parking lots and neighborhoods Building scale – the scale of individual sites where land and homeowners can act on their properties
- The largest- Landscape or Neighborhood, is about watershed-scale projects- Stream buffering and stream corridor protection and mitigation; Green corridors and connected green spaces to bring the ecosystem services of green space throughout an entire community; Stream daylighting to restore streams to a natural, functioning condition
- wetlands construction and remediation to both ameliorate flooding and remove pollution from the water, and floodplain management techniques like biodetention basins and swales that conserve entire streams and landscapes
- Illustrated with details, photographs and case studies
- The middle scale references public spaces, buildings and sites- the street scale. At this scale, managing stormwater requires green infrastructure like vegetated swales and other types of vegetated bio-retention- places where runoff is slowed down so it can soak in.
- Permeable pavements slow down runoff and allow it to soak in and recharge groundwater
- By connecting green spaces, we can create green streets that conserve the ecosystem services that green space provides: Air temperature regulation, wind speed mitigation, air purification, recreation space, community garden space, social gathering space, residential energy savings, crime reduction, noise reduction, neighborhood beautification, increased property values, environmental education and one’s sense of personal well-being.
- The design guide contains details and case studies at the building scale
- And on the Building/site scale, the manual is about what individual building and homeowners can do to limit the stormwater runoff on their property- techniques like permeable pavements, gutter downspouts that flow to permeable surfaces rather than to traditional storm sewers
- Rain gardens and green roofs, which work like the natural surface to absorb and filter rainwater
- With detailed descriptions and case studies at the building scale
- The Design Guide contains not only photographs and illustrations showing each type of green infra installation clearly and in detail: the Design Guide lists the best management practices with their cost estimates, management requirements and expert comparison of their effectiveness
- The Design guide lists the techniques and functions, maintenance requirements and effectiveness of each type of green infrastructure technique. All in all the Watershed Design Guide adds up to a great tool for board members, town officials, designers, developers, and citizens to bring their communities up to the new requirements of resiliency and adaptability in the face of changing climate.
- The Design Guide also contains detailed checklists of the regulatory requirements of each type of green infrastructure project, outlining the required permits and approvals from watershed planning efforts to permitting for rain gardens
- So that’s our new Watershed Design Guide The Watershed Design Guide is a work in progress. We would be very interested to hear your comments, questions and suggestions.
- Please reach out to us for information and for copies of the Watershed Design guide