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 Appraising Water Rights Factors Affecting Value

On December 6 and 7, three WWE staffers were pleased to participate in the International Erosion Control Association Mountain States Chapter Conference.  Jane Clary presented on nutrient criteria, Ian Paton presented on erosion control of Boulder’s Fourmile Fire burn area and Andrew Earles presented on drainage, erosion and sediment control for historical preservation and restoration.

Urban Runoff and Colorado’s Proposed Nutrient Criteria

Waterbody Planning and Protection

WWE’s experience in watershed and waterbody planning and protection is broad, encompassing nutrient controls in development, stormwater BMP implementation, erosion and sediment control, nutrient trading, nonpoint source controls, stormwater BMP performance, water quality assessment and modeling, wetland science and waterbody control regulations.

BMP Evaluation and Design

WWE is a co-developer of the International Stormwater BMP Database (www.bmpdatabase.org),  a long-term, publically-available research database that contains results of stormwater BMP studies independently conducted and provided by researchers throughout the U.S. and several other countries. The BMP Database now contains performance data for 500 BMP studies, which will be posted by the end of 2011 for public use.

The project began roughly 15 years ago under the auspices of the Urban Water Resources Research Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers/Environmental & Water Resources Institute (ASCE/EWRI) and the EPA.  This is now the world’s largest database for BMP performance and it is regularly cited in the stormwater literature.

The original co-principal investigators for the Database were Ben Urbonas, P.E., Eric Strecker, P.E., and Jon Jones, P.E.  Jon and Eric continue to serve as co-principal investigators, with Jane Clary serving as WWE’s project manager.   Current co-sponsors are the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF), ASCE/EWRI, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), American Public Works Association (APWA) and EPA.

WWE is often asked by clients to use the knowledge we have developed in managing and analyzing the data collected in the database to evaluate and design BMPs.

Wetland Science

WWE has a proven track record in coordinating wetland delineations and 404 permitting with agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Colorado Department of Transportation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service.  Wetland services we provide are delineation, Section 404 permitting, mitigation design, monitoring plans, restoration, creation and developing wetland treatment systems.

Permitting

Our firm has years of experience interacting with regulators to help clients obtain permits.  WWE has an exceptional track record on behalf of major private and public entities because WWE staff members have developed excellent working relationships with many regulators at the local, state and federal level.  Much of WWE’s permitting success comes from the credibility we have developed with these authorities.

WWE has prepared Stormwater Management Plans (SWMPs), Minimal Industrial Discharge (MINDI) Permits, Construction Dewatering Discharge Permits and Grading, Erosion and Sediment Control (GESC) Plans for sites all over the state of Colorado, including in the mountain and western regions due to WWE’s work for the ski industry and the oil and gas industry.  WWE offices in  Glenwood Springs and Durango enable cost-effective work in the mountain, western and southern parts of the state.

A recent focus for WWE has been SWMP and GESC permitting for linear wet and dry utility projects, which present both challenges and opportunities for utility providers and the municipalities in which this type of construction occurs.  With dozens of utility projects in various stages of permitting and construction at any given time in most municipalities, the submittal review and approval process (not to mention inspections) can be burdensome and repetitive for staff.

Recognizing these challenges, Xcel Energy, Denver Water, and the City and County of Denver (CCD), partnered with us on a project to streamline the stormwater permitting process in the CCD, while at the same time enhancing compliance, through the creation of an “Umbrella” stormwater permitting strategy and SWMP template.  The approach has resulted in successful compliance and more efficient processes.

Two members of WWE’s staff co-authored the Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual, a comprehensive two-volume summary of detailed design criteria for urban stormwater management facilities.  This work was conducted for the Denver Urban Drainage & Flood Control District (UDFCD) and 39 cities and counties in the Denver metropolitan area.  The Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual has been distributed to hundreds of American cities and counties and is widely acknowledged as one of the leading documents of its kind.

In 1992, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Water Environment Federation (WEF) published a reference that has been widely disseminated, Manual of Practice for the Design and Construction of Urban Stormwater Management Systems.  Jonathan E. Jones, P.E., WWE’s CEO, was privileged to chair the committee of engineers who prepared this book, and he personally wrote much of the text.  From 1992 to the present, ASCE has offered a continuing engineering education class, which features this book, and, as a result, thousands of engineers around the United States utilize this as a “core” reference.

The International Stormwater BMP database is the world’s largest scientific database for stormwater treatment facility performance, located at www.bmpdatabase.org.  This database was originally prepared for the USEPA, although it is now co-sponsored by multiple organizations.  WWE wrote the over 30,000 lines of code for this database, which was recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2004 for its prestigious Innovative Project of the Year award.

WWE staff members also wrote portions of the Water Environment Federation’s  Manual of Practice for Urban Stormwater Management and the American Public Works Association’s Urban Stormwater Management Manual.

Some of WWE’s specific areas of stormwater expertise are Best Management Practice (BMP) Design and Selection, Master Planning, Floodplain Studies, Stormwater Detention, Flood Control Structures, Reservoirs and Detention Facilities, Conditional Letters of Map Revision and Letters of Map Revision (CLOMRS and LOMRs), Storm Sewers, Channel Improvements/Restoration,  Storage Volume, Sediment  Loading, Basin Design, Permitting, Low Impact Development (LID), Risk Assessment and Modeling.

Our first task was to help the town obtain funding for rebuilding its water treatment plant and storage tank from the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority through the State Revolving Fund with a preliminary engineering report.  WWE also assisted with water rights issues and helped to establish mill levies.  Then we helped prepare a rate study and developed the new user fees that will fund the project.  WWE project manager Wayne Lorenz made presentations to the Town of Palisade Board.

WWE also prepared final design documents for rebuilding the Town of Palisade’s water treatment plant and storage tank.  We assisted the town with the bid process and following award of the contract to Stanek Constructors, WWE provided field observation and office support during construction.  The water treatment plant is rated at a capacity of 2.0 MGD with a rectangular conventionally-reinforced 2.5 MG concrete storage tank, divided into two basins.  A unique design aspect of the water treatment plant is a microfiltration membrane process with an on-site sodium hydrochlorite generation system for disinfection of the treated water.