By Jenny Tribo
Senior Water Resources Planner

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is promoting the use of integrated planning to allow local governments to balance compliance requirements for Clean Water Act (CWA) obligations for stormwater and wastewater. EPA released a memo, ‘Achieving Water Quality through Integrated Stormwater and Wastewater Plans,’ in October 2011 describing the initiative and the motivation for the new approach. According to EPA, localities can use the integrated planning process to “identify a prioritized critical path to achieving the water quality objectives of the CWA by identifying efficiencies in implementing overlapping and competing requirements that arise from separate wastewater and stormwater projects.”

In January 2012, EPA released a Draft Framework  that identifies the operating principles and essential elements of an integrated plan. Five workshops were held in February to gather stakeholder feedback on the Framework. HRPDC staff attended the final workshop on February 17, 2012 in order to gain further insight into EPA’s approach. EPA plans to release a final Framework by the end of March 2012. They are soliciting case studies from local governments who have already experienced the benefits of integrated planning.

Additional information is available on EPA’s website.
 
Localities in Hampton Roads face two expensive compliance programs related to water quality. Wastewater systems are under a Special Order of Consent with Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality to reduce the occurrence of sanitary sewer overflows. The Chesapeake Bay TMDL requires significant reductions in nutrients from stormwater and wastewater. Currently these regulatory actions have separate priorities and schedules and compliance plans are being developed by different State agencies.  Compliance with the Consent Order and TMDL is predicted to double both stormwater and wastewater fees over the next 10-20 years. An integrated planning approach would allow local governments to look at stormwater and wastewater issues together and prioritize projects that have the greatest impact on improving water quality and/or impacting human health. This approach could result in cost savings to local governments and ratepayers. HRPDC is investigating how local governments in Hampton Roads may be able to take advantage of this integrated planning approach.

By Whitney Katchmark
Principal Water Resources Engineer

The “Hampton Roads Regional Planning Framework, Scenario, and Strategies” final report  for the Chesapeake Bay TMDL was approved by the HRPDC at its Quarterly Commission Meeting on January 19, 2012.
 
The report was developed to help localities fulfill the request from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) for locality input on the Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan. DCR Director David Johnson, sent a letter to all localities on November 9, 2011, requesting that local governments provide the following information:

1) Develop a current BMP inventory – this information will be used to update implementation progress data in the Chesapeake Bay model;
2) Evaluate the land use / land cover information included in the model and provide more accurate land cover information you may have – this will be of tremendous assistance in ensuring that model revisions made in the future will more accurately reflect land use information in your locality;
3) Review the 2017 and 2025 BMP scenarios as identified in the Phase I WIP and develop preferred local BMP scenarios that provide a similar level of treatment – identified local BMP scenarios will be aggregated and incorporated into the Phase II WIP;
4) Develop strategies to implement the preferred BMP scenarios – strategies will also be aggregated and used in the development of Virginia’s Phase II WIP; and
5) Identify any resource needs to implement the strategies and BMP scenarios – this information will be used in drafting Virginia’s Phase II WIP and developing of cost estimates for the implementation of the WIP.

HRPDC’s regional report addresses many of these topics and focuses on item 3, providing a preferred BMP scenario for all cities and counties in the region. The deadline for localities to provide DCR input is February 1, 2012.

To read the report, click HERE.

By Whitney Katchmark
Prinicpal Water Resources Planner

The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission is working with Wetlands Watch, Inc. and the consulting firm, CH2M Hill, to investigate the feasibility, opportunities, and constraints of utilizing best management practices (BMPs) for nutrient reduction on existing residential and light commercial private property. This project, which is funded in part through a grant from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality through the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, will support localities’ efforts to develop Phase II Watershed Implementation strategies for the Chesapeake Bay TMDL. The work builds on activities Wetlands Watch began in Spring 2011 including identifying watershed steward programs and activities and exploring the development of a Watershed Stewards Academy for Hampton Roads.  Preliminary results will be presented at the January 25, 2012 Hampton Roads Watershed Roundtable meeting.  The HRPDC facilitates the work of the Hampton Roads Watershed Roundtable with financial assistance from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

The meeting will be held at the Virginia Zoo at 9:00 am. The HRPDC staff encourages citizens to attend and learn about ways to help improve water quality in the bay and local waterways.

By Lisa Hardy, Environmental Planner

Coordinated by the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, the region’s water utilities have come together to raise funds to help families in crisis.  The Hampton Roads H2O – Help to Others – Program was re-launched this past November. H2O is a community-based, nonprofit, 501(c)3 program that assists people in crisis through the generosity of donations. Through H2O, families or individuals that are in danger of losing residential water service because of a family crisis can receive one-time financial assistance to pay their local public utility and/or HRSD bill. Donation envelopes are being included in citizen’s November or December HRSD bills. The current donation period runs until January, and funds will be available for eligible citizens in February. More information about the program can be found at:http://www.hrpdcva.gov/H2O/H2O_Home.asp.

By Tiffany Smith, Water Resources Planner

Press coverage and federal investigations of two alleged cyber-attacks on water systems in Illinois and Texas underscore the need to reduce potential risks of hackers seizing control of specialized computer equipment that controls and monitors water, wastewater and power infrastructure, as well as industrial facilities such as oil refineries and chemical plants. Water and wastewater utilities in Hampton Roads have already implemented measures to reduce risks to water sector infrastructure and, in June 2011, kicked off an effort to further enhance overall system resiliency and security. The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission is managing this regional planning effort which is funded by the Department of Homeland Security, Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) program, through grants from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

Awareness of the potential for cyber-attacks on Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems and Industrial Control Systems (ICS), has increased since the widely publicized 2009 Stuxnet malware attack on an Iranian uranium enrichment plant. The “Water Supply Assessment and Emergency Response Training” project will provide a regional assessment of potential water and wastewater system vulnerabilities. Potential risk scenarios that could disrupt water systems in Hampton Roads, including SCADA system failure, were identified during phase I of the project. To help understand the critical infrastructure interdependencies in Hampton Roads and the potential partnerships and jurisdictional overlaps in the region, water and wastewater utilities will conduct a table-top training exercise in spring 2012. The project will result in a regional plan, to be completed in fall 2012, to serve as a roadmap for future improvement.