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King County Road Services - Stormwater research

Overview

The objective of this research effort is to compile information relevant to the treatment or flow control of stormwater in roadside ditches, determine effective ditch best management practices (BMP) options and promote their application by municipal stormwater permit holders.

Some of the tasks that have undertaken include: gathering available information by conducting on-line research of best management practices, contacting local stormwater professionals, posting the resulting information on this Web site and notifying potentially interested parties of the availability of this research.

Stormwater research

Below is a list of resources identified during the research phase of this project.

Road runoff studies | Treatment technologies | Stormwater characterization | Stormwater manuals | Stormwater professionals speak out | Additional resources

Road runoff studies

Document title AuthorDate
BMP Retrofit Pilot Program Final Report (2MB .pdf) California Department of Transportation January 2004
Stormwater Monitoring and BMP Development Status Report (1MB .pdf) California Department of Transportation March 2007
Performance Monitoring of an Urban Stormwater Treatment System (3MB .pdf)
Chapman, Cameron 2006
A Survey of Ditches Along County Roads For Their Potential to Affect Stormwater Runoff Water Quality (2MB .pdf) Colwell et al. July 2000
Michigan DOT Highway Stormwater Runoff Study (236KB .pdf) CH2MHill April 1998
Final White Paper - BMP Effectiveness Assessment for Highway Runoff in Western Washington (454KB .pdf) Geosyntec Consultants March 2008
Water Year 2007 Data Report – Compost-Amended Vegetated Filter Strip Performance Monitoring Project (14MB .pdf) Herrera Environmental Consultants March 2008
Technology Evaluation and Engineering Report - WSDOT Ecology Embankment (4MB .pdf) Herrera Environmental Consultants July 2006
Treatment of Contaminated Roadway Runoff Using Vegetated Filter Strips (2MB .pdf) Ebihara et al. January 2009
Lake Tahoe BMP Monitoring Evaluation Process – Synthesis of Existing Research (1MB .pdf) 2NDNATURE, LLC October 2006
Improving the Design of Roadside Ditches to Decrease Transportation-Related Surface Water Pollution (1MB .pdf) Biesboer and Elfering June 2003
Application of a Simplified Analysis Method for Natural Dispersion of Highway Stormwater Runoff (1MB .pdf) Reister and Yonge August 2005

Treatment technologies

Document title AuthorDate
Stormwater Best Management Practices in an Ultra-Urban Setting: Selecting and Monitoring (324KB .pdf) Federal Highway Administration 1994
Ecology Ditch: A Best Management Practice for Storm Water Runoff Mitigation (278KB .pdf) Barber et al . May/June 2003
Performance and Design of Vegetated BMPs in the Highway Environment (137KB .pdf) Barrett, Michael E. 2005
Improvement of stormwater runoff treatment system with natural mineral sorbent (781KB .pdf) Brannvall, Evelina June 2007
Stormwater Treatment at Critical Areas – Evaluation of Filtration Media (12MB .pdf) Clark and Pitt July 1999
Pollutant Removal Efficiencies For Typical Stormwater Management Systems in Florida (41KB .pdf) Harper, Harvey H. 2008
Low Impact Development Technical Guidance Manual for Puget Sound (4MB .pdf) Hinman, Curtis January 2005
Engineering Aids and Design Guidelines For Control of Sediment in South Carolina (239KB .pdf) Holbrook et al . August 1994
Evaluation and Optimization of Bioretention Media for Treatment of Urban Storm Water Runoff (850KB .pdf) Hseih and Davis November 2005
Characteristics of Composts: Moisture Holding and Water Quality Improvement (5MB .pdf) Kirchhoff et al . August 2003
Minnesota Urban Small Sites BMP Manual - Infiltration Trenches (3MB .pdf) Barr Engineering Co. July 2001
Natural Approaches to Stormwater Management (1MB .pdf) Puget Sound Action Team March 2003
Summary Report: Water Quality Characteristics and Performance of Compost Filter Berms (1MB .pdf) Storey et al . April 2006
Can Stormwater BMPs Remove Bacteria? (390KB .pdf) Clary et al . May 2008
In Search of the Silver Bullet – The ultimate pathogen destroyer (187KB .pdf) McClure, Stewart November 2008
Stormwater Runoff Treatment by a Filtration System and Wet Pond in Tampa, Florida – Final Report 2005 (5MB .pdf) Teague and Rushton February 2005
Redesigning the American Neighborhood: Cost Effectiveness of Interventions in Stormwater Management at Different Scales (3MB .pdf) Bowden et al . November 2006
Table RT.07.2. Ecology Mix (29KB .pdf) Washington State Department of Transportation March 2007

Stormwater characterization

Document title AuthorDate
Urban Stormwater BMP Performance Monitoring (4MB .pdf) GeoSyntec Consultants April 22
Monitoring Report – WSDOT Floating Bridge Stormwater Monitoring Project (4MB .pdf) Herrera Environmental Consultants, Inc. June 2005

Stormwater manuals

Document title AuthorDate
GUIDANCE MANUAL: Stormwater Monitoring Protocols (Second Edition) (6MB .pdf) California Department of Transportation July 2000
Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington (3MB .pdf) Washington State Department of Ecology February 2005
Highway Runoff Manual (7MB .pdf) Washington State Department of Transportation June 2008

Stormwater professionals speak out

Document title AuthorDate
Professionals Speak Out! (35KB .pdf) King County Roads Maintenance Section November 2008

Additional resources

The following links will take you to sites outside of the King County Web.externalink

Web siteAuthor
Environmental Inquiry: Stormwater Runoff in Roadside Ditches Cornell University
State Storm Water BMP Manuals U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10
International Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Database Project American Society of Civil Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Water Environment Research Foundation, ASCE Environmental and Water Resources Institute, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Highway Administration, and the American Public Works Association
Using Compost for a Safer Environment Iowa State University
Alternative Practices to Manage Highway Runoff Webcast Series Izaak Walton League of America
Low Impact Development Center Low Impact Development Center, Inc.
Minnesota Urban Small Sites BMP Manual - Infiltration Systems, Infiltration Trenches Metropolitan Council/Barr Engineering Co.
2006 Edition of the Rainwater and Land Development Manual Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Street Edge Alternatives (SEA Streets) Project Seattle Public Utilities
Stormwater Whitepapers/Articles StormwaterAuthority.org
Publications Texas Transportation Institute
Research Publications University of Central Florida Stormwater Management Academy
Road-Related Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Have questions?

For more information please contact:

Environmental Unit
King County Roads Maintenance Section
155 Monroe Ave. N.E.
Renton, WA 98056
206-205-7107

Information from the Road Services Division's website is available to people with disabilities in alternate formats upon request by calling 206-263-6482 or 711 for the TTY relay service.

External link = External link

Related topics

Stormwater research resources

treatmenttech
Treatment technologies

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Stormwater characterization

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Stormwater manuals

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Stormwater professionals speak out

etc
Additional resources