Conference Awards Excellence in Storm Water Management

The California Stormwater Quality Assn. (CASQA) presented four awards at its ninth annual CASQA Stormwater Conference awards luncheon Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013, at the Resort at Squaw Creek in Lake Tahoe. CASQA’s annual conference is held each year for experts in the storm water field and includes an awards program recognizing creative approaches, outstanding projects, best practices and exemplary accomplishments in the field of storm water quality management.

“The CASQA Awards Committee evaluated the creativity and innovation of organizations as they addressed storm water and environmental challenges in their communities,” said Gerhardt Hubner, Awards Committee chair. “These award recipients embody creativity and sustainability in storm water management. CASQA wishes to recognize their success, innovation and dedication to the improvement of storm water quality in California.”

This year’s award recipients were:

Outstanding Stormwater BMP Implementation Award: Boeing Co.—Santa Susana Biofilter

The Santa Susana biofilter is designed to harness natural processes to treat storm water runoff while promoting pollinator habitats. The system uses plants, soils and filter media to capture sediment and pollutants before releasing cleaner water back into the watershed.

Outstanding Sustainable Stormwater Project Award: Placer County—Placer County Low Impact Development (LID) Guidebook

The Placer County LID Guidebook was developed to provide much-needed tools and guidance on the use and implementation of LID techniques to protect and enhance the water quality of Placer County in the Yuba, Truckee and American River watersheds through the promotion of sustainable, innovative and cost effective storm water management techniques in the higher elevations.

Outstanding Storm water News, Information, Outreach and Media Award: City of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County Water Agency—Creek Stewardship Program

The city of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County Water Agency designed the Creek Stewardship Program to empower citizens to help improve the water quality within their local creeks, with strong support from the city and water agency’s storm water management programs. The city and the water agency's three goals were: educate the community about the importance of the creek through distributing materials and outreach events; give people the opportunity to directly help the creek by becoming creek stewards; and respond thoroughly and efficiently to citizen concerns through interagency operations.

CASQA Leadership Award:  Scott Taylor, PE, D.WRE

Scott Taylor, PE, D.WRE has more than 28 years of extensive, specialized expertise in storm water quality, flood control and storm water management. Taylor is an active member of CASQA and has previously served as chairman and vice chairman of the board of directors.

Source: California Stormwater Quality Assn.