In partnership with the Center for Watershed Protection, Stormwater Solutions and Stormwater University presented this webinar in November featuring Amanda Pollack, P.E. and director of training for the Center for Watershed Protection, as the speaker.
The village of Jonestown in Caroline County, Maryland, has poorly draining soils and stormwater related flooding. The predominantly African-American community was established by free African Americans before the Civil War; and about 60% of its homes date back 50-100 years and many of the families have lived there for generations. Through federal funding from the Justice40 Initiative, the community is implementing stormwater runoff reduction and water quality improvement projects on private properties, the county owned community park, and on county roads. The project includes capacity building and education for community members. The presentation will include a discussion on the specific stormwater improvements including bioretention areas, grass swale, conservation landscaping, and tree planting.
The webinar is now available to view on-demand here, and below, you will find responses to some of the questions posed by the audience in the Q&A session at the end of the live webinar.
Audience: Can you please say more about the water quality goals of the project?
Amanda Pollack: The project was funded through Maryland’s 319 Nonpoint Source Program and the water quality metrics were established in the project work plan. The green infrastructure practices include rain gardens, vegetated swales, septic system upgrades, conservation landscaping with native planting and tree planting. The total annual nutrient reduction for the green infrastructure practices from both project phases were calculated to be 64 pounds of nitrogen, 24 pounds of phosphorus and 78,000 pounds of sediment per the FieldDoc model.
Audience: What was the time span to accomplish the ideal project?
AP: For a community experiencing flooding issues, the ideal timeframe is as fast as possible. Meaningful community engagement and collaboratively developed solutions takes time though. The outreach process will take over a year depending on the speed at which engagement is desired by the community and the partners. Obtaining project funding may span multiple fiscal years and then design and construction can last months depending on the complexity of the project. For the Jonestown stormwater Improvements project, the county hired a design/build team to expedite the design, permitting and construction phases of the project.
Audience: Could you speak more on the community ambassador program? How were ambassadors selected?
AP: The project was initiated through a series of community outreach meetings. At those meetings, the project goals and implementation strategy were discussed. The Envision the Choptank partners described the roles and responsibilities of Community Ambassadors and asked for volunteers. The ambassadors were selected from volunteers that were able to commit to being available for the duration of the project implementation period. Ambassadors were selected for each phase of construction based on the interest and availability of the ambassadors.
Audience: How is the basketball court being treated? Is it a pervious surface or was a BMP planned for it?
AP: The new basketball court is an impervious surface. Runoff from the basketball court was treated through non-rooftop disconnect, which is a nonstructural best management practice. The non-rooftop disconnect is an environmental site design practice in which runoff is directed from an impervious surface to vegetated areas. The vegetated areas are used to filter and infiltrate stormwater. In the community park, the area downstream of the vegetated area has a forested land cover.
Audience: What maintenance provisions are there for the improvements on private property?
AP: The stormwater improvements on private property are the responsibility of the property owners to maintain. Low maintenance practices and native plants were selected to reduce the long-term maintenance burden on residents. Additionally, project funding included a community liaison that trained residents on how to maintain the stormwater practices on their properties. The funding also included providing sprinklers, hose and timers to facilitate watering grass seed.
Audience: What would be the first steps in attempting to start a program like this in my community?
AP: The first step is to organize partners to form a collaboration. It is important to have a written mission and shared goals. The partner agencies should ideally have diverse expertise from many sectors including federal, state and local government, nonprofit organizations, community organizations, and residents. The partners should define their roles and the objectives of the program and then identify strategies to achieve their goals. For reference, the Envision the Choptank partnership utilizes a Common Agenda to document goals, objectives and strategies. The Common Agenda can be found here: https://www.envisionthechoptank.org/common-agenda
