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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNCS000427_Cary 2021 Annual Report Attachment_20211029 T OWN O f C ARY WATER QUALITY RECOVERY PROGRAM UPDATE 2021 NPDES S TORMWATER P ROGRAM , P HASE II P ERMIT NUMBER: NCS000427 - 0 - Table of Contents Purpose and Requirements…..……...………………………………………………… 1 Program Implementation........................................................................................ 1 Public Education and Outreach Costs…………………………………………………2 Town of Cary Web Pages…………………………………………………………….... 2 Community Engagement……… ………………………………………………………. 2 Storm Drain Labeling...…………………………………………………………………. 4 GIS Data ……………………………………………………………………………….…4 MS4 Outfall Database..….………………………………………………………………5 Ordinances/Policies/Procedures………………………………………………………. 5 Town Resources and Staff Development.……………………………………………. 5 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….. 6 - 1 - Purpose and Requirements The purpose of this document is to update the progress on the Water Quality Recovery Program (WQRP) in the headwaters of Swift Creek Watershed in the Neuse River Basin. A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) to address impaired biological integrity was established for this watershed by the NC Division of Water Quality (NC DWQ). The primary updates for Year Five were the continued implementation of public education and outreach, review of ordinances/policies/procedures, field reconnaissance of the MS4 outfalls in the Swift Creek watershed and completing the reporting requirements for the WQRP. Requirements • Implementation of BMPs • Public Education and Outreach • Swift Creek Watershed Webpage • Community Engagement at Town Sponsored Events • Storm drain Labeling • Educational Programming at Steven’s Nature Center • Spruce Outreach • Creek Week in association with CWEP • Distribute Educational Materials for Block Leader Program • Mailings-IDDE & Homeowner • Additional as determined by TMDL Implementation Team • Review and Enhancement of Ordinances, Policies and Procedures (as needed) • Staff Development Programs (as needed) • MS4 Outfall Database Records (continued as necessary) Program Implementation Implementation Team: The current implementation team consists of the Stormwater Engineering Manager, Stormwater Program Analyst, and the Water Resources Outreach Supervisor. The seventh year began the work to implement the outreach programs of the Water Resources and other Town departments to enhance public awareness, participation, and stormwater education in the Swift Creek Watershed. Public Education and Outreach Costs The public education and outreach in the watershed has been ongoing since the Town implemented the Neuse River Basin Plan in 2001. The Plan included public education and outreach as well as public participation, illicit and illegal discharge enforcement, and stormwater control measures to reduce nitrogen in the Neuse Basin. The Town further enhanced its stormwater education and outreach in 2005 when it was issued a NPDES Phase 2 Stormwater Permit. The implementation team will bring on additional members as needed to enhance these programs within the watershed. - 2 - The Stormwater Division has brought the educational outreach and good housekeeping programs under the umbrella of stormwater. It has enhanced the program by coordinating water quality and quantity key messages, tactics, and communications throughout Town programs and services. The Public Education and Outreach Program is provided through the framework of the Town of Cary NPDES Phase 2 Stormwater Permit and is included in the annual report. This update includes the following outreach tactics and budget maintained by the Water Resources Department associated with them: • Town of Cary Web Page NA • Social and Mobile Media (Cary it Green Facebook page) NA • Brochures at Town facilities (Using current stock of brochures) 0.00 • BUD articles (monthly utility insert and online) NA • Cary TV 11 (Cary It Green segment) NA • Clean Water Educational Partnership (CWEP) 9,800.00 (Mass media – Print, TV, Radio, Internet, Theaters, Booth Display) • Mass Mailings (Business Outreach to Car Retail Sales) 1000.00 • Festivals (Promotional Items) 4,000.00 • Spruce (Storm drain Labeling, Beautification and Litter collections) 3,500.00 Total $18,300.00 Town of Cary Web Page The Town’s web page has been redesigned in 2018 and we update the stormwater section to provide a better citizen friendly environment. The NPDES Phase 2 Stormwater Permit and Environmental Protection web pages have been updated to include information on the Swift Creek TMDL. The web pages provide information on water quality protection measures in the watershed. It also contains links to the Town’s other stormwater web pages which have more information on how citizens can report illicit or illegal discharges, volunteer to label storm drains or participate in litter sweeps, and learn other ways to protect stormwater. The Town also maintains an online reporting form for illicit and illegal discharges. The Town has transitioned to a 311 call center in 2020. This provides a one stop call in to report any type of citizen question and concern. This will be tracked using salesforce to take the call and see it through to its completion. This will also allow us to keep records and collect data for ways to enhance the response to citizens. Community Engagement Town’s Sustainability Program is being reworked to include an overall environmental approach through tree canopy, carbon footprint, smog eating/cool pavement, conservation and stormwater quality and quantity. They are working to develop programs to help have an ongoing sustainable presence in the community. The Town also uses social media through the Cary It Green Facebook page by posting information about upcoming events, tips, and questions to open a dialogue with our friends about stormwater and water quality issues, practices, and concerns. - 3 - Brochures regarding water quality and conservation are available at most Town Park facilities (which have been closed to public until July 2021). As an additional resource for Town citizens, articles are written for Bud, the monthly newsletter (approximately 60,000 in Utility Bills and 1,000 printed for Town facilities and three libraries). We also use the Town of Cary TV 11 local access channel’s BUD TV to highlight water quality issues and volunteer opportunities through the “Cary It Green” segments. The Town also has placed video messages in previews at “The Cary” a town operated movie theater and previews at the movies by moonlight at the Koka Booth Amphitheater. The Town partners with local governments in Clean Water Education Partnership (CWEP) which supports the Town’s mass media efforts. CWEP provides additional online presence through its Web site and social media through web advertisements, television advertisements, movie theater advertisements, and radio campaigns. The Town currently uses television advertisement spots created and used by CWEP to run on Cary TV 11 and 30 second spots are running at The Cary, a theater run by the Town, and at the Koka Booth Amphitheater before movie showings. Mass mailings enable the Town to deliver specific messages to specific business types. On a rotating basis, the Town annually send letters to lawn care, restaurant, carpet cleaning, and automotive repair shops in our community. Those letters outline practices that their particular business can do to protect water quality. This past year the Town sent letters to businesses that are part of the car sales and concerned best management practices regarding washing of vehicles. It included a brochure that could be used to help educate the workers and owners regarding what is allowable and what is not in the town regarding the IDDE ordinance. Stormwater staff also attended Town hosted festivals (none for 2020 but attended Lazy Days (August 2021) and Diwali (October 2021)) throughout the year to provide informational handouts and give away promotional items directly to citizens. The Stormwater Division distribute approximately 500 items per festival, include visual displays to inform the public about illegal discharges and where to report them to, provide a sign up for storm drain labeling, and answer questions they have about practices to protect water quality. We partner with our pretreatment group regarding sanitary sewer to help with SSO’s. The Town encourage citizens to volunteer through a variety of environmental outreach programs managed by the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department, notably the Adopt a Spot, Block Leader and Spruce programs. Through the Adopt a Spot Program groups commit to clean, protect and beautify areas throughout the year for a minimum of two years. The Block Leader Program supports citizens that have a particular interest in the environment by providing them with training, tours, and information packets to deliver to their immediate neighbors. The Block Leader program has changed to provide outreach to neighborhoods when they are requested from the town. The Spruce Program offers a variety of volunteer opportunities including annual litter sweeps. The Town provides tools and trash pickup to individual citizens and civic groups that create - 4 - their own workdays or litter sweeps. The Town also has started a tree program and has days those volunteers come out and put in plants and trees. We had started a new My Tree Our Tree program and gave out 600 trees to citizens in March of 2021 and again in October. The Town has an Environmental Advisory Board which provides feedback and advice to council on policies, ordinances and administrative procedures regarding environmental protection and conservation of energy and natural resources. They are currently working on an urban forestry program for the town as well as carbon reduction. Swift Creek Week did not take place this past year due to other municipalities dropping out. We had a online Creek Week working with and through CWEP. We posted videos and tips online and had litter sweeps available. The Town sponsored a drug drop-off to encourage citizens to not throw away prescriptions in the trash but to have them disposed of properly. Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve has added presentations throughout the year for our Cary It Green Facebook page. Storm Drain Labeling The Town now uses glue-on decals to promote stormwater pollution awareness and reporting instead of storm drain stenciling. The decals make it easier for citizens to help and provides more information than a paint-on stencil. Concentrating our efforts on labeling storm drains within the Swift Creek Watershed, citizens have placed over 114 decals on storm drains in the Swift Creek Watershed since October 2020. Approximately 8.1 square miles in the watershed has been labeled. GIS Data The Town of Cary has put together a map of the Swift Creek Watershed using the resources from the Technology Services Department. The maps include the following: • Streets • Utilities – Water and Sewer (includes lines and structures) • Storm drain – lines and structures • Creeks and Streams – USGS and Soil Survey indicated • Topography • Stormwater Control Measures (SCM’s) • Land Use – zoning • Riparian and Urban Transition Buffers • USGS Mapping • Wake County Soil Survey • Property • Plats • Floodplains The Town will be using this base map to obtain information from other departments within the Town of Cary and help with the use of resources in the effort to improve water quality. - 5 - We are updating our schema to obtain better information and processes to help gather information on maintenance provided by the Public Works Department (street sweeping, sanitary sewer line smoke testing, sanitary line cleaning and maintenance) Block Leader Programs and Spruce which are public outreach and participation for the Town of Cary. Swift Creek GIS Database Information:____ Storm drain lines 215 miles Stormwater Outfalls 1699 Sanitary Sewer lines 266 miles Stormwater Control Measures 308 MS4 Outfall Database The Town of Cary uses ESRI ARC GIS databases for managing the Swift Creek watershed. These databases are updated as new information is added for sanitary sewer, storm drains, stormwater control measures and other infrastructure from new development. The Town is currently working to review and assess the structures and update the databases. The outfalls within the Swift Creek area have been inspected over the past as part of the dry weather screening process. The town is currently adding to the stormwater database through online record drawing review which allows us to review the data and have it provided so we can integrate it into our GIS. The record drawings include infrastructure along with SCM information. As stated, prior we are working on our schema to provide a comprehensive and standardized system to create and update our system to allow us to perform a better asset managment and condition assessment program. Ordinances/Policies/Procedures The standard details and specifications for stormwater and erosion control was updated in 2020. Included in new details were updated. New detail was added for surface roughening. The newly approved specification requires cleaning and video inspection of stormwater pipes prior to acceptance to ensure proper installation. The town is applying the State Minimum Design Criteria for stormwater control measures our jurisdiction. The Stormwater Section has started a move to Adaptive Stormwater Management process. The process started with a steering committee made of staff from multiple town departments looking at areas of maintenance, finance, ordinances, open space and basin flood models. We are now modeling the Swift Creek Basin to tie into the existing FEMA with some overlap. As part of the work the town is having all new development as well with redevelopment to assess and mitigate up to the 100-year storm event. We currently require mitigation for the 1,2,5,10 storm events. They now have to model the 100-year event to ensure that the development does not impact the flooding below. Town Resources and Staff Development Infrastructure Asset Management Engineer is developing a buried infrastructure asset management and condition assessment program. This past year the Town finished up - 6 - work on a project to review existing stormwater data sources, import and reconcile this information into an improved GIS stormwater dataset and schema, identify and correct inconsistencies in the geometric network, and update owner/install information to ensure the best available stormwater data is available in GIS. We have noted information that we need to assess to make the GIS more effective and have sent out a new RFP on our GIS data and assessment for our stormwater dataset. The program will allow the Town of Cary to assess and spend resources to establish a more sustainable program. The Town is working with developers on private-public partnerships. We are in the design phase of a project where the town is reducing the quantity on site and downstream the town is going to construct a wetland to handle the water quality on the site where previously that was existing impervious that was untreated. This is at the top of the Swift Creek watershed. This is the first project using the model that is in final states The Town will continue education regarding how to locate and report illicit and/or illegal discharges observed by staff. Conclusion The review of the programs helps assist the implementation team in enhancing the basis of the education and outreach which builds upon current programs contained within the NPDES Phase 2 Stormwater permit. The team is continuing to work with materials that would allow more participation in town programs and outreach using mobile platforms (CWEP and Cary It Green Facebook page). The town has developed not only a SWMM model for our Walnut Creek Basin but has been working on a modeling which will be used to include all the watersheds within the Town of Cary which will include Swift Creek that tie into FEMA floodplain. The Town has focused the labeling within the Swift Creek Watershed and have labeled the drainage area in the Lochmere Planned Unit Development. The Town submitted the Neuse River Basin application for the update required through legislation. The town has been a part of the Neuse River Basin plan since 2001 and prior to that included the Swift Creek Land Management plan in 1988 which required detention and impervious limits in the Swift Creek watershed.