The ideal stormwater runoff calculator and how to apply it to site scale planning of federal facilities

Urbanization is a pressing issue that has largely contributed to quality degradation of our nation’s waters. Net zero stormwater runoff regulation, per the Energy Independence and Security Act Section 438, is one way that federal facilities are required to mitigate adverse effects of urbanization. This study provides a qualitative and quantitative comparison of existing stormwater runoff volume estimation methods used to determine predevelopment and post-development hydrologic conditions for site scale retention design. Results of this comparison imply that it might be advantageous for federal facilities to adopt moderate to high level stormwater runoff volume estimation tools for preliminary site level planning. Over simplistic runoff volume calculation approaches produced significantly different runoff volume estimations than more complex estimation methods. Inaccurate runoff volume estimations may cost federal facilities additional time and money than required to meet compliance with applicable stormwater policy. Current events suggest that stormwater modeling will become extremely important in the near future. The Chesapeake Bay TMDL has paved the way for stringent federal oversight of point and nonpoint source pollution discharges. Accurate stormwater modeling methods will be integral to efficiently achieving current and future water quality standards set by local, state, and federal governments.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Natural Res & Env Sciences

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2016

Author dc:creator

• Thayer, Danielle J

Contributors dc:contributor

• Endres, Bryan
• Howard, Heidi
• Cooke, Richard

• Stormwater
• EISA Section 438
• Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (TMDL)
• Modeling
• Low impact development (LID)
• Net Zero Planner

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2016 Danielle Thayer

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90550

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/90550