2017 Annual Conference Agenda

Wednesday, October 11, 2017 / Pre-Conference

12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
(Pre-Conference Tour)

Separate Registration Required

Tour of Local Stormwater Projects
Join us for a tour of innovative stormwater projects in the Louisville area.  There are a limited number of seats available and we anticipate the tour filling up quickly. Register today!  Transportation will leave the hotel lobby promptly at 12:30 p.m. and will return no later than 4:00 p.m.  Please dress casually and wear comfortable shoes.  

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
(Pre-Conference Workshop)
3 credits

Separate Registration Required

Stormwater Management Strategies for Climate Resiliency
Stormwater management is evolving to a holistic strategy that not only focuses on improving water quality but also helps communities manage risk, maintain property values, enhance livability and protect natural resources.  Recent increases in the frequency and intensity of weather events and flooding confirm the need for a comprehensive approach in managing stormwater runoff!  The presentation will discuss how new stormwater management strategies and opportunities for grant funding can benefit your program and community in multiple ways.  A diverse set of case studies will highlight how these strategies and investments have performed for cities and counties throughout the Southeast.

W. Dave Canaan, Director, Water and Land Resources
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Stormwater Services

Brian Gathy, Program Coordinator, Hazard Mitigation Grants Program
UK Martin School of Public Policy and Administration

Josh Karrick, PLA, AICP, Landscape Architect
Bell Engineering

Matthew Jones, PhD, PE, Senior Associate
Hazen and Sawyer

Will Wilhelm, PE, CFM, Vice-President
Kimley-Horn

Thursday, October 12, 2017 / Regular Conference

8:45 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.
(General Session)
0.50 credits

Welcome & Opening Address

Buddy Smith, President
Southeast Stormwater Association

Mary Walker, Director, Water Protection Division
US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4

New Initiatives in Stormwater Management–a Southeast Perspective
This session will give you a better understanding of how new permitting programs and proposed regulations can impact your jurisdiction, and how local governments in other states are responding.  A panel will discuss the new regulations and their potential impacts, and strategies for implementation in their jurisdiction and state.  Audience questions/answers will be encouraged. 

Mary Walker, Director, Water Protection Division
US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4

Hillary Repik, Stormwater Manager
Town of Mt. Pleasant, SC

Steve Leo, Director, Permitting and Regulatory Services Division
Gwinnett County, GA

David Mason, PE, DWRE, Principal Water Resources Engineer
CDM Smith, TN

10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
0.75 credits

Capitalizing on a Watershed Plan: How We Earned Grant Funding
With increasing attention on water quality issues and a potential nutrient TMDL for the Reedy River, the City of Greenville is in the process of implementing the first round of projects identified in a Watershed Based Plan for Richland Creek (a sub-watershed of the Reedy) with a significant contribution of EPA-funded 319 grant money. The session will help participants identify the components of a Watershed Based Plan that meets EPA guidelines necessary for 319 Grant funding, and examine the data requirements for developing a meaningful watershed plan that will meet local needs with an eye toward leveraging the plan to receive grant funding.

Lisa Wells, PE, CFM, Senior Environmental Engineer
City of Greenville, SC

Aylin Lewallen, Watershed Scientist
Brown and Caldwell

10:45 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
(Implementation Track)
0.75 credits

What’s the Difference? NPDES Permits Compared and Contrasted
Each state has a different way to implement their NPDES permitting requirements.  The session will review each Statewide Permit and present SESWA’s comparison of each to analyze similarities and differences. The results will be discussed by attendees and audience participation will be encouraged.

Joseph Mina, PE, Sr. Engineer
Applied Technology & Management

David Mason, PE, DWRE, Principal Water Resources Engineer
CDM Smith

Laurie Hawks, Water Resources Scientist
Brown and Caldwell

Next-Generation Planning: from Modeling to Web-Based Tracking
Local governments are facing increasing pressure to improve water quality and achieve effluent limits for an array of pollutants.  To address these pollutants, watershed-scale stormwater action plans are needed, and planning requirements are showing up in permits across the Southeast. This session will present the state-of-the-art modeling for watershed-scale stormwater quality and discuss how web-based BMP tracking systems can be used for annual compliance reporting.

Dustin Bambic, Director
Paradigm Environmental

11:35 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.
(Implementation Track)
0.75 credits

E-Reporting: Implementation and Impacts on the MS4 Community
EPA’s 2015 Electronic Reporting Rule modernizes Clean Water Act reporting. Under Phase I of the rule, basic MS4 information, including inspections and enforcement, are logged electronically and made publicly available. This session will discuss the rule’s implications and provide insight into the future of MS4 reporting.  Audience discussion of e-reporting in other states will be encouraged.

Anna Truszczynski, Stormwater Unit Manager
Georgia Environmental Protection Division

Luncheon

Does Education Make a Difference?  A Scientific Case Study
Do Public Outreach programs influence water quality?  Greenville County, SC and Woolpert teamed up to solve the mystery by using the latest in outreach knowledge and monitoring technology.  The session will review the research and its findings.

Kirsten Robertson, Manager
Greenville County Soil and Water Conservation District, SC

James Riddle, Senior Associate
Woolpert

A Statewide Approach to Pathogen TMDLs
With 331 Kentucky waters listed for pathogen impairment, it could take decades to complete watershed TMDLs with limited staff. The Kentucky Division of Water has developed a streamlined method for pathogen TMDLs throughout the state. The session will review how this statewide approach is expected to deliver TMDLs for the 331 waters in about six years.

Lauren McDonald, Environmental Scientist
Kentucky Division of Water

No P on My Lawn! Engaging Urban Kentuckians on Nutrients
A 25-year analysis of one million soil tests collected from 1990 to 2014 indicates that Kentuckians are lawn and gardening their way to hell in a vegetable basket!  The session will discuss this analysis and associated outreach program, including unlikely allies to address nutrient management in the urban environment.

Brad Lee, Associate Professor & Extension Specialist
University of Kentucky

Nowhere to Hide: It's Audit Time!
Your community has been informed of an upcoming MS4 program audit. What now? No need to “run and hide” - it is time to prepare!  The best way to prepare for a state or EPA audit is by conducting an independent program audit in advance.  But given short notice, what can your community do to prepare? How should you answer questions regarding program areas that you know are deficient?  What will the auditors be looking for and how will they conduct the audit?  Who from your staff should be present and who should just stay home that day? This presentation will provide practical ways that any MS4 community can manage a program audit.

Hal Clarkson, PE, CFM, Program Director
Woolpert

Judy Wortkoetter, PE, County Engineer
Greenville County, SC

Mike Jaspers, PG, Stormwater Program Manager
City of Columbia, SC

3:10 p.m. - 3:55 p.m.
(Planning Track)
0.75 credits

Uplift of a Wet Weather Stream:  Satisfying Regulatory Requirements
The Agawela Drive Stream Restoration is a Project described in the City of Chattanooga’s Consent Decree by EPA.  It involves the improvements of approximately 1,500 LF of stream using natural channel design principles and bio-engineering techniques for stabilization and habitat enhancement, with the goal to stabilize the stream, decrease erosion and protect the downstream water courses from sediment carried by erosive flows in the stream.  The session will discuss lessons learned regarding the permitting process for stream restoration, analysis needed to support the hydraulic performance and design techniques to lift the stream bed without impacting base flow.

Ron Geiger, PE, National Stormwater Practice Leader
HDR

3:10 p.m. - 3:55 p.m.
(Implementation Track)
0.75 credits

IDDE Experiences - Mobile Washers to Pools and Many in Between
MS4 permit holders are required to establish and enforce an illicit discharge detection and elimination ordinance.  Guidance in the form of “best practices” is often provided to help with compliance.  In some cases, guidance and enforcement are fairly straightforward; in others, not so much!  The session will review the City of Charlotte’s experiences providing guidance and enforcement of its IDDE ordinance in relation to some non-traditional illicit discharges.

Craig Miller, Water Quality Program Administrator
City of Charlotte, NC

Break in Exhibit Hall
Visit exhibit booths to learn about new and emerging technologies!

Cooperative Education and Involvement Programming
Carolina Clear formed more than ten years ago.  It’s a program of the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service that educates communities about water quality and quantity, and the cumulative effects of stormwater.  A model for other states, Carolina Clear has grown to partner with 38 South Carolina communities, working regionally to educate and involve target audiences in stormwater pollution prevention. With more than 3 million impacts in 2016, operations and case studies will showcase that we’re “better when we’re together.”

 Amy Scaroni, PhD, Water Resources Extension Associate
Clemson Extension Service, SC

Ellen Comeau, Water Resources Extension Agent
Clemson Extension Service, SC

Rachel Davis, Water Resources Extension Agent
Clemson Extension Service, SC

Eric Larson, Director of Environmental Engineering & Land Management, Beaufort County, SC

The Long and Winding Road of Nutrient Criteria Development
Nutrient Criteria - qualitative, quantitative or somewhere in-between?  EPA has been pushing states to develop Numeric Nutrient Criteria (NNC) since before 1998.  Many states have taken steps toward establishing NNC but few can claim to have finished the job.  Regulating things that are essential at one level (but may be undesirable or problematic at another) is challenging!  The session will take the audience on a virtual road trip to several states to see how they approach this challenge.  It’s a mix of data, science, policy, politics, economics and opinions.

Doug Durbin, PhD, Chief Scientist
Brown and Caldwell

Reception in Exhibit Hall
Visit exhibit booths to learn about new and emerging technologies! A drink and light snacks will be provided.

Friday, October 13, 2017 / Regular Conference

8:30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.
(LID & GI Track)
0.75 credits

Is Money the Only Incentive to Entice Residents to Install GI?
Most Green Infrastructure (GI) programs for stormwater management initially focused on publicly owned properties as they tend to present fewer obstacles to implementation.  If large scale implementation of GI practices is desired, the focus must shift to residential properties which can prove difficult for several reasons:  Legal and procedural hurdles associated with expending public funds on private property, the perception that homeowners will not voluntarily incur the cost of installation and long term maintenance, etc.  However, the presentation will review the surprising outcome of a recent EPA study on which types of incentives would encourage urban residents to install green infrastructure on their property.

Nancy Ellwood, Project Manager
CDM Smith

Benthic Habitat Enhancement + Relocation = Impairment Delisting!
In 2008 Smith Creek was added to North Carolina’s 303(d) list because of its “Fair” benthic macroinvertebrate sampling results.  In 2013 the Town of Wake Forest’s Smith Creek Watershed Management Plan was initiated, which included benthic habitat enhancement and population transplants from a diverse reference reach.  Several species that are highly intolerant of poor water quality conditions were subsequently collected from the enhancement site for the first time.  Alone, these results do not justify de-listing but the intolerant species’ ongoing survival is likely to help!  The presentation will review the results of the project, which was selected for an American Council of Engineering Companies 2016 Engineering Excellence Award.

Ward Marotti, Senior Project Manager
WK Dickson

LID or BUST – Nashville’s Low Impact Development Journey
Nashville’s Low Impact Development (LID) methodology began as a voluntary compliance path in 2012 and became mandatory in 2016. This presentation will cover their LID journey and the improvements made along the way. It will also discuss Nashville’s current struggles with LID Waivers and other implementation challenges.

Rebecca Dohn, LID & Sustainability Coordinator
City of Nashville, TN

Putting Them to Work: Engaging Your SW Advisory Committee!
Forming a Stormwater Stakeholder Advisory Committee can be just another requirement to complete.  But if you have gone through the effort to create a committee, why not put them to work?  The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government’s Stormwater Stakeholder Advisory Committee has helped the Division of Water Quality meet several of its MS4 permit’s requirements.  See how Lexington has engaged its Advisory Committee, relying on them to accomplish several of its permit requirements.

Jennifer Carey, PE, MS4 / Water Quality Section Manager
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, KY

Break in Exhibit Hall
Last chance to visit exhibit booths to learn about new and emerging technologies!

Building Green: Atlanta's Green Infrastructure Approach
In February of 2013, the City of Atlanta adopted one of the most far-reaching stormwater management ordinances in the country, laying the groundwork for a robust Green Infrastructure program for both private development as well as municipal capital projects.  Without a direct source of funding from a stormwater utility fee, Atlanta has implemented the program through extensive coordination, relying on multiple city departments, non-profit organizations and the private development community.  The session will review Atlanta’s success in implementing an approach to Green Infrastructure that addresses both combined sewer overflows and surface water management.

Cory Rayburn, Construction Project Manager
City of Atlanta, GA

Naturalized Stabilization Measures and Their Effectiveness
Almost every locality has severe erosion problems in stormwater conveyances and many naturalized stabilization measures have been constructed to restore eroded tributaries in Alabama. This presentation will discuss the engineering design and construction of the naturalized stabilization measures. The audience will be presented with information to identify when and why these systems may be an effective measure to stabilize and enhance hydrologic systems.  Hear how thousands of feet of naturalized stabilization measures have garnered local support, are cost effective and are significantly improving water quality.

Wade Burcham, Sr. Water Resources Engineering Manager
Integrated Science and Engineering

Federal Update and National Stormwater Trends
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies will provide an update on water-related issues and US EPA’s stormwater program priorities at the national level, focusing on stormwater policy and permitting programs.

Emily Remmel, Director of Regulatory Affairs
National Association of Clean Water Agencies