City of Waterloo - Laurel Creek Watershed Monitoring Program

City of Waterloo - Laurel Creek
Watershed Monitoring Program
Municipal Monitoring Perspectives
GRCA Sediment Control Workshop- June 20, 2007
Discussion Items
• Program Background and Description
• System Monitoring Summary
• Development Monitoring Summary
• Observations/Lessons Learned

Evolution of LCWMP
• 1990- Laurel Creek Watershed Study initiated
• 1993- Official Plan Amendment #16
• 1996- LCWMP Pilot Study
• 1997- Present- Ongoing Monitoring
• 2000- Present- Expansion of to other watersheds (RIM Park)
• 2002- City of Waterloo Environmental Strategic Plan
Corporate Strategic Plan
Environment First Philosophy
Environmental
Strategic
Plan
Environmental Directions
Planning
and Growth
Water
Resources
Air Quality
Energy and
Resources
Environmental
Awareness
Greenspace
Strategic Actions
Phase I Phase II Phase III
Implementation
Plans
Further
Study
Measurement
and Review

Program Objectives
• Detect changes to the watershed
• Determine the effects of land use and best management
practices
• Promote partnerships between agencies, municipalities and
watershed residents
• Increase public awareness and stewardship
• Develop database for comparison and trend analysis.
Environmental Indicators
Water Quality
Total Phosphorus
Suspended Solids
Dissolved Oxygen
Temperature
E. Coli
Hydrology
Baseflow
Storm Flow
Precipitation
Aquatic Habitat
Benthic Invertebrates
Terrestrial
Features
Greenspace Size
Greenspace Health

Monitoring Program
System
Monitoring
Development
Monitoring
Post Development
Monitoring
Responsibility of City of
Waterloo
Responsibility of Developer
Responsibility of City of
Waterloo
System Monitoring Stations

System Monitoring
Purpose:
• Monitor overall health of watershed
• Establish long term baseline conditions
• Determine whether improvements or
degradations are happening within the
watershed
Impoundments
Agriculture
Development Area
Urban Stormwater

Cumulative TSS vs TP
TSS
TP
500
500
450
450
400
400
350
350
TSS (mg/L)
300
250
200
300
250
200
TP (ug/L)
150
150
100
100
50
50
0
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
0

1999 TSS vs Rainfall
Precipitation
TSS
30
200.0
180.0
25
160.0
Precipitation (mm)
20
15
10
140.0
120.0
100.0
80.0
60.0
TSS (mg/L)
5
40.0
20.0
0
0.0
5/1/99
5/8/99
5/15/99
5/22/99
5/29/99
6/5/99
6/12/99
6/19/99
6/26/99
7/3/99
7/10/99
7/17/99
7/24/99
7/31/99
8/7/99
8/14/99
8/21/99
8/28/99
9/4/99
9/11/99
9/18/99
9/25/99
2006 TSS vs Rainfall
Precipitation TSS
50
200
45
180
40
160
35
140
Precipitation (mm)
30
25
20
120
100
80
TSS (mg/L)
15
60
10
40
5
20
0
0
5/4/06
5/11/06
5/18/06
5/25/06
6/1/06
6/8/06
6/15/06
6/22/06
6/29/06
7/6/06
7/13/06
7/20/06
7/27/06
8/3/06
8/10/06
8/17/06

System Monitoring Summary
• 4 areas of concerns
– Agriculture
– Development areas
– Online impoundments
– Urban Stormwater
• Land development activities (i.e. topsoil removal/grading)
reflected in monitoring data
• Sediment loading also impacts on aquatic health (i.e. benthic
invertebrate data)
Development Monitoring
Purpose:
• To monitor site-specific conditions within
Subdivisions from 2 years prior to area grading and
for 2 years following substantial build-out.
• To provide data to update/supplement Subwatershed
studies and EIS Reports.
• To measure and confirm the effectiveness of
sediment/erosion control measures; buffers; SWM
ponds.

Program components:
Development Monitoring
• Pre-, Post- and During Construction monitoring plans
established jointly with developers.
• Combination of qualitative and quantitative
observations and sampling.
• Variety of sampling approaches - grab sampling, data
loggers, photographs, field record keeping.
Development Monitoring
What have we observed?
• Obvious disturbances during development, typically
with a decline following build-out for water-related
parameters.
• That pre-development conditions often a contributing
problem - - esp. cultivated areas, lands cleared for
agriculture near intermittent watercourses.
• Larger magnitude, infrequent events present greatest
challenges for sediment & erosion control

Laurelwood Basin E SWM Pond
% Target Exceedance
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
INLET
OUTLET
1996 1998 2001 1996 1998 2001
TSS
TP
DO
Temp
Ecoli
Flow from Intermittent Streams
Summer
Summer
Late Fall
Late Fall
Spring
Spring

Clair Creek – North Branch
Erosion from Intermittent Streams --
Clair Creek North Branch

Weekly Sediment & Erosion Control Reports

Future SWM Ponds or or temporary sedimentation basins?
Early stabilization of of buffers.

Development Monitoring
Other Observations & Outcomes
• Use of “local” data to enhance future subdivision
design work.
• Evolution of longer lead times for monitoring and use
of such information to enhance comprehensiveness of
EIS evaluations.
• Demonstrated need for early dedication of buffers &
established vegetative controls in advance of
conventional engineered measures.
Development Monitoring
Other Observations & Outcomes
• Difficulties in data collection - - sampling capability,
scarcity of data, “academic versus practical” use of
monitoring information
• Lag time between data collection, reporting - - less
useful for short term sediment & erosion control
• Weekly & event-based inspections are key

Thank You
Denise McGoldrick – Public Works Services 519-747-8642
Ron Ormson – Development Services 519-747-8708
Municipal Monitoring Perspectives
GRCA Sediment Control Workshop- June 20, 2007