Education & Training

RGIS - Educational Modules, Chesapeake Wilkes University

Stormwater Management Concepts
and Tools for Local Communities: A Focus on CITYgreen

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About This Module

This is an educational and informational module emphasizing concepts, terminology, visualizations, and problems of stormwater management for communities. The module is focused on selected aspects of stormwater management and serves as both a general environmental education module and a guide to the potential use of CITYgreen as a stormwater management and land use planning tool. Other management tools are briefly examined (e.g., HydroCAD and the Soil Water Assessment Tool [SWAT] of the U.S. Department of Agriculture). However, more detail and examples are provided for CITYgreen since this application has been used in various ways by the RGIS-Chesapeake Wilkes University (RGIS-CWU) site and CITYgreen includes data and methods from USDA’s TR55 Method for Urban Hydrology. This module can also be seen as a complement and subset to the other RGIS-CWU module on GIS watershed applications. The module starts with a short review of the hydrologic cycle and moves quickly to highlight examples (via photo documentation – e.g., agriculture – crops and livestock, urban and suburban development, and mining) of stormwater runoff problems such as removal of natural vegetation and creation of impervious surfaces that both exacerbate erosion processes and accelerate runoff along with higher sediment transport and impact to streams and increased frequency of flooding.

The middle third of the module briefly reviews selected GIS tools for estimating runoff and/or impervious cover. These include:

  • ArcView for digitizing impervious surfaces.
  • TR55 – USDA NRCS Method.
  • HydroCAD (commercial engineering software).
  • The Soil Water Assessment Tool (USDA SWAT).
  • Remote sensing imagery (Digital Globe) emerging software for extraction of impervious surface extents within a GIS.

The last third highlights community applications of CITYgreen with several case studies, including a local community watershed analysis (i.e., Toby Creek in the American Heritage River watershed); a “Growing Greener” cluster with greenbelts development scenario; and a PA state gamelands to suburban to urban land use gradient comparison. CITYgreen GIS data are also used to illustrate the components of the TR55 method with U.S. data sources on rainfall event frequency, rainfall type, hydrologic soil groups, and slopes along with the incorporation of Curve Numbers for runoff estimates. The use of CITYgreen in conjunction with watershed indicators quantified in CommunityViz for a simulated “build-out” scenario (conversion of pastures and meadows to suburban lots) is also showcased in this module. The module concludes with selected examples of how stormwater might be mitigated by maintaining greenbelts (trees) or retroactively with holding ponds and retention devices. Several examples are also profiled on how stream channels might be rehabilitated with streambank stabilization efforts from websites such as the Center for Watershed Protection.

Module Audience

This module is for involved citizens, environmental groups, local government officials and township managers, and the general public involved with stormwater problems, issues, and solutions from a community watershed perspective. It does not assume any advanced science or GIS training, although this module does cover geospatial concepts in more detail.

Module Materials & Tools

This module could potentially be reformatted as a guidebook or primer on stormwater issues and concepts from a watershed perspective.  Data and exercises in the use of GIS, with a focus on CITYgreen, are planned for follow up modules (hands-on) that build on this basic foundation.

  • PowerPoint presentation with detailed annotation of each slide, graphic, or digital photograph
  • Various references and related websites are provided as resource materials
  • The PowerPoint presentation is self-contained with explanatory text for each slide; an Instructor Guide is not needed

Module Software & Hardware Needs

  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • PC laptop
  • Projector

For More Information Contact:

Dale Bruns, Wilkes University
150-180 S River Street
PO Box 111
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 18766
Email: dbruns@wilkes.edu