Over ten Watershed Managers attended the 2/29/2012 “Retrofit This” webinar sponsored by the Center for Watershed Protection. Participants viewed the webinar at the NH DES offices in Concord and later shared some interesting insights on what they gained from attending:
- Urban stormwater retrofit projects face significant funding challenges & many municipalities look to a utility-type model to help off-set the steep costs of retrofitting urban areas.
- Operation & Maintenance (O & M) continues to be a big challenge, yet creative approaches exist; for example, one city uses a “level of service” approach vs. frequency. Another interesting idea discussed was a recommendation to include a requirement to demonstrate effectivenessof maintenance (such as pre- and post maintenance infiltration tests for porous asphalt).
- Several examples of creative approaches for retrofitting and improving pollutant load removal, such as retrofitting urban grass swales as bioretention units, were also presented.
Additionally, the Center for Watershed Protection developed a resource sheet to accompany the webinar. It’s attached to this post: Resource Sheet FINAL