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Stormwater Pollution in Buzzards Bay

Sub-pages:   Stormwater Education  |   Low Impact Development  |   Stormwater Atlas  |   Phase II Info  |   Stormwater Mapping Collaborative  |   Stormwater Remediation Projects  |   Impervious Data  |   Unified Stormwater Regulations for Towns

This page contains links and information highlighting stormwater management issues for the Buzzards Bay watershed.

New draft municipal MS4 (stormwater) permit

On November 4, 2010, the US EPA published in the Federal Register, a new draft small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) general permit for public comment. The new permit covers stormwater discharges from urbanized areas of all Buzzards Bay communities. The new permit, which replaces the first permit issued in 2003, is described at this EPA MS4 permit website.

Of the many documents on the EPA website, these two summary documents are most helpful in explaining the new permit requirements:
    MIMSC-SummaryPermitRequirements.pdf
    MIMSC-SummaryMajorChanges.pdf

Municipalities may find some of the new requirements challenging to implement, especially with tight fiscal budgets, so priorities will need to be set. Among the challenges to be met in the new municipal permits is that as part of the mnunicipal Stormwater Management Programs (SWMP), municipalities must implement stormwater outfall monitoring programs, and develop strategies to meet bacteria and nitrogen Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs).

As with the last permit, the Buzzards Bay NEP will provide your technical assistance ito Buzzards Bay municpailities implement their Stormwater Management Program. Go to our Municipal MS4 Stormwater Permit page for more background information on the program.

Buzzards Bay NEP's Stormwater Atlas Project

Since the early 2000s, the Buzzards Bay NEP has been working with municipalities to map stormwater discharges to Buzzards Bay and along streams near the coast. As a result of this project, more than 2500 discharge pipes and road cuts, together with nearly 12,000 contributing catch basins have been inventoried and translated into a geographic information system. This information was first released in a 2003 atlas of stormwater discharges in the Buzzards bay watershed, but work continues to update the stormwater atlas database. For more information on that effort, go to our webpage Atlas of Stormwater Discharges to Buzzards Bay.

Low Impact Development (LID) Stormwater Management Practices

Forty foot wide road layouts in one to three acre subdivisions, coupled with piped stormwater treatment practices adopted in the 1980s and 1990s are causing more loss of habitat, water quality problems, and infra structure maintenance issues than anyone anticipated. Is there a better way?

Yes. It is called "Low Impact Development" (LID), and the new philosophy is causing Buzzards Bay watershed environmental managers and municipal Planning Boards to rethink their local subdivision regulations and environmental bylaws.

Visit the BBNEP's Low Impact Development page.

9/30/02 Slide Show Presentation to Wareham Planning Board on Low Impact Development (LID)

This is a thumbnail version of the slides in a pdf file. It is 768 kb. We are working on a smaller web page summary. Stay tuned. This slide show was based on a PowerPoint presentation developed by the Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team.

Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team LID Information

Other Stormwater Topics

What is the "Geometric Mean" and how to calculate it (used for swimming beach and shellfish bed closures)

Shellfish bed closures continue decline.
The hard work of Buzzards Bay municipalities and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries to address stormwater and other pollution problems continues to contribute to declines in shellfish bed closures in Buzzards Bay. The Project has been pleased to contribute to this effort through our grant and technical assistance programs.

See also our BBNEP's 2006 model Stormwater Bylaws.

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LINKS TO RELATED SITES

EPA Stormwater TMDLs Site.

MA DEP stormwater regulations.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection New Stormwater Regulations Page.

MA DEP stormwater regulations.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Wetlands and Waterways division released stormwater guidance for Conservation Commissions for evaluating stormwater discharges pursuant to the State's wetland Protection Act.

StormWaterCenter.net Site

National BMP Case Study Database

Metropolitan Council Urban Small Sites Best Management Practice Manual

Watersheds Urban Stormwater Site

EPA Stormwater BMP fact sheets

The US EPA's CEIT Storm Water Technology "Trade Show" Page

CICEET Stormwater Center
CICEET has a launched the Center for Stormwater Technology Evaluation and Verification, located at the University of New Hampshire. The center conducts field testing of stormwater treatment technologies and offers workshops for those developing and implementing stormwater management plans. For more information, and a schedule of workshops, visit their site.

Reference Documents and Data

The Coalition's 'Head of the Bay' Stormwater Monitoring Project
A July 2007 report Identifying stormwater discharges with elevated levels of bacteria in the towns of Bourne, Wareham, and Marion.




Cornell University's Atlas of Precipitation Extremes for the Northeastern United States and Canada (5 MB pdf file).

Daily Rainfall Data from the UMass Cranberry Experiment Station, 1988-1998 (Excel file). Prepared by the Buzzards Bay NEP.

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