STORMWATER MANAGEMENT: WHAT REALLY WORKS? Dr. Melissa Keeley - - PDF document

STORMWATER MANAGEMENT: WHAT REALLY WORKS?

• Dr. Melissa Keeley

George Washington University keeley@gwu.edu

How would you describe your professional background:

• Technical (science/engineering)
• Management
• Finance
• Planning/Public policy
• Other

What sized population does your sewerage agency serve?

A population of:

• Less than 10,000
• Between 10,000 and 25,000
• Between 25,000 and 100,000
• Between 100,000 and 500,000
• Over 500,000

Scaling it up: Green Infrastructure Policy Challenges and Innovations

Green Infrastructure Stormwater fees and green infrastructure Individual parcel assessment German experiences Challenges and opportunities in the US Engendering multi-agency support for green

infrastructure

Silos and the in-between Perception Data Availability

Green Infrastructure

www.tep.uk.com/.../rightimages/er3_21.jpg http://www.mwcog.org/nationalcapitalfarms/downloads/w ma_green_infrastructure.jpg http://sitemaker.umich.edu/section9group1/files/newyork _roof_gardens.jpg

Swales and rain gardens

Porous pavements Green Facades Green Roofs

Characterize your agency’s current green infrastructure utilization:

1.

Not a part of our program

2.

Thinking about it

3.

Some pilot projects

4.

Planning a SW management approach in which GI is a major component

5.

Currently implementing SW management plan in which GI is a major component

6.

Other

STORMWATER FEES AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

Do you assess SW charges based on individual parcel or class average characteristics?

1.

We do not assess separate SW fees

2.

Class averages for all parcels

3.

Individual parcel characteristics for residential parcels only (ERUs)

4.

Individual parcel characteristics for commercial parcels

• nly

5.

Individual parcel characteristics for all parcels

6.

Other

Evolution of Stormwater Billing

Move toward user fees Estimation of stormwater “burden” contribution Often based on average runoff estimates for

broad categories of property

ERU (equivalent runoff/residential units) Also discussion about how these fees might

incentivize on-site SW management

Individual Parcel Assessment (IPA)

US Primarily for industrial/commercial properties Germany National courts transparency ruling IPAs of all parcels in most cities Berlin: Information and technology deficit $70/parcel, $12 Million total

Remote sensing data: increasing availability, declining prices

Capture land-cover conditions at a component level

Quickbird satellite image Derived land- cover data

Utilizing IPAs in market-based instruments

Create a “point-source” Stormwater fees = emission charges Optimally priced fees/subsidies allocate control to least-cost technologies reduce total cost of stormwater management

Increasing SWr fees Optimal fee Bonn $1.81 MC Increasing on-site SW control

City Stormwater fee per m2/year Topeka KS $0.12- $0.29 Raleigh NC $0.13- $0.52 Columbus OH $0.21 Orlando FL $0.44 Issaquah WA $0.67 Gieβen, FRG $0.86 (0.72 €) Köln, FRG $1.37 (1.15 €) Dresden, FRG $1.37 (1.15 €) Berlin, FRG $1.76 (1.479 €) Bonn, FRG $1.81 (1.52 €)

A B C

Rates are for 2005

The price-dependent effects of stormwater fees.

Back-of-the-envelope average cost pricing for Cambridge MA

$11,688,657 (FY 04 SW expenditures) 5.0 x 106 m2

(impervious surface)

=$2.34/m2 imperv.surf./year

City Stormwater fee per m2/year Topeka KS $0.12- $0.29 Raleigh NC $0.13- $0.52 Columbus OH $0.21 Orlando FL $0.44 Issaquah WA $0.67 Gieβen, FRG $0.86 (0.72 €) Köln, FRG $1.37 (1.15 €) Dresden, FRG $1.37 (1.15 €) Berlin, FRG $1.76 (1.479 €) Bonn, FRG $1.81 (1.52 €) Cambridge MA $2.34

Obstacles to efficient prices

US water services pricing policies No marginal cost pricing, no surplus, fees used

for current-year services

Limited or no capital costs in fees Public resistance to higher fees Down side of transparency “Paying twice”: believe that property taxes

already funded infrastructure

“Rain tax”: taxing nature Perception of fairness

Emissions trading

Utility distributes emission permits Tradable permits could increase efficiency,

exploiting the heterogeneity of costs

Can requirements for functioning emissions

market be met?

Check out work on this in Cincinnati, Ohio

Other Applications: Planning and Public Awareness

Site specific land use data could: Be useful to multiple agencies Facilitate other watershed planning/SW

managment activities

Enhance resident comprehention of how land-use on

their property contributes to the problem

Increased public support would benefit US

utilities in two distinct ways:

enabling needed funding increases motivating behavioral modifications or land-use

changes.

Applications of Robert Cialdini’s work for SW management? STORMWATER FEES AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

Environmental Services

Thinking Beyond SW

air quality

improvement

Urban Heat Island

amelioration

energy savings wildlife habitat aesthetic and

social

With which agencies have you partnered

• n green infrastructure projects?

Department of Planning Department of the Environment Department of Transportation Department of Public Health Parks and Recreation Community Forestry Regional or State agencies NGOs Others

Urban Bio-infiltration Prefab

Feature Air Quality Heat Island SW Quality SW Quantity Land Cover Turfgrass LOW MED LOW MED Unvegetated Permeable Pavement LOW MED MED MED Vegetated Permeable Pavement MED MED MED MED Green Roof MED MED LOW MED Ground Cover LOW MED HIGH MED Trees HIGH MED MED LOW Techniques Bio-Infiltration “watershed” LOW LOW MED HIGH Green Facade HIGH MED MED MED

Environmental Performance Summary

DISCLAIMER: In-progress and calculated for an area-based planning instrument, please do not use out of context.

Feature Air Quality Heat Island SW Quality SW Quantity Land Cover Turfgrass FAIR FAIR POOR FAIR Unvegetated Permeable Pavement FAIR FAIR FAIR GOOD Vegetated Permeable Pavement POOR POOR FAIR FAIR Green Roof FAIR FAIR FAIR FAIR Ground Cover POOR POOR POOR POOR Trees GOOD GOOD POOR POOR Techniques Bio-Infiltration “watershed” POOR POOR FAIR GOOD Green Facade POOR POOR POOR POOR

Data Availability Summary

Questions?

Thank you for participating!

Feel free to contact me:

• Dr. Melissa Keeley

George Washington University keeley@gwu.edu