Baywide Stormwater Training Partnership

The Chesapeake Bay Stormwater Training Partnership (the “Partnership”) will fill an important gap in Bay-wide nutrient reduction by implementing an intensive training program for stormwater design professionals and local government plan reviewers to expedite the construction of more effective runoff reduction and environmental site design practices at thousands of development projects in four Bay states over the coming years. The Partnership currently consists of three State stormwater agencies (SSA), five state-wide professional associations (SPA), a dozen private sector master stormwater engineers and the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP), and is being coordinated by a newly formed non-profit organization, the Chesapeake Stormwater Network (CSN). The Partnership will develop, deliver and measure the impact of five different training methods on the stormwater design behavior of a large population of local designers and plan reviewers in four Bay states.

In order to make a rapid transition from the traditional pipe and pond stormwater approach to the new runoff reduction/environmental site design paradigm, a greatly expanded level of training is needed at multiple scales: Bay-wide, state-wide, regionally, within individual governments and “at-the-desk” training for key design professionals and plan reviewers. The Partnership will deliver widespread training to a large population of designers and reviewers through five primary modes: (1) webcasts (2) one-day design charettes (3) intensive “master” stormwater design seminars (4) on-site technical assistance by Stormwater Circuit Riders, and (5) self guiding web-based learning modules. The training effort will be combined with an extensive survey analysis to track the impact of training on individual design behavior (i.e., the degree to which they apply methods and practices to maximize runoff and nutrient reduction on the actual development projects they design or review). The training framework proposed by the Partnership will hasten the rate at which advanced stormwater practices are understood, accepted and applied to real world development sites. Based on the training evaluation, the project will also recommend the most cost effective strategies to sustain stormwater training after the grant is completed. The broad scope of the training program will directly produce more rapid and extensive nutrient reductions at new and redevelopment sites in four states in the watershed both during and after the 30 month project period.