Course Schedule

Week 1: Introduction to Stormwater Management

Learning Outcomes:

  • Identify the four major types of stormwater impacts on the environment
  • Trace the impacts to their causes
  • List mechanisms by which stormwater controls can mitigate the four types of impacts

Topics:

  • Effects of stormwater on water quantity, water quality, channel form, and aquatic biota
    • What is the nature of the impact?
    • Why do these impacts happen?
    • How can the impacts be controlled?

Week 2: Setting Performance Standards for Stormwater Management

Learning Outcomes:

  • Describe goals of stormwater management
  • Outline the general integrated approach to stormwater management
  • Relate stormwater control objectives to performance goals
  • Name the most common unified stormwater sizing criteria
  • Apply the two methods to select performance criteria
  • Explain the flaw behind the concept of percent pollutant removal to select stormwater controls

Topics:

  • Fundamentals of stormwater control
  • Relationship between stormwater control and performance goals
  • Unified stormwater sizing criteria
  • Methods for establishing performance criteria
  • Preferred approach to evaluate pollutant removal

Week 3: Stormwater Treatment Concepts: Unit Processes and Unit Operations

Learning Outcomes:

  • Explain how unit processes (UPs) and unit operations (UOs) apply to stormwater management
  • Describe what each UP does to control water quantity or water quality impacts
  • Select the appropriate UPs to address given stormwater problems
  • Select the appropriate UOs in which given UPs take place
  • Name the six categories of stormwater controls and the governing physical principles in each of them

Topics:

  • Unit processes (UPs) and unit operations (UOs) applied to stormwater
  • Unit processes for water quantity control
  • Unit processes for water quality control
  • Unit operations and stormwater systems
  • Classification of stormwater controls

Week 4: Fundamental Principles of Low Impact Development

Learning Outcomes:

  • Explain the basic principles of LID
  • Categorize LID controls according to the major classes of stormwater controls
  • Reconcile the LID and conventional stormwater management approaches
  • Summarize the benefits of applying LID principles

Topics:

  • Basics concepts of LID
  • The role of site planning and engineering in stormwater management
  • Benefits of LID
  • LID stormwater controls
  • Operation and maintenance

Week 5: Stormwater Controls – Filters

Learning Outcomes:

  • Identify the essential features of filters
  • Recognize variants
  • List the unit processes present
  • Select the proper design principles
  • List additional design considerations

Topics:

  • General characteristics
  • Types of filters and applications
  • Design principles
  • Additional design considerations

Week 6: Stormwater Controls – Infiltrators

Learning Outcomes:

  • Identify the essential features of infiltrators
  • Recognize variants
  • List the unit processes present
  • Select the proper design principles
  • List additional design considerations

Topics:

  • General characteristics
  • Types of infiltrators and applications
  • Design principles
  • Additional design considerations

Week 7: Stormwater Controls – Strips and Swales, Gross Pollutant Traps

Learning Outcomes:

  • Identify the essential features of strips and swales
  • Identify the role of gross pollutant traps
  • List the unit processes present
  • Select the proper design principles
  • List additional design considerations

Topics:

  • General characteristics
  • Applications
  • Design principles
  • Additional design considerations

Week 8: Stormwater Controls – Basins

Learning Outcomes:

  • Identify the essential features of basins
  • Articulate the role of basins with respect to LID
  • Recognize variants
  • List the unit processes present
  • Select the proper design principles
  • List additional design considerations

Topics:

  • General characteristics
  • Types of basins and applications
  • Design principles
  • Additional design considerations

Week 9: What Works and What Doesn’t Work

Learning Outcomes:

  • Recognize the potential for failure of various types of stormwater controls

Topics:

  • A collection of examples of ineffective stormwater controls

Week 10: Operation, Maintenance, and Inspection

Learning Outcomes:

  • Explain the importance of proper maintenance
  • List the major maintenance tasks associated with each type of controls

Topics:

  • General considerations
  • Detailed maintenance for each type of stormwater control

Week 11: Performance Assessment

Learning Outcomes:

  • Apply the principles to design monitoring programs
  • Select appropriate objectives for monitoring
  • Recognize well implemented monitoring plans
  • Explain the flaw in the concept of percent pollutant removal
  • Select proper methods to assess performance of stormwater controls

Topics:

  • The importance of monitoring
  • Monitoring plan development
  • Monitoring plan implementation
  • Qualitative and quantitative assessment methods

Week 12: Modeling Stormwater Controls

Learning Outcomes:

  • Explain the challenges in modeling stormwater controls and their combined effect
  • List the most common approaches to model the processes in stormwater controls
  • Develop conceptual models for the various types of stormwater controls
  • Cite models suitable to simulate the effect of stormwater controls
  • Select the appropriate model for a given analysis need
  • Demonstrate the criticality of reliable input data

Topics:

  • The need for models in stormwater management
  • Conceptual models for stormwater controls
  • Modeling approaches
  • Model selection criteria
  • Data needs
  • Model application

This course outline is subject to change.