This course provides an overview of erosion principles, sediment control practices, & stormwater management requirements during construction throughout the Chesapeake Bay. This course is for anyone who wants to understand the principles and practices needed to keep polluted stormwater from leaving construction sites. Individuals responsible for demonstrating compliance with an Erosion Sediment Control plan or the conditions of a Construction General Permit will find the material a useful starting place.

This course is designed to provide local leaders and their staff with an overview of mechanisms used to sustainably finance a stormwater management program. This introductory level course begins with a five-step process to help you analyze your revenue needs. Cost-saving mechanisms such as asset management, green infrastructure, and regional approaches are introduced as valuable components of a long-term financing strategy. The course walks you through how general funds, bonds and loans, grants, and dedicated revenue streams such as stormwater utility fees can be used to fill funding gaps.

This introductory course discusses how to build an effective stormwater management program in your community along with innovative ideas to identify untapped opportunities. The framework presented can be readily shaped to fit local conditions. Use it to develop cost effective programs that are supportive of, and adaptive to, evolving community resources and needs.

Though effectively managing urban stormwater runoff requires leadership and bold decision-making at all levels of government, it is at the local level where the most significant and substantive stormwater investments are made.  It is also at the local level where the most innovative, effective, and transformative financing programs are developed and implemented.

A one-page flowchart created by the Chesapeake Stormwater Network showing the process for BMP inspections.

A key component of sustainable stormwater management is ensuring that practices claimed for pollutant reduction credit actually exist, are working as intended, and are maintained properly. Without sufficient inspection and maintenance procedures, practices may suffer from reduced water quality function and lose other community benefits.  This webpage from the Chesapeake Stormwater Network contains resources on BMP inspection and maintenance including recommended guidance documents and six webcasts.

This 14-page report provides guidance on how to verify the performance of urban BMPs in the Bay watershed.  The guide is organized into 8 parts:

1. The Need for BMP Verification and the Chesapeake Bay Program partners’ Process to Define it

2. Key Verification Definitions

3. Background on Urban BMP Verification

4. Verification Guidance for BMPs Located in MS4 areas

5. Verification Guidance for BMPs Located in non-MS4 areas

6. Verification Guidance for Non-Regulatory BMPs

7. Verification Guidance for Legacy BMPs

This 527-page report was created by the Chesapeake Bay Program’s BMP Verification Committee. The document provides a detailed framework by which the Bay Program partners will build rigor and transparency for BMP verification and disseminate it through a network of local partners.

Though not typically included in the urban stormwater sector, there are opportunities for communities to achieve pollutant reductions through upgrades to residential septic systems and small wastewater treatment plants.  Residential septic systems, especially older ones, are prone to nitrogen leaks.  Upgrading the pre-treatment tank or making enhancements to the drainfield can be effective nitrogen reduction strategies.  Upgrading wastewater treatment plants is another effective nutrient reduction strategy.

The term "Nutrient Discharges" refers to a wide range of non-stormwater flows polluting urban waters during dry weather due to spills, leaks, and overflows from storm sewers and sanitary sewers. Dry weather nutrient discharges collectively account for as much as 20 to 40% of the annual nutrient load in urban watersheds.  Illicit discharge prevention is the practice of locating, eliminating and preventing non-stormwater entries into storm drain systems.  The Chesapeake Stormwater Network provides a variety of resources on illicit discharge prevention.