By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
A drainage master plan for Nephi is in a wait mode for a couple of months.
“We need to wait to take our aerial photos until fall when the leaves are gone from the trees,” said Randy McKnight, city administrator.
Jones & DeMille has been selected as the engineering firm who will complete the project.
The firm has been in business since 1982, serving all of central and southern Utah, as well as Arizona, Colorado and Nevada.
Jones & DeMille Engineering has state-of-the-art computer equipment and software for engineering design, construction plan creation, data collection, construction surveying and mapping. Our material testing laboratory is equipped to perform material testing on construction materials.
Small municipalities of fewer than 100,000 persons and construction sites of one to five acres are now required to develop management plans for stormwater runoff.
The new stormwater rule, published in the Federal Register, requires that best management practices (BMPs) be implemented, reducing or preventing the discharge of pollutants, and that a permit be obtained from a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting authority.
The rule requires six minimum control measures: 1. Public education and outreach; 2. Public participation and involvement; 3. Detection and elimination of illicit discharges; 4.Construction site runoff control; 5. Post-construction runoff control; 6. Pollution prevention/good housekeeping.
In urban areas, unplanned stormwater management systems result in damage to property and sometimes people. Urbanization of watersheds and the resulting impervious areas also cause changes to the hydrology and water quality of receiving waters.
The new approach to stormwater master plans is the integration of flood control, water quality, natural resources, and aesthetics of stormwater systems. This approach requires significantly more effort and should be thought of as one that will entail adaptive management.
The master plan must include components that allow for changing conditions as development occurs and the downstream systems react.
One of the problems with master plans has been a lack of recognition that current conditions will change and that the plans should be developed to manage change in a positive fashion.
“We will, early in the process, begin taking comments from the public,” said McKnight.
One of the keys to successful integrated master planning is that the planning approach places the proper emphasis on the technical and decision-making processes employed.
The approach suggests utilizing multi-disciplinary teams to review conditions in the field to look for opportunities for meeting objectives, as well as reviewing existing and suspected future problems.
Next, the project team and decision-makers should utilize the collected information to develop goals and objectives for the plan. Then additional technical analyses, including where and what type of detailed hydrologic/hydraulic modeling is appropriate, can be decided upon based upon these objectives.
