Application of a Monitoring Plan for Storm-Water Control Measures in the Philadelphia Region

Abstract

Storm-water control measures (SCMs), also known as storm-water best management practices (BMPs), are increasingly being used to mitigate the impacts of development and restore the hydrologic cycle. This paper presents a three-tiered monitoring plan that can be used to determine the effectiveness of structural, nonproprietary SCMs in the Northeast United States. The monitoring plan offers three levels of monitoring: high, medium, and low. This 1-2-3 approach is common in environmental monitoring. The monitoring protocol integrates hydrologic, water quality, and ecological factors and recommendations for equipment with the level of monitoring. The monitoring plan is then applied to a rain garden on Villanova University’s campus in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and a cost analysis of the different monitoring levels is provided.