Mining for Phosphorus! One City's Approach for TMDL Implementation
In previous years, the City of Virginia Beach has shared information about its geospatial data approach to identifying opportunities for stormwater BMPs (2023), and about its methodology for City site consideration and review (2024), and now we would like to share the outcome of our work as an implementation plan for meeting the City's Phosphorus TMDL. The City is on the hook to identify opportunities for 775 pounds of phosphorus in its Upper North Landing River watershed, with not a ton of available space and a very high water table. Using a geospatial data evaluation and prioritization tool developed by Tetra Tech, the project team then conducted a multi-tier site review (pre-screening, desktop evaluation, site reconnaissance, and initial evaluation concept design) to find enough reasonable and feasible stormwater BMP projects to meet its TMDL requirements. This presentation will explore what projects are part of the City's 30-year Implementation Plan, how the TMDL will be met, how far long the City is in this process, and what challenges and successes have cropped up along the way.
Author Bio
Hillary Yonce has worked in water resources consulting for over 12 years, and leads the Environmental Assessment team in Tetra Tech's Durham, NC office. She tackles complex hydrologic problem-solving ranging from placement of stormwater BMPs to modeling waterways to assess assimilative capacity for POTW expansions. Jim Milliken is an experienced water resources engineer, and is the TMDL Manager for the City of Virginia Beach. Management of the City program includes creating and implementing TMDL Action Plans, developing stormwater quality projects that progress Action Plan goals, and manage local stormwater quality projects and programs. Tarig Omer is a professional engineer, certified flood manager, and certified Project Management Professional with over 20 years of progressive engineering experience in Project Management and Delivery, Environmental and Water Resources Studies, Hydraulic, Hydrodynamics and Water Quality Modeling, and Stormwater Master Planning.
