Rethinking runoff: Ventura County implements a concrete solution to keep storm drains clean

OXNARD, Calif. - April 25, 2013 - PRLog -- Ventura County, Calif. – In an effort to eliminate contaminants that pollute storm drains and the environment, the Ventura County Public Works Agency’s Watershed Protection District has implemented a cost-effective and environmental-friendly Gutter Filtration Project at the Ventura County Government Center that will permeate water runoff and help protect the ocean.

This innovative yet practical project, which is being led by Stormwater Program Manager Ewelina Mutkowska, is strategically planned to replace impermeable surfaces around key stormwater runoff areas – instead of the entire parking lot – with permeable concrete. In fact, the Watershed Protection District, in cooperation with General Services Agency, has already completed the paving of new pervious concrete installations in the Government Center’s A and B parking lots and is slated to begin the next phase of retrofitting the remaining parking lots to help eliminate even more pollutants from flowing into the Santa Clara River, as untreated stormwater and dry-weather runoff from the impervious parking lots flows through a gutter system and into the storm-drain system that leads to the river. Eighty percent of the project’s funding – $1.5 million – will come from the Proposition 84 Storm Water Grant Program.

“During the first 10-15 minutes during a storm, the initial runoff, otherwise known as a ‘first flush,’ is the most contaminated with higher concentrations of pollutants with 200,000 gallons per event for the entire parking lot,” Mutkowska explained. The new permeable concrete mimics natural processes that will treat and retain stormwater runoff and remove more than 70 percent of pollutants before it enters the drain.

“If everyone implemented this cost-effective approach to containing water contaminants there would be a measurable impact on the environment,” Mutkowska said. “The Watershed Protection District highly encourages other municipalities and developers to adopt this concept as a green model for future projects.” The Watershed Protection District will share its innovative plans and information for others to replicate the permeable concrete installations to help add more ways to treat urban runoff and protect our oceans.