Water Resources Management
We provide the following services to help communities find cost-effective and manageable ways to protect their water resources and environmentally sensitive areas:
- • Stormwater Management
- • Wastewater Management
- • Applied Water Resources Research
- • TMDLs and Clean Water Act Compliance
- • Integrated Resource Management
Stormwater Management
Our stormwater professionals develop and apply management approaches and practices to minimize impacts of the built environment on water resources. Our approach is to explore the contributing issues, site constraints, treatment options, and the best solutions, taking into account the design principles of Low Impact Development (LID).
Services for stormwater management programs:
- • Municipal stormwater planning and regulatory assistance
- • Stormwater management retrofit analysis, including evaluation of low impact development (LID) techniques
- • Field survey, analysis and documentation, including stormwater infrastructure mapping
- • Illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE)
- • State and Federal permit support
- • Meeting facilitation
- • Flow and water quality monitoring
Wastewater Management
Our wastewater management team applies planning, science, engineering, modeling, and facilitation skills to site- to mid-size municipal scale wastewater collection, treatment, and dispersal issues.
Often, when a traditional, centralized sewer system has been voted down or is not appropriate, our science-driven and neutral approach can allow communities to carefully reconsider their options, and to move forward with a locally supported solution.
We execute wastewater-related needs assessments and feasibility studies using GIS, SWAT, and a variety of other tools and models as appropriate to the unique conditions and pressures facing our clients. We provide site-specific soils testing, hydrogeologic capacity determinations, and groundwater flow modeling in support of development plans and community-scale wastewater treatment systems. We work with local stakeholders to develop and implement programs for the sustainable management of decentralized wastewater infrastructure. As leaders in the decentralized wastewater field, we participate in national research and demonstration studies.
Services we offer in this area include:
- • Decentralized wastewater planning
- • Needs assessments and feasibility studies
- • Research and EPA demonstration projects
- • Landowner outreach
- • Public education
- • Meeting facilitation
- • Environmental sensitivity analysis
- • Hydrogeologic capacity analysis
- • Compliance monitoring and water quality sampling
- • Groundwater modeling
- • GIS analysis, mapping, and decision support
Applied Water Resources Research
Our applied water resources research team conducts scientific evaluations of methods and practices to minimize impacts of land use on water quality and quantity.
Specific services we offer include:
- • Ambient monitoring study design and execution
- • Field experiments quantifying the effects of management on nutrient, pesticide, and microbe transport
- • Preparation and critical review of water quality improvement plans (TMDLs)
- • Distributed modeling of watershed processes (SWAT, HSPF, APEX)
- • Topical review of scientific literature and benchmarking studies
TMDLs and Clean Water Act Compliance
The use of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) as the regulatory framework for addressing water quality challenges has grown exponentially over the past 15 years. With more than 40,000 TMDLs developed nationwide, attention has turned to implementation of the water quality strategies identified in the TMDL. Implementation can be challenging, especially if monitoring or load allocation activities did not accurately characterize pollutant sources before the TMDL was finalized. Stone’s water resources experts have the planning, science, engineering, and modeling skills needed to ensure that the TMDL will indeed produce the best solution.
Specific services include:
- • TMDL development and review
- • Analysis of and implementation support for permit requirements associated with TMDLs
- • Surface water restoration
- • Public education and meeting facilitation
Integrated Resource Management
The IRM approach to project planning and implementation crosses disciplines, departments, businesses, and resources, seeking to mimic natural ecological systems. In this approach, we view municipalities, institutions, or even regions as whole systems with related and connected parts, much like natural, living systems. Natural systems are cyclical and tend to optimize efficiencies by using and reusing resources and energy close to where they are produced. Practical application of IRM utilizes existing methods, tools, technologies, and operations to: solve multiple problems at once, quantify ecosystem services, and develop solutions using a business case model that produces revenue to offset capital and operating costs.
Services include:
- • Integrated sustainability guidelines and performance targets
- • Feasibility studies
- • Alternatives analyses
- • Conceptual designs
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