Water Resources Management Projects

• Stormwater Management
• Wastewater Management
• Applied Water Resources Research
• TMDLs and Clean Water Act Compliance
• Integrated Resource Management

Stormwater Management

Stormwater infrastructure field inventory in Colchester, Vermont

Stormwater monitoring in a Vermont community

City of St. Albans, Vermont
Stone is supporting the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources in developing a monitoring plan and procedures, specifying and installing monitoring equipment, and analyzing flow and water quality data for a stormwater retrofit project involving the installation of rain gardens along residential streets in the City of St. Albans.

Illicit discharge detection and elimination in Vermont communities

State of Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation
Stone Environmental and its partners have conducted IDDE surveys in 15 Vermont communities not subject to MS4 permit requirements. In total, Stone has assessed approximately 800 discharge points and discovered contamination from sanitary wastewater sources, petroleum, treated drinking water, heated water, and road salt. A variety of other problems identified through these efforts have been or are being addressed, including water leaks, pet waste dumping, trash dumping, and truck washing runoff.
• Case study

Stormwater due diligence

Burlington, Vermont
Stone reviewed existing site conditions, opportunities, and constraints regarding the potential development of a challenging site in Burlington, Vermont. The information we provided was used for decision making by the client and other stakeholders.

Technical assistance for new town garage facility

Town of Strafford, Vermont
Stone conducted preliminary soils and site investigations in order to site the water supply, wastewater treatment, and stormwater management systems for a proposed town garage building. We provided technical assistance and design review services to the engineering firm responsible for permitting and construction of the project.

Long-range planning for decentralized wastewater and stormwater treatment research

Decentralized Water Resources Collaborative
This national research project resulted in an updated, prioritized long-range plan for training, research, and development that articulates the major challenges facing a sustainable strategy for decentralized wastewater and stormwater treatment and management. Stone completed a wide-ranging literature review and worked with a facilitator to organize and execute a two-day workshop with a broad panel of national and international experts. The workshop outcomes included the Baltimore Charter for Sustainable Water Systems and a summary of priorities for future research.
• Project Report

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Wastewater Management

Wastewater workshop in New Jersey Pinelands

Wastewater solutions for Vermont communities

State of Vermont Department of Housing and Community Affairs
As part of a US EPA Healthy Communities grant, a team led by Stone led an interactive process to develop a handbook for municipal officials and other local decision makers in support of the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Affairs' goal of furthering sustainable development in Vermont communities.
• Final handbook
• Poster

Decentralized wastewater management demonstration project

Decentralized wastewater facilities plan

Guidance for establishing successful responsible management entities

Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney and
Water Environment Research Foundation
Through an extensive process of collaboration with existing individuals and organizations managing decentralized wastewater systems, and with regulators overseeing such systems, the research team created a series of fact sheets that provide practical guidance for starting up and running successful utility-type management programs.
• Fact sheets
• Presentation

Wastewater management services

Town of Colchester, Vermont
For over a decade, Stone staff members have worked with the Town of Colchester on a variety of planning, site characterization and modeling, water quality, and water infrastructure-related projects. The projects are united by the Town's concern for conserving its water resources.
• Summary of the Town's Strategic Water Quality Plan
• Presentation on the Town's Strategic Water Quality Plan
• Web site of Town of Colchester's Integrated Water Resources Management Plan
• Presentation on the Integrated Water Resource Management Plan (fall 2010)
• Conference paper on the Integrated Water Resource Management Plan (fall 2010)

Development of best management practices for small-scale onsite septic systems

Pinelands Commission, New Jersey
Stone assisted the staff of the Pinelands Commission in developing long-term institutional programs, mechanisms, and strategies for the management of small-scale septic systems in the nitrogen-sensitive New Jersey Pinelands Area.
• Project summary
• Project report

Risk assessment of decentralized wastewater treatment systems in high-priority areas

Decentralized wastewater management demonstration project

Town of Warren, Vermont
Stone and an engineering partner conducted a multi-year decentralized wastewater management project, funded by a US EPA demonstration grant, with a lot-by-lot needs assessment, water quality monitoring, and management of onsite and cluster systems. The project included a demonstration of innovative/alternative technology at the Warren Elementary School, where a malfunctioning onsite wastewater system was replaced with the state's first advanced onsite wastewater treatment system. All construction was successfully completed in 2005. Stone continues to provide groundwater and surface water compliance monitoring services for Warren Village's 30,000 gpd community wastewater treatment facility.
• Summary case study
• Magazine article by Penelope Grenoble O'Malley on Stone's work with the Town of Warren, Vermont. Published in Onsite Water Treatment, July/August 2006.
• US EPA demonstration grant final report and case study.
• Conference paper (NOWRA, 2004)
• Poster illustrating the Warren Elementary School's new wastewater system.

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Applied Water Resources Research

Winter runoff flows through a study site flume in a Vermont corn
field

Manure pathogen runoff study

US Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Stone conducted a research study to evaluate the effectiveness of simple management practices to reduce microorganism transport in runoff from agricultural land, a major source of surface water pollution.
• Poster

Hydrologic evaluation of city drinking water supply

City of Montpelier, Vermont
The City of Montpelier, Vermont, hired Stone to investigate the capacity of its water supply reservoir, Berlin Pond, to meet water customers' needs in the decades to come. Stone conducted a hydrologic analysis to evaluate the effect of varying water withdrawal rates on pond levels under different climate conditions.
• Case study

Evaluation of the impact of a composting facility on base flood elevations along the Winooski River

Evaluation of nitrogen treatment trenches

Woodard & Curran and Town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island
Stone conducted a field investigation to characterize the effectiveness of a nitrogen treatment trench installed near the shore of an estuary pond using a groundwater profiling method to measure groundwater quality parameters.

Analysis of use of wastewater effluent spray on sports fields

Fauquier County Parks and Recreation Department, Warrenton, Virginia
Stone reviewed literature, regulations, and existing standards for spray irrigation using treated wastewater effluent on recreational fields for County Park Department officials in Fauquier County, Virginia. Our report was used by County officials, land owners, and developers in making decisions about a proposed development and park within the County.
• Project Report

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TMDLs and Clean Water Act Compliance

Stormwater monitoring in a Vermont community

Risk assessment of decentralized wastewater treatment systems in high-priority areas

City of Malibu, California
Stone led a complex project for this coastal community, including extensive stakeholder involvement, a year-long groundwater quality study, three-dimensional finite element groundwater modeling, and risk assessment of septic system impacts on environmentally sensitive areas. The need for the project was driven by the establishment of nitrogen and pathogen-related TMDLs for Malibu Creek and Lagoon (centrally located in the study area), and a pathogen-related TMDL for Surfrider Beach (located immediately to the south of the study area).
• Case study
• Poster
• Magazine article by Penelope Grenoble O'Malley on Stone's work with the City of Malibu, California. Published in Onsite Water Treatment, May/June 2007.

Wastewater management services

Town of Colchester, Vermont
For over a decade, Stone staff members have worked with the Town of Colchester on a variety of planning, site characterization and modeling, water quality, and water infrastructure-related projects. The projects are united by the Town's concern for conserving its water resources. Several watersheds located completely or partially within Colchester have TMDLs developed for stormwater-related impairments, and the Town has over 20 miles of shoreline on Lake Champlain, which has a TMDL developed for phosphorus impairment.
• Summary of the Town's Strategic Water Quality Plan
• Presentation on the Town's Strategic Water Quality Plan
• Web site of Town of Colchester's Integrated Water Resources Management Plan
• Presentation on the Integrated Water Resource Management Plan (fall 2010)
• Conference paper on the Integrated Water Resource Management Plan (fall 2010)

Decentralized wastewater management demonstration project

Orange County Water Authority
Stone is conducting a project to demonstrate practices and technologies capable of reducing phosphorus loading to Greenwood Lake from onsite wastewater systems. The Greenwood Lake watershed is under a TMDL for phosphorus impairment, and significant loading reductions are expected from changes in both stormwater and onsite wastewater management practices.
• Project web site
• Presentation

Decentralized wastewater facilities plan

Woodard & Curran and Town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island
As part of a consulting team, Stone used a hydrologic model to characterize nitrogen inputs to two estuaries in the towns of South Kingstown and Charlestown, Rhode Island. Both towns' estuaries, known as salt ponds in Rhode Island, are under TMDLs for nitrogen impairment. The hydrologic model that Stone developed for this study was one of the first to produce an objective comparison of the nitrogen reductions achievable by changing onsite wastewater management practices as compared to a centralized wastewater collection system alternative.
• Presentation

Evaluation of the impact of a composting facility on base flood elevations along the Winooski River

Intervale Compost Products, Burlington, Vermont
Intervale Compost Products retained Stone to investigate state regulators' concerns that the facility's large compost windrows, located in the Winooski River floodway, would raise the level of the one percent annual chance flood event and contribute phosphorus and other pollutants to floodwaters. Regulatory concerns were driven by the TMDL addressing phosphorus impairment of Lake Champlain, only a few miles downstream from the site. We executed a field test to demonstrate that release of nutrients, metals, and biological oxygen demand from the compost would be negligible in comparison to watershed loads.
• Case study

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Integrated Resource Management

Sustainability planning for a new college campus

College of the Desert, Palm Springs, California
Stone led an international project team to create Integrated Sustainability Guidelines for the development of a new campus for the College of the Desert.
• Poster

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