Stormwater Consortium
Funding
This funding opportunity is currently closed. For questions, please contact Nicole Wilkinson McIntosh at 919-513-1216 or John Fear at 919-515-9104.
Request for Research Concepts: Fostering community engagement and enhancing community-municipal partnerships to address linkages between stormwater and trash, litter and/or illicit discharges in NC Stormwater Consortium (SWC) member municipalities.
RFP Issue Date: Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018
Submission Due Date: Feb. 11, 2019
Overview (see RFP for complete details):
This unique RFP approach involves the submission of a research concept with the potential for the selected applicant(s) to co-develop a full proposal in collaboration with the SWC’s municipal stormwater members.
Community Engagement: Proposed projects should engage underserved communities, marginalized communities, communities of color and/or low- or fixed-income communities. Proposals should include meaningful public engagement, public participation or collaboration with members of the communities where research will take place.
Applicants: Faculty, consultants and non-profits in North Carolina are eligible to apply (see RFP for complete details on eligibility). Recognizing that some students, faculty and professionals of color have been underserved and under-targeted with research opportunities, and that some students, faculty and professionals of color are underrepresented in the sciences, we strongly encourage submissions by and/or collaborative partnerships with one or more of the following: African American, Hispanic and Native American faculty, students and professionals; Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); or Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).
Disciplines and Scope: Proposed research must take place in the service area(s) of at least one SWC-member municipality. Projects may address research questions and methods in the fields of social science, education, communications, natural science, engineering, economics or policy, or a combination of these disciplines, as applied to the focus area described in the RFP.
Operations
The Stormwater Consortium (SWC), formed in 1998 and originally called the Stormwater Group, is a subgroup of the Urban Water Consortium (UWC) consisting of the nine municipal UWC members that also have municipal stormwater programs. This group sponsors research and technology transfer on urban stormwater and management issues. Member utilities contribute annual dues and enhancement funds that are used to support research. Members benefit from opportunities to share, learn and discuss common concerns through quarterly meetings. The SWC considers research proposals that are submitted as part of WRRI’s annual RFP and proposals developed through direct coordination between researchers and consortium members. We welcome researchers to share their ideas for utility-related research. Please contact Nicole Wilkinson McIntosh or one of the SWC’s member voting representatives to discuss your ideas.
Members
Priorities
The SWC’s research priorities fall into the following categories, though the group will consider research proposals on other stormwater issues of importance to in North Carolina.
Low impact development
How do the lifecycle costs and benefits of low impact development (LID) compare to conventional development in new, retrofit, and redevelopment applications, particularly regarding LID for stormwater treatment in urban and rural settings? What are the short-term and long-term implementation and maintenance cost and benefits of LID for developers, municipalities, communities, and individuals compared to that of conventional stormwater control measures (SCMs)? What is the short-term and long-term effectiveness of low impact development, specifically as related to stormwater treatment, costs and benefits, and water quality improvement? How can low impact development be encouraged and incentivized in North Carolina? For the questions above, how do costs and benefits for LID and conventional development compare across the different regions of the State?
Impervious cover impacts & mitigation
How can we quantifiably mitigate the effects of impervious cover on water quality and aquatic life in different urban and rural stream settings and stormwater systems? What realistic management measures (including stream restoration practices, riparian buffers, and floodplain-stream reconnection) exist or can be further evaluated to address effects of impervious cover? How can watershed restoration activities be implemented to achieve macroinvertebrate recovery and recolonization?
Pollutant removal processes and credits
How should pollutant removal credits be determined and evaluated for urban and rural stormwater control measures (SCMs), stream restoration practices and other management practices, in particular those aimed at managing nutrients, pathogens, and sediment? How can we better understand the processes by which SCMs and other management practices remove contaminants from stormwater and reduce impacts to receiving streams? Specifically for the state of North Carolina, and its physiographic regions (mountains, piedmont, and coastal plain), what location-based methods and criteria can be developed for evaluating SCM, stream restoration and management practice performance, credit accounting, and removal rates for pollutants (particularly nutrients, pathogens, and sediment)?
Projects
To view a comprehensive list of projects funded by the SWC, please visit the WRRI technical reports repository where all final project reports are housed. Type “Stormwater+Group” in the “Search for” box.
Recent projects supported by the SWC include:
- Maintenance Costs of Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs) in North Carolina | Bill Hunt, NC State
- Use of hydrologic model to evaluate stormwater treatment strategies: A case study | Charles Stillwell and Bill Hunt, NC State
- Quantifying treatment potential of floating treatment wetlands to benefit North Carolina waters using improved methodology and novel technology | Bryan Maxwell and Francois Birgand, NC State
- A review of biological condition ratings in urban settings in North Carolina | Michael Paul, Tetra Tech
- Nutrient and Carbon Loading in Gross Solids in Urban Catch Basins: A Nutrient Accounting Opportunity? | Bill Hunt, NC State