Clinton News Record, 2014-12-17, Page 1616 News Record • Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Healthy Lake Huron releases final report about new computer model
Healthy Lake Huron has
released the Final Report
about a project which has cre-
ated a new computer model
to better manage water run-
ning off of land during storm
events in rural areas.
A copy of this technical
report is available online at
ruralstormwater.com as a
large (6 mb) PDF file. A
higher -resolution copy on
data DVD is available, upon
request, while supplies last.
The new technical report is
called Development of a
Rural Stormwater Manage-
ment Model to manage
water quality in the Lake
Huron watersheds.
Stormwater models are
common in urban areas but
some models were limited
when they tried to represent
the movement of water runoff
in rural areas. Healthy Lake
Huron: Clean Water, Clean
Beaches is a partnership work-
ing
orking to protect and improve
water quality along Lake
Huron's southeast shore, an
area stretching from Sarnia to
Tobermory. Partners include
federal and provincial minis-
tries, public health, local gov-
ernment, and local conserva-
tion agencies working with
community groups and land-
owners. The partnership has
worked since 2012 to develop
the Rural Stormwater Manage-
ment Model (RSWMM). This
new technology is designed to
work in rural areas while still
maintaining the means to
model urban areas as well. The
project to create this newwater
quality technology received
financial support from the
Province of Ontario's
T
Showcasing Water Innovation
(SWI) Program as well as sup-
port from other partners.
Alec Scott is Project Man-
ager. He said the new model
will be used in the coming
months and years to provide
local people with better infor-
mation about the kinds of
projects and practices that
can reduce impacts on water
quality. The modeling soft-
ware can also help watershed
managers and drainage engi-
neers in making the best
decisions possible in the
design, size, and location of
projects. He said work on the
RSWMM project has
achieved three main goals.
The project has created the
model; improved local moni-
toring of water quality, water
quantity, and weather; and
increased public awareness
T
412eheriag
hiny ast
tzetinv o
9rtger
Fill your heart with God's light, and spread
the love of His message to all you meet.
We thank you for your business over the past year,
and look forward to serving you in the New Year.
We are thirty-four years in business.
Season's Greetings from the Rooseboom Family,
& employees Cody Lobb, Michael VanWyk,
& Sam Huzinga.
IED
ELECTRIC
ONTAHIIO PNC -
Co m ptele
IC-CompCe'J' Firrrni Service - Residential
• Commercial
24 Hour Emergency Seroce
519-4$2-7441
FAX; 519.482.075
6 & * 1
w
O —
O y
, U
adcc
hCG
W O w
of the need to manage storm -
water runoff. "I would like to
thank the landowners who
have agreed to take part by
allowing us to gather moni-
toring data on their proper-
ties and thank all the resi-
dents and community groups
who are implementing best
management practices and
water -quality projects," said
Scott. "I would also like to
thank the Healthy Lake
Huron partners, the project
funders and supporters, and
the technical advisory team
and consulting team behind
the Final Report"
The Final Report describes
the new model as "a promis-
ing, usable tool with broad
applicability in rural water-
sheds. Although a work in
progress, the RSWMM will
allow watershed managers
to better evaluate, prioritize,
design and implement soil
and water conservation pro-
jects to protect Lake Huron."
The Final Report marks a
step forward in management
of runoff during storm
events in rural areas but
Scott said the partners hope
to continue to refine and
improve the model and rec-
alibrate it in the future. The
model can help in making
decisions about the projects
that will have the greatest
water quality benefit, the
priority areas for those pro-
jects, and the size the pro-
jects need to be to have a
demonstrated water quality
improvement. "The model is
an exciting new tool," Scott
said. "When combined with
continued support for strate-
gic on -the -ground water -
quality projects and long-
term monitoring, the model
can support the work being
done to protect and improve
water quality in Lake Huron."
The new modeling soft-
ware builds upon PCSWMM,
which is described as a spa-
tial decision support system
for SWMM5, one of the most
widely -used models devel-
oped and maintained by the
United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). For
information on PCSWMM
visit chiwater.com.
The new model combines
urban modeling features with
rural features such as agricul-
tural best management prac-
tices; understanding of
changes from season to sea-
son or even within a season
(such as changes in crop
cover); modeling of roads,
ditches, and culverts; slope
and terrain types; dynamic
travel of water running over
land; tracking of key pollut-
ants (sediment, phosphorus
and nitrogen); and other fea-
tures. The technology was
designed for use along Lake
Huron's southeast shoreline
in Ontario but has the poten-
tial to be adopted and used in
other locations of Canada
and the United States.
For more information on
rural stormwater management
or the new model technology,
visitwww.ruralstormwater.com
and www.healthylakehuron.ca
andwww.abca.on.ca or phone
519-235-2610 or toll-free
1-888-286-2610.
T1,••i
Nib
Back Row: Adam Blair, Ken Warwick, David Miller, Jason Shipp
Front Row: Jon Miller, Cathy Kovacs, Marg Miller, Clarence Ferguson (Fergie)
Absent: Wayne Coombs
All of us at D&D Glass & Mirror want to thank you for your business and support this past year.
We looking forward to serving you in 2015.
1st Avenue,
VANASTRA
LOCAL CALLS
519-482-7869
IF BUSY CALL
519-482-5816
Ande&n Vf
YOUR AUTHORIZED ANDERSEN
WINDOW & PATIO DOOR DEALER
ANDERSEN"
Excellences"'
DEALER
Come Home To Andersen '
"Andersen" and the AW logo are
registered trademarks of Andersen Corporation
PROFESSIONAL SALES • SERVICE • INSTALLATION