Stormwater Management

UD WATER

(Watershed Action Team for Ecological Restoration) is a new, university-wide project, conducted in collaboration with the City of Newark, which seeks to develop and implement management measures to mitigate the stormwater runoff problems facing UD and the City. To find out more about their progress and read about the student internships, please visit their web page.

http://www.udel.edu/water

Occupational Health and Safety

http://www.udel.edu/ohs

The University of Delaware’s Stormwater Management Program’s main function is to ultimately decrease the quantity while increasing the quality of stormwater runoff from the campus properties. This goal is achieved in many ways and is an ongoing endeavor that involves synergistic efforts among several key Colleges and Departments on campus as well as the City of Newark to ensure that optimum performance results are achieved. Through the Department of Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS), the University of Delaware coordinates the stormwater management program as directed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Over the past five years, stormwater management has included activities in the six areas required by National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) including: Public Education and Outreach, Public Participation/Involvement, Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination, Construction Site Runoff Control, Post Construction Runoff Control, and Pollution Prevention.

The following are just a few examples of the many accomplishments in the above categories:

• Worked collaboratively with the Water Resource Agency and Delaware Geologic Survey to identify and map approximately 850 stormwater catch basins on the main campus using the GPS/GIS technology.
• Since the program’s inception, completed training for all of Dining Services, Custodial Services, Facilities Maintenance personnel, Public Safety and Public Safety student helpers on stormwater regulations as they pertain to the University as well as good stewardship techniques that could be implemented at home. This training involved approximately 450 University staff members in FY06/07 alone.
• Participate annually in two prominent community outreach programs, which attracted approximately 1200-1300 participants last year alone to our stormwater quality information booths. At each event, DOHS provides stormwater related children’s educational activities and/or disseminates information to adults. Additionally, through organizations such as the Business Industry Alliance, DOHS has visited 12 local schools and multiple summer camps providing quality stormwater education using the enviroscape tabletop model.
• OHS provides Certified Construction Reviewer (CCR) services to the campus community by working collaboratively with Facilities Planning & Construction as well as the City of Newark to conduct regular site reviews of all construction sites on campus.

Our vision for the future of the Stormwater program is to develop a culture on campus whereby all departments and campus community members incorporate best management practices into their operations. We believe this initiative will not only provide better water quality for future generations but will also create excellent educational experiences for our students at the University.

The University of Delaware has joined other colleges and universities in supporting these two sustainabiity initiatives:

Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future/Talloires Declaration: View a .pdf (20kb)

American University and Presidents Climate Commitment:
Visit the web site