2. Stormwater Management Case Study

Stafford Township, NJ

Index

View of Stafford City Center. Photo: John Spodofora, Councilman

Stafford Township has been deeply involved in protecting its natural resources for many years. Stafford is a coastal community located on the Barnegat Bay in Ocean County, New Jersey. Awareness of the critical impact stormwater has on the bay resulted in Stafford developing innovative approaches for handling stormwater.

As a result of implementing standards and programs, Stafford Township has documented no deterioration in water quantity or quality over the past 15 years, and in many cases vast improvements to both surface and groundwater supplies.

Stafford Township has taken steps to protect lakes, streams, groundwater and bay through the implementation of a series of programs, standards and ordinances specifically addressing water quality, NPS pollution and groundwater recharge.

 

Stormwater management system, Stafford Township, New Jersey. Image: John Spodofora, Councilman

In 1987, Stafford Township developed stormwater management ordinances that promote the underground recharge of stormwater, discourages the off-site discharge of post development runoff and uses oil and grit separators on all inlets. This design also encouraged the proper utilization of trees, buffers and landscaping as a natural filtration process.

Stafford Township made the determination to address stormwater management by attempting to use the natural processes in nature to control runoff and water quality. Maintaining groundwater levels by discouraging stormwater discharge of NPS pollution into waterways assures Stafford's rivers, lakes, streams and coastal waters will be fishable, swimmable and support healthy ecosystems.

Documented benefits of stormwater management system Stafford Township has 3 freshwater lakes that have been designated for swimming and recreation. In 1987, these lakes had a cumulative rate of closure to swimming of 86%. A comprehensive study identified NPS pollution as the major cause of beach and lake closures in Stafford's Township. Because of implementing innovative standards and ordinances, Stafford Township has documented a continuous improvement to these lakes and have enjoyed a closure rate of less than 2% for the past 8 years. The Environmental Commission, in conjunction with the Municipal Utilities Authority and Township Engineer, have maintained records of all test borings and perk tests associated with new development applications, as well as water quality tests performed on all of the municipal wells. Chloride levels are closely monitored as indicators of potential saltwater intrusion. The data reviewed over the past 10 years show no increase in chloride counts with a stable 3.0 -4.0 PPM count. Overall, the data indicates Stafford's water quality and quantity has remained excellent throughout the entire Township. The data also indicates no changes to the groundwater quality or quantity (Mean High Water) tables throughout the Township.

The Stafford Township stormwater management design/process has been utilized in numerous municipalities throughout New Jersey and the Nation. Over the years, the design has been publicized in a number of magazines and publications. Stafford's process has also been recognized and published by numerous environmental groups and has received a number of National awards.

Construction of stormwater system, Stafford Township, N.J. Image: John Spodofora, Councilman

Economic Benefits

The economic benefits associated with Stafford's stormwater management are numerous.

Stafford Township requires that each developer takes responsibility for the runoff they produce when developing a site. This reduces the amount of impervious surfaces and decreases the impact to the surrounding community and property owners.

Additionally, not allowing post-development runoff to leave the site assures no additional stresses or impact to existing municipal stormwater systems, bridges or culverts. By eliminating silt from entering Stafford's waterways, the Township has been able to avoid costly dredging projects.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has recognized Stafford's stormwater management ordinance, open space preservation, watershed management and other programs as valid processes for controlling flooding. Because of these ordinances, and ongoing work with FEMA, the residents of Stafford were awarded a 10% discount in flood insurance premiums. Stafford has been notified that in the year 2000, we were given an additional 5% discount, for a total flood insurance premium discount of 15% for Stafford's residents.

Effective Stormwater management In 1995, the National Geographic Society was researching stormwater, management and NPS pollution for an upcoming article. Stafford Townships approach was selected as the only innovative approach they were able to find which effectively managed stormwater. Mr. Peter Essick, the lead photographer for National Geographic, spent an entire week in Stafford documenting the town's process for the magazine. The program is also innovative in its use of landscaping on each site, specifying the species of plants and trees for their pollution removal capability, redesign of basins into shallow landscaped swales, larger islands in parking lots with shade trees to lessen the heat island effect, innovative oil and grit separators on each storm drain inlet, limiting impervious coverage, and a deeper open bottom sump on inlets.

Additional information about Stafford Township can be found on their Web site (http://twp.stafford.nj.us/).

To read about Stafford Township's Stormwater Ordinance, click here (PDF format).

 

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