GMU Stormwater Management Pond

erosion potential after initial land clearing	to build a subdivision, remove a forest...	from eastern deciduous forest to impervious surface	Cain Branch (south of Dulles Airport) in flood, Spring 2005
trees growing on stormwater pond dam	reinforced concrete pipe draining stormwater pond	debrid clogging pond outlet	drainage pipes with more capacity than stream channel

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• Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
• The Changing Face of Stormwater Management: What You Need to Know to Improve Stormwater Management in Your Community
• Builders for the Bay
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Chesapeake Bay Program
• Urban Storm Water
• Natural Resources Defense Council - Stormwater Strategies: Community Responses to Runoff Pollution
• Prince William County - Drainage Inspections & Control
• Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) - Chesapeake Bay Program
• Chesapeake Bay Nutrient and Sediment Reduction - Tributary Strategy for the Shenandoah and Potomac River Basins (March, 2005)
• Watersheds of George Mason University

Topics to Explore

- what is the difference between stormwater and sanitary sewers?
- how is stormwater reducing water quality in the Potomac River?
- what changes in our current lifestyle will be required to Save the Bay? how much will it cost to Save the Bay? who will pay for it?
- why would developers in fail to implement required stormwater management controls? why would the county/state/Federal government not enforce the regulations? how can individual citizens affect water quality/quantity management in their community?
- what is the problem with trees growing on stormwater pond dams?
- should the outlet of stormwater ponds be larger than, smaller than, or equal to the size of the pipe(s) that drain into the pond?
- what happens to natural stream channels when development increases impervious surfaces? why would a county authorize construction of stormwater pond outlets that, when full, will cause substantial erosion of the stream channel below the pond?

Cedar Run near Fauquier border (tributary to Occoquan Reservoir)

Lake Manassas Dam on Broad Run (tributary to Occoquan Reservoir)

(click on images for larger versions)