Monitoring

The adaptive environmental management (AEM) cycle identifies monitoring as a key element in the knowledge building and learning process.

Overview

An inspection and monitoring program is a fundamental part of implementing stormwater management plans and operating facilities. The program evaluates whether a stormwater management practice or system is constructed and functioning according to design and meets the environmental and public health and safety objectives it was designed to meet.

Detailed inspections and monitoring during and after project implementation also help identify potential problems before they grow into larger issues and provide project management staff with opportunities to learn from mistakes and improve processes and designs in future projects. This process of continuous learning and improvement is often referred to as ‘adaptive management’ which ‘promotes flexible decision making that can be adjusted in the face of uncertainties as outcomes from management actions and other events become better understood’ (this can be seen in the image above).

It is important to view inspections and monitoring as part of a single program that strives to meet overlapping goals and shares the same overarching objective of continuous learning and improvement. Key types of inspections and monitoring initiatives include:

• Construction inspections: These inspections are conducted by qualified staff just prior to construction of stormwater feature and at intervals throughout construction corresponding to major milestones such as the completion of excavation, connection of drainage pipes, media placement, etc. Approved erosion and sediment control plans and site/feature design drawings provide the benchmark against which construction outcomes are evaluated.

• Assumption inspections: These inspections assess whether the stormwater management practice has been constructed in accordance with the design drawings and that approved design modifications (if any) meet expectations. These inspections are conducted after substantial completion of construction prior to the beginning of the ‘warranty period’ (typically 2 years), and again at the end of the ‘warranty period’ and prior to final assumption of ownership by the municipality or owner.

• Routine operation and verification inspections: These inspections are conducted by maintenance crews after assumption of the facility and are typically followed by various maintenance tasks identified as necessary to restore the visual appeal of the practice and ensure any functional issues are addressed. Routine Inspections occur at regular intervals throughout the year, while verification inspections entail more detailed assessments conducted periodically (e.g. every 5 years) to evaluate whether minor or major repairs are needed to rehabilitate overall system function.

• Functional monitoring: This type of monitoring is often conducted with continuous measurement devices (e.g. water level sensors, water temperature sensors) over a period of time to evaluate the function of the system during and after rain events. Typical functional monitoring parameters may include inlet and outlet function, surface and subsurface water level changes, overflow frequency and soil moisture/salinity conditions (see below for more details). Functional monitoring may occur any time after substantial completion of construction. Conducting functional monitoring during the warranty period can simplify and/or replace the tasks needed for assumption inspections, since the former can be regarded as a more detailed form of an assumption inspection.

• Performance monitoring: This monitoring evaluates how well a stormwater management feature or management measure performs in comparison with a range of performance indicators or design targets (e.g. peak flow attenuation, volume reduction) to determine whether design criteria has been met and to compare how this practice performs relative to other stormwater facilities, technologies and/or development contexts. This more detailed monitoring would typically occur after the development site has been stabilized either before or after site assumption by the municipality or owner. Conducting performance monitoring after substantial completion of construction can replace and/or simplify the tasks typically undertaken through both functional monitoring and assumption inspections because performance monitoring involves a wide range of detailed measurements, including many of the same measurements undertaken through simpler inspection and monitoring programs.

• Environmental effects monitoring: This monitoring is designed to assess the cumulative impact of land use changes and stormwater management measures on groundwater, terrestrial system and/or the environmental health of a stream reach, subwatershed, watershed, or individual community. Understanding environmental effects requires quantifying key sources of hydrologic and chemical changes within the contributing drainage area, monitoring the major management measures put in place to mitigate land use changes, and evaluating changes in physical, chemical and biological indicators of the environmental systems of interest (e.g. groundwater, receiving waters, terrestrial systems). Where budget is limited, an environmental effects monitoring program may be scoped to evaluate impacts on a limited range of environmental variables (e.g. stream health, groundwater contamination).

Soil, sand and minerals washed from land into water, usually after rain. They pile up in reservoirs, rivers and harbors, destroying fish-nesting areas and holes of water animals and cloud the water so that needed sunlight might not reach aquatic plans. Careless farming, mining and building activities will expose sediment materials, allowing them to be washed off the land after rainfalls.

The drainage area of one or more contributing watercourses to a river.

The drainage area of a river.

An area of land that drains into a river or a lake. The boundary of a watershed is based on the elevation (natural contours) of a landscape.

The total surface area upstream of a point on a stream that drains toward that point. Not to be confused with watershed. The drainage area may include one or more watersheds.

The water below the surface, and typically below the groundwater table.

Watercourses and Lake Ontario, to which Stormwater and Combined Sewer Overflows discharge.