The difficulty with the current jurisdictional management approach is that stormwater runoff does not respect municipal boundaries and consequently the effectiveness of this patchwork approach is spotty. The underlying concept behind the watershed-wide program is that a management system based on the boundaries stormwater does respect -- the varying elevations and contours of the land -- will be a far more cost effective strategy.

Earlier this year, BEST, Inc. received a grant of $500,000 from the State legislature to compile a comprehensive database of relevant features in the watershed area and develop a user-friendly computer tool to make these data readily available for stormwater planning. With the completion of this phase of the program, the patchwork, municipality by municipality approach can be augmented and enhanced with a watershed wide management program that can substantially increase the return realized on the taxpayer dollars currently being invested to deal with this issue.

An additional benefit should be an increased capacity on the part of watershed governments to compete successfully for state and federal funds. Jointly applying for assistance with projects that benefit the population of the entire watershed rather than a single municipality should be substantially more compelling.

At the meeting on May 9, CDM outlined the scope of the program, described how the resulting database can be used, and outlined what CDM will need from, and how they will work with, community representatives to put this together. To varying degrees, each of these communities has been gathering data on stormwater management in their area. In the initial phase, CDM will gather all these data and create a matrix showing what is available, what gaps exist in the data and what will be required to fill the gaps.

Attending the introductory meeting were representatives from Bay County, Springfield, Panama City, Callaway, Panama City Beach, Parker, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the Northwest Florida Water Management District. Lynn Haven and Cedar Grove were not represented at the meeting but are expected to participate in the program.

In addition, representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be invited to join in this effort.

CDM consultants will meet individually with participating government representatives to inventory and gather available data in the opening phase of the program. The FSAB Stormwater-Contaminants subcommittee, and its sub-committee project leaders, Charlie Yautz, Chris Knight, and, Jon Hemming will lead and facilitate meetings. Subcommittee members will monitor the scientific and regulatory components of the contract and provide technical and other assistance to participants in the program. BEST, Inc. will have oversight of the implementation and completion of the contract with CDM.

Once the existing data are collected, CDM will begin organizing the database in a format that will facilitate its use in identifying and quantifying the impact of all the sources of stormwater runoff in the watershed. All participants in the program will have access to the database.

The database will not only report on the quantity of runoff but will give measurements or estimates of the contaminants it contains. If the contaminants can be reduced cost effectively at the source, the communities downstream will not have to deal with that problem locally.

With a working database, the consultants will be able to conduct an analysis of options for stormwater management. They will analyze existing and potential future build-out, land use, and pollutant loads carried by stormwater runoff.

The next step is the development of an actual management plan for the entire St. Andrew Bay watershed. This will contain an evaluation of management options, and a priority-actions inventory, or a conceptual "to do" list based on these comprehensive evaluations.

How Will The Results Be Monitored?
Over past years, the St. Andrew Bay Resource Management Association (RMA) has been monitoring water quality with its Bay Watch program. The data they have gathered will go into the database, initially, but even more importantly, the program provides the basis for meeting a critical need in the future. As the Management Plan is put into effect, water quality measurements are essential for quantifying results.

To meet this need, strict scientific data quality standards will be implemented in the Bay Watch program to ensure that the data are accurate measurements. RMA has received a grant of $500,000 to retain the professional assistance needed to put this upgrade into place and to maintain the Bay Watch program over the next five years.

Additional water quality data will be provided by the Florida DEP, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Northwest Florida Water Management District.

"A critical step forward"
"This is one of the things BEST originally set out to do when it was formed in 1987," said Mike Brim, Executive Director. "Municipalities in the watershed have been expected by regulatory agencies to pretty much act on their own. Thus there was no means of evaluating stormwater challenges on a watershed-wide basis.. We set out to help assist and enhance communications and cooperation between all governmental, commercial and private groups with an interest in the bay."

"This project will be a critical step forward in pulling essential data together in a readily usable format and making it available to all the decision makers working to preserve, improve and maintain the water quality of the St. Andrew Bay watershed."