Virginia Tech
OP-23: Stormwater Management

The Virginia Tech Annual Standards and Specifications for Erosion and Sediment Control (ESC) and Stormwater Management (SWM) have been developed to provide information regarding VT’s implementation in accordance with the Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control and Stormwater Management Laws and regulations as related to Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) and regulated construction activities. The Virginia Tech Annual Standards and Specifications for ESC and SWM apply to all design, construction, and maintenance activities undertaken by Virginia Tech, either by its internal workforce or contracted to external entities where such activities are regulated by the Virginia ESC Law and Regulations or the Virginia SWM Act and VSMP Permit Regulations. The University is currently in the process of developing a Virginia Tech Stormwater Management Policy and additional Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination Procedures. Upon approval, these documents will prohibit discharges by campus faculty/staff, students, and the Virginia Tech Community to the University’s storm sewer system. Procedures and fact sheets for dewatering activities, storage of bulk materials, vehicle wash water management, illicit discharge detection, wastewater disposal, and pesticide application are publically posted under pollution prevention on the Environmental Health and Safety website for quick reference. Regular stormwater management training is required for applicable Facilities Services employees as well as Dining Services employees to reduce stormwater runoff from daily campus operations. The University also requires that all projects maintain 50% of the existing vegetated cover throughout the duration of the project. By maintaining the existing vegetative cover, the University hopes to alleviate excess sediment loads entering Stroubles Creek, which is currently listed as impaired due to a TMDL regarding sediment. Stormwater management initiatives are sustained through the Virginia Tech MS4 Program and associated MS4 Program Plan evaluated annually and updates as needed. Initiatives include storm drain markers on all main campus storm drains, illicit discharge contact information and identification information on small business cards distributed during outreach events and training presentations, illicit discharge online contact page and a 24-hour non-emergency police contact number, the installation and maintenance of over 30 campus pet waste stations, regular inspection and maintenance of post-construction stormwater management facilities, and regular interdepartmental stream clean-ups. The Site & Infrastructure Development website’s MS4 Program section holds the annual reports outlining further initiatives and a forum to contribute public feedback: http://www.facilities.vt.edu/udc/sid/ms4/mcm2_submitCmnt.asp.

Green roofs were first planted on Seitz Hall and Fralin Hall. The Life Sciences I building, constructed in 2007, is equipped with two green roofs. The recently opened Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute also features a green roof with two to three feet of soil, allowing for a wider variety of plants than traditional green roof designs. Green Roofs are an excellent means to reducing the amount of water and pollutants that are normally associated with runoff from roof surfaces. To view an article from The Roanoke Times about the green roof on Seitz Hall please see: http://ww2.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/173971/ To view an article about the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute's green features please see: http://www.vtc.vt.edu/education/campus/Green_Features.html For more information on green roofs and the green roofs present on Virginia Tech’s campus, please visit www.sid.vt.edu

There are multiple parking lots on campus that utilize porous paving such as the Architecture Research and Demonstration Building parking lot as well the service vehicle parking lots at War Memorial Hall, Shanks Hall, and Slusher Wing.

The Veterinary Medicine Retention Pond and the Alumni Inn Enhanced Extended Detention Basin Pond provide both habitat diversity and recreation around campus. The Alumni Inn Enhanced Extended Detention Basin treats 42.62 acres from campus. Another retention pond at the Veterinary Medicine Infectious Disease Research Facility is still under construction. The Site & Infrastructure Development website outlines some of the on-campus retention ponds and other non-structural stormwater management facilities: http://www.facilities.vt.edu/udc/sid/ms4/mcm5.asp. One of the newer designs for retention BMPs, the Smithfield pretreatment and bioretention pond serves the 15 acre Duck Pond parking lot. Water first enters the pretreatment pond, where it is distributed evenly into the bioretention pond. Once entering the bioretention pond, water infiltrates through filtration media. The filtration media removes sediment and pollutants from the water before flowing back into the stormwater system. The Henderson bioretention works similarly to the Smithfield pond but without the use of a pretreatment pond.

A stone swale was built for the Alumni Center Enhanced Extended Detention Basin to help prevent channel erosion. This particular swale conveys the water from the Alumni Pond to the Duck Pond. An additional stone swale was just recently completed and the Veterinary Medicine Instructional Addition to filter groundwater. The article can be found here: http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2013/05/052113-vetmed-vmialeed.html.

A vegetated swale was built in the Peggy Lee Hahn Garden Pavilion and Horticulture Garden which encompasses 5.75 acres, with 5.5 developed acres. Used as a learning resource for plant courses, landscaping concepts, and environmental awareness, the garden features perennial borders, water gardens, shade gardens, a meadow garden, and the Peggy Lee Hahn Garden Pavilion.

Native Meadows - Native meadows play an important role in the stormwater master plan at Virginia Tech. Besides their ecological benefits, these native grasses enhance groundwater recharge and protect surrounding streams. There are nearly a dozen native meadow sites around campus. Manufactured Stormwater Management Facilities – structural stormwater management facilities use a variety of technologies to achieve potentially greater treatment efficiency than non-structural stormwater management facilities while reducing space needs for treatment. The following are the 19 structural/manufactured units on the Virginia Tech campus that vary in design technologies and make/model: • Payne Underground Detention Basin • Lower Chicken Hill WQU • Lower Chicken Hill Underground Detention • McComas Filterra Unit • Football Locker Room WQU • West End Filterra Unit • Academic and Student Affairs Underground WQU, Contech Stormfilter • Academic and Student Affairs Underground Storage Tank 1 • Academic and Student Affairs Underground WQU, Contech Stormfilter • Academic and Student Affairs Underground Storage Tank 2 • Academic and Student Affairs Contech Urbangreen Biofilter • Roller Hockey Rink Stormceptor Underground WQU • Football Locker Room WQU • Veterinary Medicine Instructional Addition Filterra Unit • Sigma Phi Epsilon Filterra Unit 1 • Sigma Phi Epsilon Filterra Unit 2 • Sigma Phi Epsilon Underground Detention Piping • Center for the Arts Water Quality Unit 1 • Center for the Arts Water Quality Unit 2 Oil/Water Separators – Three oil/water separators are present on campus where vehicle maintenance and washing activities take place as well as a parking garage where vehicles may be parked for prolonged periods.