Route 1 Falmouth Commercial District Stormwater Management Plan, January 2013
To help inform the Route 1 Infrastructure Plan, the Town successfully applied in 2012 for, and received, a $50,000 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - U.S. Department of Commerce grant through the Maine Coastal Program to study stormwater runoff in the commercial district.
The study was conducted by Woodard & Curran and accomplished the following:
- identified the linkage of private and public stormwater runoff in the commercial Route 1 area;
- developed an integrated strategy that will complement the Route 1 Infrastructure Plan;
- provided a demonstration of the potential for integration of traditional infrastructure and Green Infrastructure management for a commercial district in Maine;
- began the process towards addressing polluted stormwater discharges into Mussel Cove, which is currently closed for shellfishing due to pollution; and
- identified an appropriate demonstration project from this plan in collaboration with MaineDOT along Bucknam Road.
Webes Creek is a small tributary of Mill Creek which discharges into Mussel Cove and Casco Bay. A large portion of the Route 1 commercial district is within the 341-acre Webes Creek watershed. This small watershed area contains over 112 acres of impervious surfaces (i.e. roadways, rooftop, pavements, etc.), or approximately 33% of the watershed area, which makes the tributary likely to be impaired due to polluted stormwater runoff.
Twelve commercially developed parcels within the watershed currently provide some form of stormwater management for peak rate of runoff and/or water quality. Many of these systems are outdated under current standards, but can be cost-effectively retrofitted to provide advanced stormwater management. Several other areas within the Webes Creek watershed were identified as priorities for future stormwater management retrofitting, particularly for runoff from Route 1 itself.
Stormwater drainage infrastructure was mapped and field verified as a part of this project and several critical pieces of drainage infrastructure along Route 1 were identified as having “sensitive” hydraulic capacity. These locations were recommended for improvements during future upgrades to Route 1 in order to alleviate upstream flooding problems and to maximize the potential for additional growth in the corridor.
Additionally, recommendations were made to evaluate and modify local codes and ordinances to maximize the potential for enhanced management of stormwater of future redevelopment projects in order to offset existing impacts and to accommodate future growth.
Alternatives to addressing existing untreated stormwater discharges through redevelopment may include public-private partnerships for strategic retrofitting. Total cost for identified retrofits may range between $2 and $5 MM. Further evaluation of these retrofits was recommended to determine implementation feasibility and priority.
Click here for January 2013 Report Materials