2145 Suttle Avenue Charlotte, N.C. 28208 - 5 2 3 7
August 31, 2017
Mr. Tracy Davis, Director North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources Stormwater Permitting Unit 1617 Mail Service Center Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1617
RE: Storm Water Management Program Assessment Report Certification NPDES Permit NCS000395
Dear Mr. Davis:
In accordance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit Number NCS000395 issued to Mecklenburg County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System, Central Piedmont Community College and the Towns of Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville, please find attached the Storm Water Management Program Assessment Report for FY2017 along with a signed certification statement (in duplicate). This year we have elected not to use the NCDEQ web-based reporting gateway. Instead, we are using a reporting framework that we believe will enable us to more effectively evaluate program compliance, the appropriateness of best management practices, and progress towards achieving measurable goals; as well as assess the overall performance and effectiveness of our Storm Water Quality Management Program Plan.
Please contact me at (980) 314-3217, if you have any questions or require additional information.
Sincerely,
Rusty Rozzelle Water Quality Program Manager
Attachments: Certification
T o report pollution o r drainage prob lems call: 3 1 1 http://stormwater.charmeck.org
Storm Water Management Program Assessment Report for Permit No. NCS000395
Reporting Period: July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017
Co-Permittees: Mecklenburg County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Central Piedmont Community College and the Towns of Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville
Report Date: August 2017
Report Prepared by: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services 2145 Suttle Avenue Charlotte, NC 28208-5237
Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Table of Contents
Section 1: Introduction ...... 1 Section 2: Overview ...... 2 Section 3: Public Education and Outreach Program ...... 3 3.1 Implementation Status for FY2017 ...... 3 3.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017...... 8 3.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018 ...... 8 Section 4: Public Involvement and Participation Program ...... 10 4.1 Implementation Status for FY2017 ...... 10 4.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017...... 11 4.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018 ...... 11 Section 5: Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination Program ...... 12 5.1 Implementation Status for FY2017 ...... 12 5.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017...... 23 5.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018 ...... 23 Section 6: Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control Program ...... 24 6.1 Implementation Status for FY2017 ...... 24 6.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017...... 25 6.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018 ...... 26 Section 7: Post-Construction Site Runoff Control Program ...... 27 7.1 Implementation Status for FY2017 ...... 27 7.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017...... 29 7.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018 ...... 29 Section 8: Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations ...... 30 8.1 Implementation Status for FY2017 ...... 30 8.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017...... 34 8.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018 ...... 34 Section 9: Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) ...... 35 9.1 Implementation Status for FY2017 ...... 35 9.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017...... 39 9.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018 ...... 39 Section 10: Program Effectiveness ...... 40 Section 11: Program Enhancements for FY2018 ...... 41 Section 12: Storm Water Quality Management Program Plan Modifications for FY2017 ..... 43
Figures
Figure 1: Mecklenburg County Phase II Stream Monitoring Sites...... 21 Figure 2: Stream Walk/Outfall Inspection-Inventory ...... 22 Figure 3: Notices of Violation Issued Per 100 Inspections from FY2011 through FY2016 ...... 25 Figure 4: Waters of Mecklenburg County with Approved TMDLs ...... 38
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Tables:
Table 1: BMP Summary Table for the Public Education and Outreach Program ...... 3 Table 2: Presentations Conducted in FY2017 ...... 6 Table 3: Events Attended in FY2017...... 7 Table 4: Status of Improvements Identified for FY2017 Implementation ...... 8 Table 5: BMP Summary Table for the Public Involvement and Participation Program ...... 10 Table 6: Status of Improvements Identified for FY2017 Implementation ...... 11 Table 7: BMP Summary Table for the IDDE Program ...... 12 Table 8: Action/Watch Level Exceedances Identified by Fixed Interval Monitoring ...... 18 Table 9: Number and Type of Service Requests and Emergency Responses by Jurisdiction ...... 20 Table 10: Status of Improvements Identified for FY2017 ...... 23 Table 11: BMP Summary Table for the Construction Site Storm Water Control Program ...... 24 Table 12: Status of Improvements Identified for FY2017 ...... 25 Table 13: BMP Summary Table for the Post-Construction Site Runoff Control Program ...... 27 Table 14: Summary of BMP Inspections ...... 28 Table 15: Summary of BMP Education ...... 28 Table 16: BMP Inspections Revealing Problems from 2007 through 2017 ...... 28 Table 17: Status of Improvements Identified for FY2017 ...... 29 Table 18: BMP Summary Table for the Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping Program ..... 30 Table 19: Employee Training by Jurisdiction in FY2017 ...... 32 Table 20: Summary of Inspection Findings from FY2008 through FY2017 ...... 33 Table 21: Status of Improvements Identified for FY2017 ...... 34 Table 22: BMP Summary Table for the TMDL Program...... 35 Table 23: Approved TMDLS for Mecklenburg County’s Phase I and Phase II Jurisdictions ..... 36 Table 24: Measures of Success in FY2017 ...... 40 Table 25: Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017 ...... 41
Attachments
Attachment 1: Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the TMDL Program ...... 44
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Section 1: Introduction
This document satisfies the annual reporting requirement of Storm Water Permit No. NCS000395 as follows: • Evaluate program compliance, the appropriateness of best management practices (BMPs), and progress towards achieving measurable goals; and • Evaluate the performance and effectiveness of the Storm Water Quality Management Program Plan, herein referred to as the Storm Water Plan.
The purpose of the Storm Water Plan is to describe the actions undertaken by the Permittee to ensure compliance with Permit requirements, including all BMPs and their associated measurable goals. Implementation of the BMPs consistent with the provisions of the Storm Water Plan constitutes compliance with the standard of reducing pollutants to the maximum extent practicable as required by the Permit. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services (CMSWS) has developed and is maintaining the Storm Water Plan for Permit No. NCS000395 on behalf of all co-permittees, including Mecklenburg County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC), and the Towns of Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill, and Pineville. This Storm Water Plan is available on the following website: http://storm water.charmeck.org (select “Surface Water Quality,” select “Program Overview,” select “Current Storm Water Management Plan” under Phase II Permit at the bottom of the page).
Section 2 of this document provides background information regarding the implementation of the Storm Water Plan, including a fiscal analysis. Sections 3 through 12 of this document provide the following: • Detailed description of the status of the implementation of the Storm Water Plan, including information on the development and implementation of each major component of the plan between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 (FY2017). Activities and associated schedules for implementation of the Storm Water Plan during FY2017 are contained in the Permittee’s FY2017 Work Plan, which is available upon request. • Description of any proposed changes to the Storm Water Plan, including a justification for these changes and how the changes will impact the effectiveness of the Storm Water Plan. • Summary of data accumulated through the implementation of the Storm Water Plan, including an evaluation of this data. • Assessment of compliance with the Permit requirements, including a description of the specific BMPs implemented and whether the measurable goals for these BMPs have been satisfied. Additional detail regarding these BMPs and measurable goals is provided in Sections 3 through 9 of the Storm Water Plan provided at the above website.
Section 10 of this document provides an evaluation of overall program compliance and the effectiveness of the Storm Water Plan as well as the individual BMPs contained in the Plan. Section 11 describes the program modifications to be implemented effective July 1, 2017 to accomplish the intent of the Storm Water Plan and enhance overall Program effectiveness.
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Section 2: Overview
CMSWS is responsible for developing, implementing, managing and overseeing the Storm Water Plan under the direction of Mecklenburg County’s Water Quality Program Manager. The specific tasks, deadlines and assigned staff for fulfillment of the Storm Water Plan are described in an annual Work Plan. A copy of this Work Plan is available upon request to Mecklenburg County’s Water Quality Program Manager. As specified in the Permit, each co-permittee is responsible for compliance with the terms and conditions of the Permit for storm water activities and watershed specific requirements within their jurisdictional area. Appropriate legal authority has been established by each jurisdiction for implementation of the Storm Water Plan through the adoption of Surface Water Pollution Control Ordinances that prohibit illicit discharges to the MS4 as well as the adoption of post-construction and erosion control ordinances. Mecklenburg County is delegated authority by each jurisdiction to enforce these ordinances. Funding for implementation of the Storm Water Plan is shared by each jurisdiction based on an adopted “Funding Strategy” that is effective for the five (5) year period from July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2019. Implementation costs for the reporting period of July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 are estimated at $543,107, including $469,850 in labor costs, $24,384 in laboratory costs and $48,873 in equipment costs. For the next annual reporting period from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017, implementation costs for the Storm Water Plan are estimated at $544,663, including $458,748 in labor costs, $35,772 in laboratory costs and $50,143 in equipment costs.
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Section 3: Public Education and Outreach Program
CMSWS has developed and implemented a Public Education and Outreach Program for Mecklenburg County’s Phase II jurisdictions/entities. The goals of the Public Education and Outreach Program are as follows: 1. Change public behaviors to reduce sources of water pollution and improve water quality. 2. Promote participation in activities aimed at restoring water quality conditions.
3.1 Implementation Status for FY2017
Table 1 describes the BMPs identified in the Storm Water Plan for the Public Education and Outreach Program and the specific actions completed between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 (FY2017) for implementation of these BMPs as well as whether the measurable goals for the BMPs specified in the plan have been fulfilled.
Table 1: BMP Summary Table for the Public Education and Outreach Program BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Education & The targeted pollutants, sources and audiences for FY2017 are described in Table 3 X Outreach of the Storm Water Plan. One of the public education methods used in FY2017 was (Newsletter, the distribution of educational materials by staff at events and public meetings as Brochures, well as when conducting inspections and responding to citizen requests for service. Website, Handouts are also available to the public on the CMSWS website under the “Surface Schools, & Water Quality” tab by selecting “Pollution Prevention.” The following Commercial) handouts/brochures/pamphlets have been developed: (PE-10) • A Guide to Used Oil Recycling • Scoop the Poop (proper handling of animal waste) • Only Rain Goes Down The Storm Drain – The Citizen’s Guide to Pollution Prevention • Volunteer Opportunities • A Brief Look at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services – Your Storm Water Fees at Work • Grease Free (proper disposal of grease from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities) • Household Hazardous Waste – What do you do with left over chemicals • Environmental Notices for Homeowners– Disposal into the storm drain is against the law (available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean) • Environmental Notices for Businesses– Disposal into the storm drain is against the law (available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean) • Water Watchers door hanger • Household Hazardous Waste slider • Dispose of Leaves Properly postcard • Water Quality Buffers postcard • When Surface Waters Turn Colors (Pollen, Tannin, Iron Bacteria) • Non-Structural Best Management Practices Handout o Mobile Detailer o Landscapers o Painters o Contractors o Carpet Cleaners o Vehicle Service o Food Service o Multi-family 3
Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No o Stone Cutting & Fabrication Industry o Concrete Industry o Commercial Property Management o Asphalt Sealing o Swimming Pool & Spa Industry o Horizontal Directional Drilling • Structural Best Management Practices Handout o Dry Detention o Rain Garden o Sand Filter o Storm water Wetland o Wet Pond In addition, folders were delivered to the Phase II Town Halls and Fire Departments (paid & volunteer) that contain information on storm water, pollution prevention, and flooding. A new volunteer brochure was developed and printed for distribution at events and presentations. During FY2017, educational newsletters were developed and disseminated to the Phase II co-permittees covering the targeted pollutants described above. These newsletters focused on the actions the public should take to reduce pollution, including participating in volunteer programs, and reporting suspected pollution problems. The Water Watchers social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter) were used as the main method to help disseminate messages. Phase II social media contacts were responsible for sharing messages on the Towns’ or institutions’ social media accounts. Due to not using social media, Barbara Monticello with the Town of Pineville was emailed messages to be included in the local town mailer. In order to address compliance with the Goose Creek TMDL, two (2) separate messages were provided to Sheryl Smith with the Town of Mint Hill, one on 1/4/17 that focused on promoting conservation seedlings and rain barrels sold by the Mecklenburg County Soil and Water Conservation District and one on 6/12/17 that focused on reducing bacteria and grease. During FY2017, age specific educational information was developed and distributed in schools. In October 2016, science teachers and CMS Afterschool Coordinators were emailed information on the water quality educational programs being offered. As a result, 23 school presentations were given in the Phase II jurisdiction to 864 students, details are as follows: • 12/15/16 & 12/16/16 – J.M. Alexander Middle School – 270 students (9 classes) – 8th grade – Enviroscape, PowerPoint & Video • 1/5/17 – Trillium Springs Montessori School – 20 students (1 class) 3rd, 4th & 5th grades – Enviroscape and Video • 1/17/17 – Francis Bradley Middle School – 300 students (1 assembly) 6th,7th & 8th grades - PowerPoint • 3/6/17 & 3/8/17 – J.V. Washam Elementary School – 175 students (7 classes) 5th grade – Enviroscape & PowerPoint • 4/19/17 – Woodlawn School – 30 students (1 class) 8th grade – McDowell Creek Restoration site & Lake Water Quality at Blythe Landing • 6/2/17 – Pioneer Springs Community School – 39 students (3 classes) 3rd grade – Enviroscape & PowerPoint • 6/6/17 – Grand Oaks Elementary – 55 students (3 classes) K-5th – Common Water & Story Time In addition to school presentations, CMSWS also conducted the public presentation described in Table 2 and attended the events described in Table 3. In May of 2017, a poster was developed in English and Spanish for display at automobile maintenance facilities. These posters are provided to facilities by CMSWS when conducting inspections as a means of educating workers. During FY2017, a special outreach 4
Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No campaign targeted horizontal directional drilling, which was a source of numerous water quality violations. The campaign included Social Media Posts, a website banner, and letters to area utility boring contractors. In addition, staff presented pollution prevention information to 100 individuals at Ansco’s Underground Utility Boring Contractors training session. Staff also attend a quarterly meeting with a Utility Boring group. In March 2017, CMSWS placed an article in the Airwaves newsletter that focused on reporting pollution, volunteering, and street to stream. This newsletter is published by the Mecklenburg County the Air Quality Program and was distributed to 238 air quality permitted commercial and industrial facilities. During FY2017, informational pages covering a wide variety of topics were maintained on the Storm Water Services website, including current water quality conditions, storm water pollutants and ways to minimize them, reporting pollution, volunteering, municipal storm water projects/activities, etc. These web pages also provide a means to register for various volunteer initiatives. The targeted pollutants on the pollution prevention pages include: bacteria and pet waste, turbidity and sediment, phosphorus, nitrogen and organics, fertilizers, pesticides and yard waste, surfactants, hydrocarbons, pH, and toxic compounds. A new target pollution source (Horizontal Directional Drilling) was added in FY2017 to provide compliance tips for this industry. The targeted audiences are residential, commercial and institutional. The general messages promoted on the web pages are street to stream, only rain down the storm drain, and be a Water Watcher/Volunteer. The web pages also provide contacts for reporting pollution problems/concerns and submitting questions to staff. During FY2017, Google Analytics (with a gap in data from September 16, 2016-October 26, 2016 due to new site launch) showed CMSWS’s web pages had 190,898 page views, which is a decrease of 66% from the 288,432 views in FY2016. This decrease is attributed to the new site launch and the old site being bookmarked and the link being broken. The pages most often visited were The Big Spring Clean, Regulations, and BMP Design Standards Manual. Media During FY2017, a media campaign was developed and implemented to reach the X Campaign residential, commercial, and institutional audiences with information regarding PE-I(13) reporting pollution, volunteering, and flood safety. The campaign included television, radio, online, and print ads as well as social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube). Print ads included the 4th Street Garage banner (Big Spring Clean), and monthly Utility Bill Inserts (UBIs). UBIs are two-sided and cover storm water related topics such as flooding, living in floodplains, storm water pollution indicators, preventing and reporting storm water pollution, volunteering, etc. During FY2017, UBI messages were mailed to 255,000 customers in Charlotte- Mecklenburg once a month for 7 months for a total of 1,785,000 contacts. This is a slight decrease from last year. A total of 706 television ads (WCNC-TV, WSOC- TV, WBTV-TV and WJYZ-TV) and 94 radio ads (WFAE-Radio) ran throughout FY2017. Water Quality and Volunteer commercials from FY2016 were aired during FY2017. A new partnership with PBS created a commercial to air on PBS Kids that focused on pollution prevention using small children in the film footage. CMSWS has several social media accounts including Facebook (account created in 2010), Twitter (July 2014), and Instagram (May 2015). In FY2017, Facebook started the fiscal year with 3,500 Likes and ended the fiscal year with 5,105 (up 1,605) Likes; Twitter started with 518 Followers and ended with 734 Followers (up 216); and Instagram started with 264 Followers and ended with 380 Followers (116 increase). Posts include a variety of storm water-related topics. Evaluate An evaluation has been completed of the Public Education and Outreach Program X Effectivenes and it has been determined to be effective at meeting the measurable goals as s of Public described below. As part of this evaluation, recommendations for improvement have Education been made as described in Section 3.3 below. and • Documentation of Storm Water Program Activities - All the measurable goals 5
Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Outreach assigned to the BMPs have been satisfactorily fulfilled and properly Program documented in CMSWS’s Cityworks and/or the Volunteer Database. (PE-9) • Raising Awareness – Storm Water Public Opinion Surveys are conducted annually to measure the effectiveness of the Public Education and Outreach Program at improving awareness of water quality issues as well as to assess citizen’s level of concern/interest. The measure of success for the Public Education and Outreach Program is a minimum of 50% of survey respondents indicating they are aware that water flowing into storm drains goes directly to creeks and lakes. The results from the survey dated 8/23/2016 indicate this percentage at 74.6%. • Number of Contacts and Distribution Estimates – Distribution estimates for the FY17 media campaign indicate that it reached 96.85% of the Mecklenburg County population with a frequency of 28 times which was a slight decrease when compared to FY2016 when 97.4% of the population was reached 36 times. • Number of Volunteers – During FY2017, the number of volunteers totaled 3,488, which exceeded the target of 3,117 by 371 or 12%. An evaluation has been completed of the targeted pollutants, sources and audiences described in Table 3 of the Storm Water Plan and they have been determined to be effective. Moving forward into FY2018 the media campaign will continue to focus on reaching specific demographics within the targeted audience more effectively through different campaign tactics.
Table 2: Presentations Conducted in FY2017 # of Date Group Name/Audience Presentation Title/Topic Participants 7/16/16 NC Green Industry Council Water 250 Presentation: Leveraging Green Infrastructure Symposium presentation for City Services and Attracting Investment 8/18/16 NC Association of Environmental 50 General water quality program activities Professionals 9/12/16 APWA (NC) Annual Storm water 125 Presentation: Mitigation Fee Program for Post Management Division Conference Construction Compliance 9/13/16 APWA (NC) Annual Storm water 30 Presentation: PAHs, Coal Tar Sealants, and Management Division Conference Stream Toxicity in Charlotte-Mecklenburg 9/13/16 APWA (NC) Annual Storm water 30 Reducing Sanitary Sewer Overflow Management Division Conference Contributions for Multi-family Residential Communities 9/13/16 APWA (NC) Annual Storm water 70 Pushing the Limits of Constructability Pushes Management Division Conference the Limits of Project Planning 9/13/16 APWA (NC) Annual Storm water 70 Presentation/Case Study Management Division Conference 9/23/16 UNCC 26 Stream Bioassessment-Intro to Aquatic Insects, Purpose, Procedures, and Use of Data 11/9/16 Aquatic Pesticide License holders 113 Aquatics Pesticide Management 11/10/16 Charlotte PCSO Training 2016 118 City Redevelopment Mitigation Option 11/30/17 811 50 Illicit Discharges and Horizontal Directional Drilling 1/10/201 Ansco & Associates and their 100 Storm water pollution prevention best practices 7 subcontractors for horizontal directional drilling
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
# of Date Group Name/Audience Presentation Title/Topic Participants 1/11/17 Design Resources Group 25 Compliance with Buffer & PCO Requirements in Char-Meck 1/21/17 Mecklenburg County BSA 60 Conservation & Pollution Prevention Council 1/26/17 Habitat Steward Training 23 Aquatic Ecosystems & Marco-invertebrates 2/9/17 Greater Charlotte Apartment 150 Grease, sewage, ponds and pools Association 3/3/17 Girl Scout Journeys 75 General water quality program activities & pH test activity 3/15/17 Webelo’s Cub Scout Pack 3 52 Enviroscape 3/16/17 Sanitary Sewer Overflow 40 Ordinance overview and methods to prevent Reduction Workshop for Multi- overflows family Communities 5/16/17 League of Women Voters 25 General water quality program activities 5/22/17 Matthews Rotary Club 25 General WQ Total 1407
Table 3: Events Attended in FY2017 Estimated # Date Event Name of Citizens Materials Displayed Contacted 8/20/16 Hummingbird Festival 200 Booth, Restoration map display, postcards 9/21/16 Landscapers Breakfast 50 Landscape Tri-fold and promo items 10/1/16 Neighborhood Exchange and 120 Tabletop tri-fold display, prize wheel, Leadership Awards giveaways 10/7/16 City Environmental Vendor Fair 100 Prize wheel, display, giveaways 10/23/16 Open Streets 704 500 Flood Display Model, prize wheel, swag, stormy books, blue books 11/17/16 Annual Air Quality Forum 100 Display board, giveaways, handouts 11/19/16 Passport to STEM 150 Floodplain model, giveaways 1/24/17 CGIN Trade Show & Pesticide 115 Display board, giveaways, handouts Seminar 2/25/17 Soil & Water Tree Sale 60 Trifold, giveaways, handouts 3/4/17 Auto Bell Creek Challenge 28
3/24/17 Hope for Youth Rally 100 Display, giveaways, handouts 3/24/17 Weatherfest 300 Floodplain model, display, giveaways 4/19/17 UNCC Earth Day 300 Display, giveaways, handouts 4/20/17 Ballantyne Earth Day 150 Display, giveaways, handouts 4/22/17 Roots Festival 100 Prize wheel, display, giveaways, handouts 4/22/17 Matthews Earth Day 250 Stream side demo 4/23/17 UNCC Earth Day Festival 150 Prize wheel, display, giveaways, handouts 4/29/17 Bark in the Park 500 Prize wheel, display, giveaways, handouts 5/5/17 Charlotte Knights 150 Prize wheel, display, giveaways, handouts
5/7/17 Open Streets 704 400 Bug table, prize wheel, flyers, swag, stormy book 7
Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Estimated # Date Event Name of Citizens Materials Displayed Contacted 5/20/17 Fresh Expo 150 Prize wheel, display, giveaways, handouts 6/26/17 Charlotte Knights 130 Prize wheel, display, giveaways, handouts Total 4103
3.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017
Table 4 provides the status of improvements in the Public Education and Outreach Program that were identified in FY2016 for implementation in FY2017.
Table 4: Status of Improvements Identified for FY2017 Implementation # Improvements Identified for Implementation Implementation Status 1 Continue to build social media presence. Our social media presence has continued to grow. Likes and followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have all shown a significant increase this year over last year. 2 Increase school education including a bigger CMSWS school education increased significantly in presence in high schools. the Phase II jurisdictions. This year we reached 864 students in 23 different schools compared to last year’s 151 students in 6 schools. 3 Develop better curriculum for use by teachers. New curriculum sheets were developed for half of our education programs. 4 Continue to investigate the use of video for public Videos were created for use on social media to education and outreach show followers what we do at CMSWS, and what they can do to reduce pollution. 5 Upon the completion of website updates, ensure The Horizontal Drilling outreach plan was implementation of the horizontal drilling outreach successfully completed and implemented. plan to educate this industry on regulations and proper management practices.
3.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018
The following improvements in the Public Education and Outreach Program have been identified for implementation in FY2018 to improve program effectiveness: 1. One of the overall measures of success for our Storm Water Plan is to reduce the number of notices of violation issued and/or deficiencies/issues detected as a result of routine inspections, which is an indicator of success at improving compliance. During FY2017, we failed to meet this goal with our IDDE, BMP and municipal inspections. In many cases, noncompliance was documented in only a few problem areas. For example, with municipal inspections there was a high incidence of noncompliance with the SWPPP. During FY2018, one of our primary areas for improvement is to focus our educational efforts toward achieving compliance in specific problem areas as documented in our IDDE, BMP and municipal inspections. 2. Investigate the purchase of a mascot costume for CMSWS. Mascot to be used to promote clean water to citizens, students and businesses, and to bring attention to our message at public events.
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
3. Effectively distribute the auto BMP posters to the appropriate facilities in order to educate auto maintenance employees of proper best management practices for pollution prevention. 4. Continue to pursue opportunities for education in high schools. 5. Continue developing curriculum sheets for educational programs. 6. Grow our social media presence and improve our content and messaging.
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Section 4: Public Involvement and Participation Program
CMSWS has developed and implemented a Public Involvement and Participation Program for Mecklenburg County’s Phase II jurisdictions/entities. The goal of the Public Involvement and Participation Program is to create opportunities for the public to participate in Phase II program development and implementation, as well as to get involved in activities aimed at protecting and restoring water quality conditions.
4.1 Implementation Status for FY2017
Table 5 describes the BMPs identified in the Storm Water Plan for the Public Involvement and Participation Program and the specific actions completed between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 for implementation of these BMPs as well as whether the measurable goals for the BMPs specified in the plan have been fulfilled.
Table 5: BMP Summary Table for the Public Involvement and Participation Program BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Conduct A public meeting was held on February 26, 2016 to receive comments for renewal of X Phase II the Phase II permit. It was decided that a public meeting would not be held in Public FY2017. Meeting (PI-1) Implement During FY2017, 27 groups that included a total of 484 volunteers donated 1330.75 X Adopt-A- hours toward the completion of 41 stream cleanups resulting in the removal of 5.31 Stream tons of trash and debris from 41.69 miles of streams in Mecklenburg County’s Phase Program II jurisdiction. All data and information regarding these cleanups was input into the (PI-2) County’s Volunteer Database. Implement During FY2017, 5 groups that included a total of 6 volunteers donated 26.75 hours X Storm Drain toward marking 325 storm drains in Mecklenburg County’s Phase II jurisdictions. Marking All data and information regarding the storm drain marking activities was input into Program the County’s Volunteer Database. (PI-3) Conduct The annual surface water cleanup referred to as the “The Big Spring Clean” was X Annual completed on May 13, 2017. A summary of the event is provided below: Surface • Number of Staffed Sites: 8 Water Clean • Total Number of Volunteers: 246 Up • Total Miles of Streams/Shoreline Cleaned: 15 (PE-I(4)) • Total Number of Trash Bags Filled: 139 • Total Number of Recycling Bags Filled: 72 • Total Pounds of Trash Collected: 6,099 lbs. or 3.04 tons • Interesting Items Collected: roll of carpet, luggage, cable wheel, terra-cotta pipe, gutters, blow dryer. Conduct Volunteers from the Adopt-A-Stream, Storm Drain Marking, and Volunteer X Annual Monitoring programs attended an appreciation event held on May 5, 2017 at a Volunteer Charlotte Knight’s baseball game. Each volunteer received free entry into the game Appreciation (a $14.00 value) and each ticket contained $6.00 in additional spending money that Event could be used anywhere within the ball park. Approximately 162 volunteers (PE-I(14)) attended the event. The event was also used to promote CMSWS’s volunteer programs. Promotional items which advertised CMSWS volunteer programs were handed out to ballgame attendees at the gate A CMSWS promotion table was set up
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No near the entrance of the stadium, which included games and give-a- ways.
4.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017
Table 6 provides the status of improvements in the Public Involvement and Participation Program that were identified in FY2016 for implementation in FY2017.
Table 6: Status of Improvements Identified for FY2017 Implementation # Improvements Identified for Implementation Implementation Status 1 Kick off a new citizen volunteer monitoring The first workshop for the volunteer monitoring program. program was conducted on March 4, 2017. There are currently 5 volunteer monitoring groups participating in the program. Another workshop is scheduled for this fall. 2 Complete the volunteer opportunities brochure. The brochure was completed, printed, and is ready for distribution.
4.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018
The following improvements in the Public Involvement and Participation Program have been identified for implementation in FY2018 to improve program effectiveness: 1. Investigate the potential of a Storm Drain Marking Rally in the Phase II jurisdiction. 2. Complete a volunteer opportunity video to promote our volunteer programs. 3. Continue to develop new partnerships with other organizations within the community.
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Section 5: Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination Program
CMSWS has developed, implemented and enforced an Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) Program in Mecklenburg County’s Phase II jurisdictions/entities. The goal of the IDDE Program is to detect and eliminate illicit discharges into the MS4, which are defined in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(2) as discharges that are not composed entirely of storm water except discharges pursuant to a NPDES Permit (other than the NPDES Permit for discharges from the municipal separate storm sewer) and discharges resulting from fire-fighting activities as well as incidental non-storm water discharges or flows that are not significant contributors of pollutants.
5.1 Implementation Status for FY2017
Table 7 describes the BMPs identified in the Storm Water Plan for the IDDE Program and the specific actions completed between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 for implementation of these BMPs as well as whether the measurable goals for the BMPs specified in the plan have been fulfilled.
Table 7: BMP Summary Table for the IDDE Program BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Maintain During FY2017, 220 new outfalls were identified in the Phase II jurisdictions. As X Storm Sewer new development occurs, the storm sewer system map is updated with new inlets, System Maps outlets and receiving streams. This data is collected by staff from the Permitting (ID-1) and Compliance Program while performing inspections of the storm drainage system following construction. Data regarding structural and nonstructural BMPs is also collected at this time. Data is also collected by Water Quality Program staff when performing stream walks. All data is maintained in a ESRI Arc GIS database and is available for use by staff in the identification and elimination of illicit discharges through the Cityworks database. Conduct Field During FY2017, a total of 84 outfalls were inspected in the Phase II jurisdictions. X Screening for No non-storm water flows or significant pollution sources were identified as a Non-Storm result of these inspections. ESRI Arc GIS is used to track outfall inspections. Water Flows During FY2017, a written SOP was developed and training was to staff for the use (ID-2) of this system. Enforce Notice of Violation (NOV) protocols, procedures and templates were reviewed. X Surface Water The applicable ordinances, notice of violation and enforcement decision-making Pollution process and penalty/enforcement guidance were also reviewed, but no changes Control were necessary. On November 16, 2017, refresher training was provided to staff Ordinance on NOV and enforcement procedures/protocols. Consistency when issuing NOVs (ID-3) was emphasized. A total of 25 staff members attended this training. During FY2017, a total of 17 written NOVs were issued in the Phase II jurisdictions as follows: Cornelius – 3; Huntersville – 3; Matthews – 1; Mecklenburg County – 8; Mint Hill – 1; and Pineville – 1. The types of NOVs and/or the materials released were as follows: concrete – 1; cooking oil/grease – 2; motor oil – 2; petroleum - 1; sewage – 5; trash – 1; wash water – 3; waste water - 2. All violations were corrected and remediated as necessary. Implement During FY2017, CMSWS performed the following routine monitoring in the X Water Quality Phase II jurisdictions: monthly discrete grab sampling at 11 fixed streams sites Monitoring (referred to as fixed interval monitoring) for a total of 132 events and 2,244 Program individual parameter results; annual benthic macroinvertebrate community (ID-4) sampling at 12 fixed stream sites; and fish community sampling on a rotating schedule at four (4) stream sites per year. Monitoring site locations are provided in
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Figure 1. More information regarding these monitoring activities is provided below. Additional grab samples are completed on an as needed basis. The program administers a quality assurance program plan approved by NCDEQ in 2009, which contains several Standard Operating Procedures and Standard Administrative Procedures. The program renewed Biological Laboratory Certification with NCDEQ in November 2016. Develop and During FY2017, fixed interval monitoring was conducted on the 2nd Tuesday of X Implement each month at 11 sites throughout the Phase II jurisdictions (see Figure 1). At each Fixed Interval site, samples were collected and analyzed for 17 water quality parameters as Stream follows: ammonia-nitrogen, fecal coliform bacteria, total kjeldahl nitrogen, Monitoring nitrate/nitrite, total suspended solids, total phosphorus, enterococcus, e. coli, Program turbidity, suspended sediment, magnesium, calcium, hardness, copper (total), lead (ID-4.1) (total), chromium (total), and zinc (total). Thirty-three (33) baseflow action level exceedances were detected during the year. Nine (9) of these exceedances occurred at Duck Creek (MY14) for total phosphorus, related to the Ashe Plantation wastewater treatment plant located upstream. Seven (7) fecal coliform exceedances occurred at Four Mile Creek in the Town of Matthews. It is believed that these elevated results were associated with the increased turbidity seen downstream of several ongoing construction projects in the town. Table 8 includes the Action and Watch level exceedances identified through fixed interval monitoring performed in the Phase II jurisdictions during FY2017. Develop and During FY2017, CMSWS conducted benthic macroinvertebrate bioassessments at X Implement 12 sites in 11 streams within the Phase II jurisdictions as described below (see Benthic/Habitat Figure 1): Monitoring 1. McDowell Creek (site MC2 in Huntersville) Program 2. McDowell Creek (site MC4 in Huntersville) (ID-4.3) 3. Torrence Creek (site MC3E in Huntersville) 4. Clarke Creek (site MY10 in Huntersville) 5. Gar Creek (site MC50 in Huntersville) 6. West Branch Rocky River (site MY1B in Davidson) 7. Irvins Creek (site MC36 in Matthews) 8. Fourmile Creek (site MC40C in Matthews) 9. N. Fork Crooked Creek (site MY15 in Matthews) 10. Duck Creek (site MY14 in Mint Hill) 11. Clear Creek (site MY8 in Mint Hill) 12. Goose Creek (site MY9 in Mint Hill) These bioassessments were performed using Mecklenburg County’s Stream Bioassessment Standard Operating Procedures that are based on benthic macroinvertebrate sampling methods developed by the NCDEQ Biological Assessment Branch. Taxa richness for the pollution intolerant groups, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera, and the North Carolina Biotic Index were calculated and used to assign a State Stream Bioclassification to each site. Four (4) of the 12 sites were given a Stream Bioclassification of POOR, including: Irvins Creek (MC36), Clarke Creek (MY10), Duck Creek (MY14), and the North Fork of Crooked Creek (MY15). Six (6) sites were rated FAIR, including: McDowell Creek (MC2, MC4), Torrence Creek (MC3E), West Branch of the Rocky River (MY1B), Goose Creek (MY9), and Fourmile Creek (MC40C). Clear (MY8) and Gar (MC50) Creeks were rated GOOD-FAIR. As a result of these assessments, a water quality issue was identified in Duck Creek because the in- stream habitat was highly rated but the rating for the benthic community was low, indicating that habitat was not a limiting factor. Follow up investigations revealed problems with the Ashe Plantation Waste Water Treatment Plant upstream of the monitoring location that negatively impacted the water quality in Duck Creek.
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No This situation was reported to NCDEQ. Data indicated that the rural and suburban streams are recovering from the droughts experienced in 2002, 2007 and 2008. Develop and During FY2017, CMSWS conducted fish community assessments at four (4) sites X Implement Fish in four (4) streams in the Phase II jurisdictions as described below (see Figure 1): Monitoring 1. Clear Creek (site MY8 in Mint Hill) Program 2. Goose Creek (site MY9 in Mint Hill) (ID-4.4) 3. West Branch Rocky River (site MY1B in Davidson) 4. McDowell Creek (site MC2A1 in Huntersville) These assessments were performed using the NCDEQ Fish Community Assessment methods, which include electrofishing wadable streams for a 200 meter stretch and collecting, identifying, measuring, and counting all fish collected. Data collected is used to calculate the North Carolina Index of Biotic Integrity (NCIBI) score for each site. These methods are utilized so data from Mecklenburg County can consistently be compared to other locations throughout North Carolina. Of the four (4) Phase II sites that were sampled this year, Clear Creek and Goose Creek scored the highest. Clear Creek at site MY8 received an Excellent rating (scored 54 out of a possible 60 points) indicating that the biological integrity of the stream continues to be very healthy. This is the third time since 1996 that Clear Creek has received the Excellent rating and continues to score the highest of any creek in Mecklenburg County. Goose Creek at site MY9 was rated Good-Fair (scored 44 out of a possible 60 points), the same rating that it received in 2013. Both creeks have stable banks and buffers, good diversity of instream habitat, good trophic structure, and excellent water quality. These qualities are reflected in their fish communities. McDowell Creek at site MC2A1 was rated as Poor (scored 34 out of a possible 60 points), which is attributed to the stream restoration project that was completed on this segment of McDowell Creek in the fall of 2016. It typically takes at least five (5) years for a stream to recover from a restoration project, which is when post-construction monitoring for this project is planned. The West Branch of the Rocky River in Davidson at site MY1B continues to be non-supportive of a healthy fish community with a rating of Poor (scored 20 out of a possible 60 points). This stream is severely incised, has a lot of instream sediment being transported through the system, and lacks good instream habitat. Over the last 20 years, this site has declined from a Good rating (48/60) in 1996 to a poor (20/60) in 2017. Future stream restoration projects planned for upstream of site MY1B should help improve biological integrity in the West Branch of the Rocky River. Water Quality CMSWS’s performs various physical, chemical, and biological monitoring efforts. X Monitoring Data is maintained in a controlled Microsoft Access data repository with user Data QA/QC restrictions. To ensure the highest standards of laboratory data, duplicate samples (ID-4.6) for each site are collected each year. Field blanks, bottle blanks, DI water blanks, and trip blanks are combined into Event Blanks for each sampling run. Of 1133 blanks collected during FY2017, four (4) exceeded the minimum detection limit. All were associated with lake sampling and had no apparent pattern. 9063 laboratory sample records were reviewed and approved or rejected as appropriate. Additional review of field data and biological data occurred on an as-needed basis throughout the year. Problem Area Three (3) watersheds were identified in FY2017 for additional investigation, X Identification including Goose, Reedy and Clear Creeks. The Goose Creek watershed exhibited and Elimination elevated fecal coliform, and was scheduled for stream walks, increased fecal (ID-4.7) coliform sampling, and microbial source tracking. Sources of fecal coliform are still being investigated as of 6/30/17. The Reedy Creek watershed exhibited elevated fecal coliform and microbial source tracking (MST) analyses were performed to isolate the cause. Results indicated elevated canine sources
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No throughout the watershed. In response, CMSWS mailed approximately 1,000 dog waste educational post cards to dog owners in the watershed. Clear creek exhibited a possible elevated copper relationship with turbidity. The watershed was canvassed with additional sampling and the additional data was inconclusive. During FY2017, CMSWS also initiated efforts to reduce the use of coal tar sealants on County owned parking lots due to documented negative water quality impacts from PAHs. CMANN During FY2017, CMSWS maintained a Continuous Automated Monitoring X (ID-4.10) Network (CMANN) at seven (7) sites in seven streams (7) in the Phase II jurisdictions resulting in the collection of 242,152 QA/QC accepted data points (~86.5% data acceptance rate). These sites include (see Figure 1): 1. McDowell Creek (site MC4 in Huntersville) 2. Four Mile Creek (site MC40D in Matthews) 3. Gar Creek (site MC50 in Huntersville) 4. West Branch Rocky River (site MY1B in Davidson) 5. Clear Creek (site MY8 in Mint Hill) 6. Goose Creek (site MY9 in Mint Hill) 7. Clarke Creek (site MY10 in Huntersville) All data collected was evaluated for the identification of potential pollution problems that were subsequently followed up on for the identification and elimination of pollution sources and restoration of degraded water quality conditions. Collected data was also used to calculate the Stream Use Support Index (SUSI), which is a general indicator of water quality conditions in our streams. This index is available to the public on the website as follows: http://storm water.charmeck.org (select “Water Quality” at the top of the page). In FY2017, a monitoring site was added at the southern edge of the Town of Matthews on Four Mile Creek (site MC40D). Recent residential development prompted concerns about turbidity levels in Four Mile Creek. CMSWS added the site to help monitor the stream and aid erosion control staff with notifications for when the state water quality standard for turbidity was exceeded. Site MY1B was removed from the network on April 20, 2017 after experiencing repeated sediment issues blocking the probes on the sondes making the site unmonitorable. In FY 2017, CMSWS identified two (2) pollution related issues using the CMANN monitoring network, including an issue on Four Mile Creek in Matthews and another on Clarke Creek in Huntersville. Both issues were related to erosion control and were referred to appropriate staff resulting in corrective actions being implemented by the land developers. In FY18, CMANN staff will remain diligent in maintaining CMANN equipment to ensure the highest quality data possible. In the coming years, CMSWS will begin integrating new hardware into all monitoring sites. CMSWS’s current data collection platform is becoming obsolete and will no longer be supported by the manufacturer by the year 2020. CMSWS has begun the process of budgeting the replacement of this hardware into the normal operating budget. Quality CMSWS reviewed and updated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and X Assurance Standard Administrative Procedures (SAPs) where necessary. Staff were Project Plan evaluated for possible sample collection error while performing monitoring Administration activities and no problems were noted. All procedures were reviewed and revised (QAPP) as needed and several routine monitoring programs were audited. No corrective actions were warranted. Public Outreach In FY2015, a training video entitled “Water Pollution: What to do?” was X Program for developed to be shown to all municipal employees who have the potential to Illicit observe a water quality problem. The video teaches what pollutants can look like, Discharges & and provides the proper contacts to report pollution problems. In FY2015, the
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Improper Waste video was pushed out to the Towns and CMS. In FY2016, CPCC and select Disposal Mecklenburg County departments received the training, including DSS, (ID-5) Environmental Health, Code Enforcement, Solid Waste, Air Quality, Parks and Recreation, and the Sheriff’s Department. As of the end of FY2017, 858 county employees from select departments had completed the training. PP-10 and PE- I(13) on pages 4 and 5 describe additional outreach efforts. Conduct During FY2017, staff responded to 138 service requests regarding potential water X Follow up quality problems in the Phase II jurisdictions. Nineteen (19) of these service Inspections requests were emergency responses. The most common type of service requests and Respond other than land development and buffer issues, involved the discharge and/or to Citizen dumping of potential surface water/storm water pollutants. The most common Requests and pollutants observed were as follows: Emergencies • Petroleum = 23 (ID-6) • Sewage = 16 • Sediment = 6 • Trash = 5 • Wash water = 3 As a result of the 138 service requests responded to there were a total of 70 problems detected and 70 problems corrected in Phase II jurisdictions during FY2017. Table 9 provides data regarding the number of service requests received by category in each of the Phase II jurisdictions as well as the number of responses to emergencies. Stream During FY2017, CMSWS walked a total of 149.55 stream miles in sub-basins 27, X Walk/Outfall 28 and 47, including 57.39 miles in the Phase II jurisdictions and 92.16 miles in Inventory & the ETJ areas. Streams are walked to identify and inventory storm water system Inspection/ Dry outfalls, dry weather flows, illicit discharges, and other pollution sources as well Weather Flow as collect and record a variety of other information regarding the stream. All data Analysis is collected and mapped using GIS. Stream walks began on November 1, 2016 (ID-8) and were concluded on April 18, 2017. The following miles were walked in each jurisdiction: 1.80 in Cornelius, 8.44 in Davidson, 1.29 in Huntersville, 22.8 in Mint Hill, 8.99 in Pineville, and 0.09 in Stallings. 13.92 miles were walked in Mecklenburg County’s jurisdictional boundary. The stream walks resulted in the collection of a total of 571 data points or features, including 171 outfalls inspected, 220 new outfalls collected and 206 fecal coliform samples. The features mapped by jurisdiction include: 6 in Cornelius, 29 in Davidson, 8 in Huntersville, 141 in Mint Hill, 49 in Pineville, 2 in Stallings and 336 in the ETJ areas. Of the 206 fecal coliform samples collected, 16 results indicated elevated levels (>3000 col/100ml) but follow up investigations did not reveal pollution sources; therefore, no Notices of Violations (NOVs) were issued. Three (3) buffer/floodplain disturbances were identified and reported. Figure 2 identifies the streams that were walked and outfalls identified and re-inspected during FY2017. Illicit Discharge The purpose of the Illicit Discharge Elimination Program (IDEP) is to support and X Elimination enhance Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) efforts in Program (IDEP) Mecklenburg County. The identification of pollution sources is accomplished by (ID-9) investigating and monitoring storm water outfalls, business corridors, multi-family private sewer systems, and all outfalls that drain directly to Mecklenburg County’s three (3) reservoirs using qualitative and analytical measurements. During FY2017, IDEP activities included the following: • Nine (9) facilities were inspected. Seven (7) of these industrial facilities are NPDES permitted, one was non-permitted, and one was a vehicle maintenance facility. • Priority basins for FY2017 were Steele Creek, Goose Creek and Little Sugar
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Creek. Thirteen (13) stream sites were sampled for fecal coliform in Steele Creek. The two sites with the highest fecal coliform levels were also sampled for Microbial source tracking (MST) analysis. Five (5) stream sites were samples for fecal coliform in Goose Creek. MST sampling was done at a total of 11 stream sites in Mecklenburg County including Little Sugar Creek. Used Oil The purpose of the used oil inspections is to ensure the proper handling and X Facility disposal of used oil to prevent discharges of pollution. During FY2017, two (2) Inspections inspections were conducted of facilities accepting used oil from the public for (ID-U) recycling within the Phase II jurisdictions, including: • AutoZone, 10320 Compass Street, Huntersville, inspected on April 27, 2017 • AutoZone, 11300 East Independence Boulevard, Matthews, inspected on April 27, 2017 The inspections revealed that the facilities were operating properly without pollution problems. An online interactive map is posted on CMSWS’s website to assist citizens in locating a facility that accepts used oil and other automotive wastes. The link is as follows: http://maps.co.mecklenburg.nc.us/website/recyclecenters/ In an effort to more effectively identify and eliminate sources of pollution, this program element will expand in FY2018 to include a broader range of vehicle maintenance shops that are likely to have a higher potential to pollute. Evaluate During FY2017, an evaluation was completed of the effectiveness of the BMPs X Effectiveness of for the IDDE Program as described in the latest version of the Storm Water Plan. IDDE Program Section 5.3 below lists those improvements identified for implementation during (ID-10) FY2018. In general, this evaluation revealed that the IDDE Program is successful at identifying and eliminating pollution sources in that 87 problems were detected and 87 problems were corrected. There are two (2) measures of success for the IDDE Program contained in the Storm Water Plan, including the documentation of the completion of activities that demonstrate the successful completion of the BMPs associated with the program, which is contained in the Cityworks data management system, and the percentage of notices of violation issued based on the number of IDDE inspections conducted. The evaluation revealed that all documentation was successfully completed and that the ratio for FY2017 is at 7% based on 238 inspections conducted and seventeen (17) NOVs issued. These inspections also identified 87 problems with 87 resolved for a ratio of 100%. Statistics for previous years are as follows: • FY 2016 ratio was 4.5% (262 inspections and 12 NOVs) • FY 2015 ratio was 6.5% (200 inspections and 13 NOVs) • FY2014 ratio was 4% (235 inspections with 9 NOVs) • FY2013 the ratio was 2% (295 inspections and 6 NOVs) • FY2012 the ratio was 5% (407 inspections and 22 NOVs issued). This data reveals that the ratio of the number of violations to the number of inspections has remained fairly consistent over the past 6 years. The desired trend is a reduction of this ratio, which would indicate fewer violations being detected as a result of inspections. This in-turn would indicate that programs such as public education and involvement are effectively educating the public on the importance of storm water and water quality issues. In addition to the metrics above, sections of the IDDE manual and program SOPs were reviewed during FY2017 and updated to reflect current procedures and practices. In addition, the Illicit Discharge Elimination Program or IDEP program was modified to include a priority basin approach in addition to increased fecal coliform monitoring frequency, business corridor inspections, continuous automated monitoring deployment, multi-family complex sewer collection inspections, increased use of
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BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Microbial Source Tracking (MSB) technology, and outfall inspections and stream walks conducted in catchments with less than 50 acre drainage.
Table 8: Action/Watch Level Exceedances Identified by Fixed Interval Monitoring Storm Site Date Analyte Result Unit Flag Impacted? Name Collected No MC2 2/14/2017 Fecal Coliform 2000 CFU/100 ml Action No MC2 11/8/2016 Fecal Coliform 1500 CFU/100 ml Action No MC2 11/8/2016 Fecal Coliform 2600 CFU/100 ml Action No MC36 6/13/2017 Fecal Coliform 2600 CFU/100 ml Action No MC36 12/22/2016 Fecal Coliform 6000 CFU/100 ml Action No MC40C 6/13/2017 Fecal Coliform 9600 CFU/100 ml Action No MC40C 5/9/2017 Fecal Coliform 4100 CFU/100 ml Action No MC40C 4/11/2017 Fecal Coliform 3300 CFU/100 ml Action No MC40C 2/14/2017 Fecal Coliform 1200 CFU/100 ml Action No MC40C 12/22/2016 Fecal Coliform 6800 CFU/100 ml Action No MC40C 12/13/2016 Fecal Coliform 3400 CFU/100 ml Action No MC40C 11/8/2016 Fecal Coliform 4200 CFU/100 ml Action No MC50 2/14/2017 Fecal Coliform 1600 CFU/100 ml Action No MY10 6/13/2017 Fecal Coliform 6000 CFU/100 ml Action No MY10 6/13/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.14 mg/L Action No MY10 6/13/2017 Turbidity 65 NTU Action No MY14 6/13/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.39 mg/L Action No MY14 6/13/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.38 mg/L Action No MY14 5/9/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.61 mg/L Action No MY14 4/11/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.29 mg/L Action No MY14 2/14/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.33 mg/L Action No MY14 12/13/2016 Total Phosphorus 1 mg/L Action No MY14 11/8/2016 Total Phosphorus 1.6 mg/L Action No MY15 2/14/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.19 mg/L Action No MY15 2/14/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.19 mg/L Action No MY15 2/14/2017 Turbidity 150 NTU Action No MY15 2/14/2017 Turbidity 160 NTU Action No MY15 12/13/2016 Turbidity 65 NTU Action No MY15 12/13/2016 Turbidity 60 NTU Action No MY1B 6/13/2017 Fecal Coliform 2800 CFU/100 ml Action No MY1B 4/11/2017 Turbidity 55 NTU Action No MY9 6/13/2017 Fecal Coliform 1180 CFU/100 ml Action No MY9 11/8/2016 Total Phosphorus 0.12 mg/L Action No MC2 6/13/2017 Fecal Coliform 500 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC2 4/11/2017 Fecal Coliform 480 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC2 12/22/2016 Fecal Coliform 780 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC2 12/13/2016 Fecal Coliform 640 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC2 4/11/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.073 mg/L Watch No MC36 6/13/2017 Dissolved Oxygen 4.82 mg/L Watch No MC36 4/11/2017 Fecal Coliform 330 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC36 2/14/2017 Fecal Coliform 540 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC36 11/8/2016 Fecal Coliform 290 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC36 6/13/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.064 mg/L Watch No MC36 4/11/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.064 mg/L Watch No MC36 12/13/2016 Total Phosphorus 0.056 mg/L Watch
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Storm Site Date Analyte Result Unit Flag Impacted? Name Collected No MC36 12/13/2016 Turbidity 27 NTU Watch No MC4 6/13/2017 Fecal Coliform 240 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC4 4/11/2017 Fecal Coliform 210 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC4 2/14/2017 Fecal Coliform 400 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC4 12/22/2016 Fecal Coliform 260 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC4 12/13/2016 Fecal Coliform 270 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC4 4/11/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.057 mg/L Watch No MC40C 4/11/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.057 mg/L Watch No MC40C 12/13/2016 Total Phosphorus 0.059 mg/L Watch No MC40C 11/8/2016 Total Phosphorus 0.073 mg/L Watch No MC40C 12/13/2016 Turbidity 30 NTU Watch No MC50 6/13/2017 Fecal Coliform 540 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC50 4/11/2017 Fecal Coliform 340 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC50 12/22/2016 Fecal Coliform 660 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC50 12/13/2016 Fecal Coliform 380 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC50 11/8/2016 Fecal Coliform 320 CFU/100 ml Watch No MC50 11/8/2016 Specific Conductivity 252 uS/cm Watch No MC50 6/13/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.073 mg/L Watch No MC50 4/11/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.075 mg/L Watch No MC50 12/13/2016 Total Phosphorus 0.057 mg/L Watch No MC50 11/8/2016 Total Phosphorus 0.068 mg/L Watch No MY10 6/13/2017 Copper 6.9 ug/L Watch No MY10 4/11/2017 Copper 5.1 ug/L Watch No MY10 11/8/2016 Copper 5.1 ug/L Watch No MY10 4/11/2017 Fecal Coliform 230 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY10 12/22/2016 Fecal Coliform 490 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY10 12/13/2016 Fecal Coliform 350 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY10 4/11/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.085 mg/L Watch No MY10 2/14/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.055 mg/L Watch No MY10 12/13/2016 Total Phosphorus 0.059 mg/L Watch No MY10 11/8/2016 Total Phosphorus 0.058 mg/L Watch No MY10 4/11/2017 Turbidity 29 NTU Watch No MY14 11/8/2016 Copper 3.6 ug/L Watch No MY14 6/13/2017 Fecal Coliform 250 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY14 5/9/2017 Fecal Coliform 640 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY14 2/14/2017 Fecal Coliform 480 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY14 12/22/2016 Fecal Coliform 520 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY14 12/13/2016 Fecal Coliform 1000 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY14 2/14/2017 pH 8.78 Watch No MY14 5/9/2017 Specific Conductivity 261.6 uS/cm Watch No MY14 12/13/2016 Specific Conductivity 335 uS/cm Watch No MY15 2/14/2017 Copper 6.9 ug/L Watch No MY15 2/14/2017 Copper 6.5 ug/L Watch No MY15 6/13/2017 Fecal Coliform 330 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY15 2/14/2017 Fecal Coliform 940 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY15 2/14/2017 Fecal Coliform 760 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY15 6/13/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.051 mg/L Watch No MY15 5/9/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.07 mg/L Watch No MY15 4/11/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.069 mg/L Watch No MY15 12/13/2016 Total Phosphorus 0.061 mg/L Watch No MY15 12/13/2016 Total Phosphorus 0.058 mg/L Watch No MY1B 4/11/2017 Copper 6 ug/L Watch 19
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Storm Site Date Analyte Result Unit Flag Impacted? Name Collected No MY1B 4/11/2017 Fecal Coliform 330 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY1B 2/14/2017 Fecal Coliform 760 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY1B 12/13/2016 Fecal Coliform 390 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY1B 11/8/2016 Fecal Coliform 350 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY1B 4/11/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.08 mg/L Watch No MY1B 11/8/2016 Zinc 34 ug/L Watch No MY8 6/13/2017 Fecal Coliform 720 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY8 5/9/2017 Fecal Coliform 400 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY8 4/11/2017 Fecal Coliform 480 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY8 2/14/2017 Fecal Coliform 520 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY8 12/22/2016 Fecal Coliform 380 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY8 12/13/2016 Fecal Coliform 900 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY8 11/8/2016 Fecal Coliform 980 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY9 5/9/2017 Fecal Coliform 640 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY9 4/11/2017 Fecal Coliform 320 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY9 4/11/2017 Fecal Coliform 360 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY9 2/14/2017 Fecal Coliform 420 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY9 12/13/2016 Fecal Coliform 250 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY9 11/8/2016 Fecal Coliform 370 CFU/100 ml Watch No MY9 2/14/2017 pH 8.75 Watch No MY9 6/13/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.093 mg/L Watch No MY9 5/9/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.086 mg/L Watch No MY9 4/11/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.092 mg/L Watch No MY9 4/11/2017 Total Phosphorus 0.098 mg/L Watch No MY9 12/13/2016 Total Phosphorus 0.073 mg/L Watch
Table 9: Number and Type of Service Requests and Emergency Responses by Jurisdiction
Number of Service Requests by Category
Jurisdiction
Spill
Illicit Illicit Total
Algae
Other
Bloom Buffer
Erosion Natural
Fish Kill Fish
Dumping Response
Identified Unknown
Condition
Follow Up
Accidental
Emergency
Connection Monitoring No Incident Cornelius 6 15 9 4 1 2 1 34 Davidson 1 1 2 1 5 Huntersville 1 5 7 2 1 1 3 2 20 Matthews 2 1 6 3 1 1 11 Mint Hill 5 3 1 4 1 13 Pineville 6 1 1 1 8 Mecklenburg 1 7 8 11 8 4 1 2 8 3 2 47 Totals 2 26 25 42 19 6 1 1 2 2 20 7 4 138
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Figure 1: Mecklenburg County Phase II Stream Monitoring Sites
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Figure 2: Stream Walk/Outfall Inspection-Inventory
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5.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017
Table 10 provides the status of improvements in the IDDE Program that were identified in FY2016 for implementation in FY2017.
Table 10: Status of Improvements Identified for FY2017 # Improvements Identified for Implementation Implementation Status 1 Conduct a pilot-study multi-variate analysis of Predictive multi-variate modeling was implemented as continuous monitoring system field data to a pilot study at two automated monitoring locations. predict relationships with other pollutants such as The model is calibrated to fecal coliform fecal coliform. concentrations in the 10,000cfu range. Additional data is being collected to lower the sensitivity of the model. 2 Continue to work with the City of Charlotte on Public use of the Water Watchers App continues to updates for the Water Watchers App. improve. During FY2017, 69 customer requests for service were reported through the App. 3 Continue to expand DNA tracking into areas with A total of 15 sample locations were targeted for MST elevated fecal coliform levels where no source analysis during FY2017. Approximately 1,000 dog has been identified. waste educational post cards were mailed to dog owners in the Reedy Creek Watershed in response to canine sourced bacteria. 4 Improve field outfall inspection technology. Researched replacement for Arc Mobile as this technology will no longer be supported. Decision was made to convert to Arc Collector.
5.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018
The following improvements in the IDDE Program have been identified for implementation in FY2018 to improve program effectiveness: 1. One of the overall measures of success for our Storm Water Plan is to reduce the number of notices of violation issued and/or deficiencies/issues detected as a result of routine inspections, which is an indicator of success at improving compliance. During FY2017, we failed to meet this goal with our IDDE inspections. In many cases, noncompliance was documented in only a few problem areas. For example, with IDDE inspections there was a high incidence of noncompliance by utility boring contractors. During FY2018, one of our primary areas for improvement is to focus our educational efforts toward achieving compliance in specific problem areas as documented in our IDDE inspections. 2. Continue to refine the capabilities of the pilot-study multi-variate analysis of continuous monitoring system field data to predict relationships with other pollutants such as fecal coliform. This will be accomplished by collecting additional data to improve the sensitivity of the model. 3. Continue to promote the Water Watchers App. and encourage greater use by the public. 4. Continue to expand microbial source tracking (MST) into areas with elevated fecal coliform levels where no source has been identified. 5. Improve field outfall inspection technology. Data collection will convert from Arc Mobile to Arc Collector. Outfall data collected over the past 5 years will be consolidated into one feature class. 6. Make contact with identified livestock operations to promote animal surface water exclusion projects. 7. Continue efforts to reduce the use of coal tar sealants at County facilities. 23
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Section 6: Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control Program
CMSWS has developed, implemented and enforced a Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control Program for addressing the discharge of sediment and other pollutants from construction sites in Mecklenburg County’s Phase II jurisdictions. The goal of the Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control Program is to reduce pollutants in storm water runoff from construction activities that result in a land disturbance of greater than or equal to one acre. Construction activities disturbing less than one acre are included in the program if they are part of a larger common plan of development or sale that would disturb one acre or more.
6.1 Implementation Status for FY2017
Table 11 describes the BMPs identified in the Storm Water Plan for the Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control Program and the specific actions completed between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 for implementation of these BMPs as well as whether the measurable goals for the BMPs specified in the plan have been fulfilled.
Table 11: BMP Summary Table for the Construction Site Storm Water Control Program BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Enforce During FY2017, a total of 95 new projects were permitted in Mecklenburg County X Erosion with a total of 1,121 acres disturbed. 1,691 inspections were performed with 29 Control Notice of Violations (NOV’s) issued. Nine (9) penalties were assessed for a total of Ordinances $51,000.00. To date, $17,150.00 in penalties has been collected, with $12,000.00 (CS-1) under appeal. Provided below are the totals for the Phase II jurisdictions. • Cornelius: 247 inspections conducted, 5 NOVs issued, and 3 penalties assessed with $3,750.00 paid and $12,000.00 under appeal • Davidson: 155 inspections conducted, 2 NOVs issued, and 2 penalties assessed with $11,400.00 paid. • Huntersville: 645 inspections conducted, 15 NOV’s issued, and 1 penalty. • Matthews: 274 inspections conducted, 4 NOVs issued, and 1 penalty assessed with $2,000 paid. • Mint Hill: 296 inspections conducted, 3 NOVs issued, and 2 penalties assessed. • Pineville: 74 inspections conducted, and 0 NOVs issued. Erosion Three (3) erosion control educational programs were conducted during FY2017, X Control occurring on August 25, 2016, January 12, 2017 and May 11, 2017. There were a Education total of 451 paid attendees for the three (3) programs with 353 taking and passing (CS-2) the test. Evaluate During FY2017, an evaluation was completed of the effectiveness of the BMPs for X Effectiveness the Construction Site Storm Water Control Program as described in the latest of Erosion version of the Storm Water Plan. The evaluation revealed that the Program is Control successful at addressing the discharges of sediment and other pollutants from Program construction sites in Phase II jurisdictions. Three (3) improvements are (CS-3) recommended for implementation in FY2017 based on this evaluation as described in Section 6.3 below. There are two (2) measures of success for the Program contained in the Storm Water Plan, including the documentation of the completion of activities that demonstrate the successful completion of the BMPs associated with the Program and the number of NOVs issued for every 100 inspections. The evaluation revealed that all documentation was successfully completed. The results of the evaluation of the past six (6) years of NOV and inspection data is revealed in
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No the Figure 3 below. Data reveals that the ratio of the number of violations to the number of inspections has decreased slightly. The desired trend is a reduction of this ratio, which would indicate fewer violations being detection as a result of inspections.
Figure 3: Notices of Violation Issued Per 100 Inspections from FY2011 through FY2016
NOV's per 100 Inspections 3.5
3 2.9
2.5 2.41 2.3 2.12
2 1.86
1.5
1.02
NOV's per 100Inspections 1
0.5
0 04/01/11-03/31/12 04/01/12-03/31/13 04/01/13-03/31/14 04/01/14-03/31/15 04/01/15-03/31/16 04/01/16-03/31/17 Date Range
6.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017
Table 12 provides the status of improvements in the Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control Program that were identified in FY2016 for implementation in FY2017.
Table 12: Status of Improvements Identified for FY2017 # Improvements Identified for Implementation Implementation Status 1 Create an active online Charlotte-Mecklenburg The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Certified Site Inspector Certified Site Inspector (CMCSI) renewal (CMCSI) renewal program is live and can be accessed program with the City and have it go live. at the address below. It was brought live in January of 2017. http://charlottenc.gov/ld/CMCSI/Pages/CMCSI- Recertification.aspx 2 Update the Erosion Control Policy and The policy and procedure manual was updated in April Procedures Manual. of 2017 and sent to management for review. Final edits were made in June of 2017. 3 Continuing erosion control education for staff New employees were sent to SWITC training, Annual including but not limited to CESSWI or CPESC Program training and workshops, along with cross certification. training by other staff. 4 Develop and implement a City/County cross audit A proposal was sent to the City of Charlotte program, where each municipality audits the Administrator for review. They did not feel that the
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
# Improvements Identified for Implementation Implementation Status other’s program. plan was a good use of time and resources, and that we should be doing the same practices to meet State requirements.
6.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018
The following improvements in the Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control Program have been identified for implementation in FY2018 to improve program effectiveness: 1. Update the Enhanced Erosion Control Policy and Procedures and implement for the Town of Matthews. 2. Finalize the Erosion Control Policy and Procedures Manual update. 3. Add a new “Meeting” inspection form in CityWorks. 4. Update CMCSI presentations for new and incoming staff participation.
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Section 7: Post-Construction Site Runoff Control Program
CMSWS has developed, implemented and enforced a Post-Construction Site Runoff Control Program for addressing post-construction storm water runoff from new development and redevelopment projects in Mecklenburg County’s Phase II jurisdictions. The goal of the Post- Construction Site Runoff Control Program is to reduce pollutants in storm water runoff during post-construction conditions at new developments and redevelopments, including public transportation maintained by the permittee, that disturb greater than or equal to one acre. Developments and redevelopments disturbing less than one acre are included in the program if it is part of a larger common plan of development or sale that would disturb one acre or more.
7.1 Implementation Status for FY2017
Table 13 describes the BMPs identified in the Storm Water Plan for the Post-Construction Site Runoff Control Program and the specific actions completed between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 for implementation of these BMPs as well as whether the measurable goals for the BMPs specified in the plan have been fulfilled.
Table 13: BMP Summary Table for the Post-Construction Site Runoff Control Program BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Implement During FY2017, 95 plans were approved for the Phase II jurisdictions, totaling X Post-Const. 1,120.98 permitted acres. There were also 31 documented interpretations made by Storm Water the Storm Water Administrator to assess compliance with post-construction Ordinances ordinance requirements. (PC-1) Implement Table 14 below provides the total number of initial and follow-up inspections X BMP conducted of BMPs during FY2017 as well as the number of notices issued and Inspections number of BMPs brought into compliance per jurisdiction. There were no penalties (PC-2) issued during FY2017. Implement a On November 9, 2016, staff gave a PowerPoint presentation regarding BMP X Program to maintenance to 113 contractors and other storm water professionals as part of a Educate and workshop entitled “Aquatic Pesticide & Storm Water Management.” On November Assist 11, 2016, a one day workshop was held by CMSWS to provide training and Developers information for compliance with post-construction ordinance requirements in (PC-3) Charlotte-Mecklenburg. 118 professional engineers and land development professionals were in attendance. On May 16, 2017, staff gave a PowerPoint presentation entitled “BMP Keys to Success – Long Term Maintenance Strategies” to a group of 40 storm water professionals during the “2017 Municipal Wet Weather Storm water Conference.” Staff developed BMP educational binders and flash drives and made them available during BMP inspections as indicated in Table 15. Evaluate During FY2017, an evaluation was completed of the effectiveness of the BMPs for X Effectiveness the Post-Construction Site Runoff Control Program as described in the latest version of Post- of the Storm Water Plan. The evaluation revealed that the Program is successful at Construction addressing the discharges of pollutants in storm water runoff during post- Control construction conditions at new developments and redevelopments in Phase II Program jurisdictions. One of the measures of program success is the percentage of (PC-5) noncompliant structural BMPs based on the results of annual inspections. Success is defined as a decrease in this percentage from year-to-year indicating an improvement in BMP operation and maintenance. In FY2017, the percentage increase by 28% compared to FY2016 as shown in Table 16. The assessment of the
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BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No post-construction program also included an evaluation of the post-construction ordinances, which were also found to be effective at meeting program goals. The only change proposed to these ordinances was the addition of a new mitigation section for the Town of Huntersville. The proposed ordinance modifications were approved by the Huntersville Advisory Board on June 1, 2017. It is anticipated that the modifications will be presented to the Huntersville Town Board for adoption in the fall. The Phase II post-construction ordinances in Mecklenburg County are supported by an Administrative Manual. In FY2017, no changes were made to this Manual.
Table 14: Summary of BMP Inspections # # Non- # BMPs Correction # Notices of Inspections/ Notice of Jurisdiction Compliant brought into Action Violation Follow Up Maintenance BMPs compliance Requests Issued Insp. Issued Cornelius 55/2 38 2 38 0 0 Davidson 34/ 1 28 1 27 1 0 Huntersville 321/31 209 13 204 3 2 Matthews 21/ 0 14 0 14 0 0 Mint Hill 26/ 0 12 0 12 0 0 Pineville 15/ 0 10 0 7 3 0 CMS 109/0 83 0 0 0 0 CPCC 25/0 14 0 0 0 0 TOTALS 606/34 408 16 302 7 2
Table 15: Summary of BMP Education Number of educational Jurisdiction materials/ flash drives given to BMP Owners Charlotte (CPCC) 1 Cornelius 4 Davidson 0 Huntersville 12 Matthews 4 Mint Hill 1 Pineville 1 TOTALS 23
Table 16: BMP Inspections Revealing Problems from 2007 through 2017 # Inspections # BMPs with % BMPs with Fiscal Year # BMPs Conducted Problems Problems 2010 355 510 206 58% 2011 417 - 238 57% 2012 497 443 256 58% 2013 630 453 248 55% 2014 664 668 244 36% 2015 713 555 286 51% 2016 926 691 247 36% 2017 1,020 640 408 64%
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7.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017
Table 17 provides the status of improvements in the Post-Construction Site Runoff Control Program that were identified in FY2016 for implementation in FY2017.
Table 17: Status of Improvements Identified for FY2017 Improvements Identified # Implementation Status for Implementation 1 Fully implement the third- Third party inspectors who were trained in FY2016 continued to use the party site inspection database (Cityworks) in FY2017. Staff added a question to each BMP program that was initiated template regarding the requirement to submit third party annual reports to as a pilot in FY2016. the City or County. Inconsistencies were found between the City and County staff, as well as the third-party inspectors. City and County staff had to stop additional third party inspectors training and began working together in FY2017 to update BMP questions and answers to address these inconsistencies. Staff will implement the new questions and answers in the BMP database in FY2018. Once the database has been updated, staff will continue to train third party inspectors how to use the database.
7.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018
The following improvements in the Post-Construction Site Runoff Control Program have been identified for implementation in FY2018 to improve program effectiveness: 1. One of the overall measures of success for our Storm Water Plan is to reduce the number of notices of violation issued and/or deficiencies/issues detected as a result of routine inspections, which is an indicator of success at improving compliance. During FY2017, we failed to meet this goal with our BMP inspections. In many cases, noncompliance was documented in only a few problem areas. During FY2018, one of our primary areas for improvement is to focus our education and enforcement efforts toward achieving BMP compliance. 2. Complete updated questions and answers for the BMP templates for Cityworks. 3. Train more third-party inspectors on how to use Cityworks. 4. Implement an automatic email notification to BMP owners of the due date for annual inspection reports. 5. BMP Education - Develop new brochures for BMP maintenance and place on website. 6. Develop on-line training tools, such as “How to maintain bioretention gardens” (or other BMPs).
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Section 8: Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations
CMSWS has developed and implemented a Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping Program for municipal facilities and operations. The goal of the Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping Program is to reduce pollutants in storm water runoff from municipal operations.
8.1 Implementation Status for FY2017
Table 18 describes the BMPs identified in the Storm Water Plan for the Pollution Prevention/ Good Housekeeping Program and the specific actions completed between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 for implementation of these BMPs as well as whether the measurable goals for the BMPs specified in the plan have been fulfilled.
Table 18: BMP Summary Table for the Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping Program BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Implement The purpose of the Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping training is to X Employee inform municipal operations’ staff of techniques for identifying and eliminating Training pollution sources at their facilities and around the community. During FY2017, a Program total of 697 municipal operations’ staff from the Towns, County, CMS and CPCC (PP-1) completed the annual training program (see Table 19). The training included a review of Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs), spill prevention, and spill response. Also included in the training were focusing on pollution prevention techniques at different types of facilities. At the end of the training, all employees participated in a quiz that highlighted the major points of the training. Conduct Municipal inspection procedures and inspection forms were reviewed at the X Inspections beginning of FY2017; no changes were made. On September 19, 2016, CMSWS of Municipal staff received training on all Phase II municipal inspections. Training included a Operations review of inspection protocols, reports, and deadlines. Storm Water Pollution (PP-2) Prevention Plan (SWPPP) requirements were also reviewed, and staff were instructed to update SWPPPs for Phase II facilities in concurrence with inspections. CMSWS staff inspected 13 Mecklenburg County municipal facilities and six (6) town municipal facilities. Based on findings from previous years, inspectors especially focused on identifying sources of petroleum-based pollutants, such as aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) and vehicle/equipment maintenance areas, and sediment, such as outdoor material storage areas and areas with heavy erosion. Eight (8) deficiencies were observed at county and town municipal facilities. Two (2) deficiencies were for soil contamination from discharges of petroleum products to the ground in vehicle/equipment areas, one (1) deficiency was for excessive residual diesel fuel on the outside of an AST, and the remaining five (5) deficiencies were for non-compliance with SWPPP requirements. Follow-up inspections were conducted as necessary. All observed deficiencies (excluding those associated with SWPPP requirements) were satisfactorily corrected. All SWPPPs were reviewed and updated to reflect any changes from the previous year. Four (4) CPCC campuses were inspected in FY2016. The most common pollutant identified at these facilities in previous years was sediment, largely due to the amount of construction and landscaping activity at these sites; therefore, erosion was a focal area for inspectors in FY2017. Inspectors observed four (4) deficiencies at CPCC facilities; all deficiencies were for non-compliance with SWPPP requirements, including failure to conduct semi-annual inspections or qualitative monitoring. This is an increase from three (3) deficiencies observed in FY2016. Fifteen (15) other findings were noted by inspectors, including recommendations for various housekeeping improvements and/or preventive maintenance. One repeat finding was documented
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No for a storm water best management practice (BMP) at CPCC-Cato Campus that may not be functioning as designed. No follow-up inspections were required for CPCC facilities. SWPPPs were reviewed and updated as needed. Inspections were conducted at 30 CMS facilities. Of these facilities, eight (8) have SWPPPs and are inspected annually. The remaining 22 facilities were inspected for the first time and will be inspected in the future once every five (5) years. CMS facilities have historically had problems with illicit discharges of wash water from mop buckets and vehicle washing operations, inadequate maintenance of BMPs, deterioration of waste disposal containers, and leaks/spills of oil and other automotive fluids at vehicle/equipment areas (i.e., bus maintenance/storage facilities). All of these deficiencies were carefully evaluated during the FY2017 inspections. Three (3) deficiencies were found at CMS facilities, a decrease from nine (9) deficiencies in FY2016. One (1) deficiency was for missed qualitative monitoring events, one was for an illicit discharge of wash water from bus washing operations, and the other was for excessive pavement staining in a loading/unloading area. CMSWS staff recorded 90 additional findings, which were general recommendations for improved housekeeping and/or preventive maintenance. There were no repeat findings. SWPPP updates at CMS facilities (where required) are completed annually by Mr. Jeff Mitchell of CMS. Maintain During FY2017, CMSWS utilized the procedures described in the Storm Water Plan X and Update to update the inventory of municipal operations and facilities for the purpose of an Inventory ensuring the identification of all operations and facilities that have a significant of Municipal potential for generating polluted storm water runoff so that plans can be developed Operations and implemented for eliminating or reducing these pollutants to protect downstream (PP-5) water quality. As a result, 122 new parcels were added to the inventory in FY2017 as follows: three (3) for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, 4 for the Town of Matthews, 2 for the Town of Pineville, 10 for the Town of Cornelius, 2 for CPCC, 7 for Town of Davidson, 38 for the Town of Huntersville, 0 for the Town of Mint Hill, and 56 for Mecklenburg County. None of these new parcels or facilities were physically inspected during FY2017. Evaluate During FY2017, the Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping Program was X Effectiveness evaluated and found to be effective at fulfilling Phase II Permit requirements and of Pollution requirements of the Storm Water Plan. Storm water pollution prevention training Prevention/ was provided to a total of 697 employees during FY2017. In addition, inspections Good were conducted at 53 Phase II municipal facilities, including 13 facilities Housekeeping owned/operated by Mecklenburg County, six (6) town municipal facilities, four (4) Program CPCC facilities, and 30 CMS facilities. Table 20 displays a summary of Phase II (PP-9) inspection findings for FY2017. This table has been updated from previous years to show a more specific breakdown of problem areas identified during inspections and to coincide with the checklist used by inspectors. Eight (8) deficiencies were observed at Phase II facilities, which is the same number as FY2016. Inspectors also noted in their reports other minor problems or areas with potential for improvement. These other findings were not deficiencies, but they do indicate areas that will be targeted for training and inspection in FY2018. During FY2017, an average of 2.9 deficiencies and findings were detected per inspection (154 deficiencies and findings out of 53 inspections), which represents an increase from 1.23 in FY2016. These numbers are not directly comparable as more types of findings were tracked in FY2017 than in previous years. However, findings did increase substantially in several categories, particularly storm water system/best management practices (BMPs), erosion, material storage areas, vehicle/equipment areas, and the Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP). The most common deficiency observed at county, town, and CPCC facilities was non-compliance with SWPPP requirements, which accounted for five (5) of the eight (8) deficiencies. Multiple
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No facilities did not conduct required semi-annual inspections (one self-inspection in addition to the CMSWS inspection), qualitative monitoring, non-storm water discharge evaluation of outfalls, and/or evaluation and documentation of storm water collected in secondary containment prior to discharge. For two municipal facilities, failure to conduct a semi-annual self-inspection was a repeat finding. In FY2018, more emphasis will be placed on getting Phase II municipal facilities to comply with NPDES storm water permit requirements as documented in the facilities’ SWPPPs. CMSWS inspectors will fully explain these requirements to facility managers and send them calendar reminders for semi-annual inspections, qualitative monitoring, non-storm water discharge evaluations of outfalls, and other recurring SWPPP requirements. Waste storage/disposal areas accounted for the greatest proportion of findings at 20.1%. No deficiencies were recorded, but many minor or potential problems were observed. Multiple waste dumpsters were observed with missing or damaged rain lids, missing drain plugs, and/or corrosion that could lead to discharges. Some of these dumpsters were repaired or replaced at the suggestion of CMSWS inspectors. Another problem that was frequently observed at CMS facilities was excessive pavement staining from discharges of motor oil and/or hydraulic oil, most likely from trucks operated by waste removal contractors. CMSWS will work with CMS staff in FY2018 to explore possible options for addressing these pollution sources. Though no deficiencies were noted for storm water systems and BMPs, this category accounted for 13.6% of findings. Similar to previous years, BMPs at CMS facilities were frequently found to be in need of maintenance. Common problems included failure to maintain vegetation at an appropriate height, failure to remove woody vegetation, and excessive erosion and/or sedimentation in or near the BMP. CMSWS was notified that CMS is working with vendors on a maintenance agreement for recently installed BMPs and a five-year capital improvements plan for older BMPs at CMS properties. Erosion issues made up 13.6% of findings, though no deficiencies were observed. Erosion was observed at a variety of facilities and was due to multiple causes, including construction activities, high foot or vehicle traffic, and lack of surface protection below outfalls. Inspectors provided recommendations to these facilities to reduce the amount of sediment being discharged to storm water conveyances and surface waters. Vehicle/equipment areas accounted for 7.1% of findings, but the number of findings increased from just two (2) in FY2016 to 11 in FY2017. Two (2) deficiencies were observed in vehicle/equipment areas for soil contamination by discharges of petroleum products. Other common findings were poor housekeeping and improper cleanup of spills and leaks (e.g., not properly disposing of contaminated absorbent material). Material storage areas also showed a dramatic increase in findings from zero (0) in FY2016 to 15 in FY2017, or 9.7% of findings. No deficiencies were observed, but as with vehicle/equipment areas, recommendations were generally made for improved housekeeping and proper cleanup and disposal of spills and leaks. Related to vehicle/equipment areas and material storage areas, inspectors made recommendations for facilities to replenish or add spill kits at 11 different facilities. All inspections and activities for the Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping Program were documented in Cityworks. These reports and attached documents support meeting the program goals and objectives. Overall, the program is effective at identifying and correcting sources of storm water pollution.
Table 19: Employee Training by Jurisdiction in FY2017 Facility Jurisdiction Training Date # Attending Hickory Grove Recycling Mecklenburg Co. 5/11/17 10
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Facility Jurisdiction Training Date # Attending Compost Central Mecklenburg Co. 6/07/17 13 Vehicle Maintenance Shop – W. 12th St. * Mecklenburg Co. 6/19/17 11 N Meck Recycling Mecklenburg Co. 5/11/17 4 Parks & Recreation Mecklenburg Co. 6/06/17 14 Storm Water Operations Mecklenburg Co. 5/25/17 9 Emergency Mgmt. Services Mecklenburg Co. 5/17/17 2 Fox Hole Landfill & Recycling Mecklenburg Co. 5/23/17 11 Meck. Co. White Goods & Tire Mecklenburg Co. 5/11/17 2 Sunset Hills Golf Course Mecklenburg Co. 6/7/17 4 Cornelius Public Works Town of Cornelius 4/12/2017 9 Davidson Public Works Town of Davidson 5/25/2017 10 Huntersville Public Works Town of Huntersville 7/31/2017 10 Matthews Public Works Town of Matthews 5/03/2017 32 Mint Hill Public Works Town of Mint Hill 1/09/17 9 Pineville Public Works Town of Pineville 3/01/17 9 Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools CMS 6/22/17 498 Central Piedmont Community College CPCC 3/15/17 40 TOTAL 697
Table 20: Summary of Inspection Findings from FY2008 through FY2017 Number of Findings by Fiscal Year Inspection Findings Totals 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Storm water System & BMPs1 0 0 0 0 0 17 25 14 12 21 89 Erosion 0 0 1 0 0 16 8 10 12 21 68 Illicit discharges/connections 3 5 3 0 0 3 4 6 8 3 35 Aboveground Storage Tanks2 ------5 5 Underground Storage Tanks2 ------0 0 Material Storage Area(s) 0 2 2 0 0 2 7 7 0 15 35 Processing Area(s)2 ------2 2 Loading/Unloading Area(s)2 ------8 8 Vehicle/Equipment Areas(s) 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 2 11 18 Oil/Water Separator / Pretreatment2 ------7 7 Waste Storage/Disposal Area(s) 1 5 5 0 0 7 8 16 26 31 99 Food Service Area(s)2 ------2 2 Floor Drains2 ------6 6 Spill Response Equipment2 ------11 11 Equipment Maintenance Needed3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 Inadequate Housekeeping3 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 4 Not Operating in Accordance with SWPPP 7 5 4 0 0 10 5 4 5 11 51 Totals 13 19 17 0 0 55 61 58 65 154 442 1. “Storm water System” and “BMPs” are separated on the current inspection checklist but are combined in this table for comparison to previous years
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
2. These categories were not tracked in the annual report prior to FY17 3. Starting with FY2017, these findings are tracked under other categories (e.g., material storage areas, processing areas, etc.)
8.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017
Table 21 provides the status of improvements in the Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping Program that were identified in FY2016 for implementation in FY2017.
Table 21: Status of Improvements Identified for FY2017 # Improvements Identified for Implementation Implementation Status 1 Investigate the potential acquisition of new training CMSWS has developed capabilities for producing its videos. own videos. During FY2018, CMSWS will investigate adding its own video footage to the training.
8.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018
The following improvements in the Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping Program have been identified for implementation in FY2018 to improve program effectiveness: 1. Ensure Phase II municipal facilities are complying with NPDES storm water permit requirements as documented in the facilities’ SWPPPs. CMSWS inspectors will fully explain these requirements to facility managers and send them calendar reminders for semi-annual inspections, qualitative monitoring, non-storm water discharge evaluations of outfalls, and other recurring SWPPP requirements. 2. One of the overall measures of success for our Storm Water Plan is to reduce the number of notices of violation issued and/or deficiencies/issues detected as a result of routine inspections, which is an indicator of success at improving compliance. During FY2017, we failed to meet this goal with our municipal inspections. In many cases, noncompliance was documented in only a few problem areas. For example, with municipal inspections there was a high incidence of noncompliance with the SWPPP. During FY2018, one of our primary areas for improvement is to focus our educational efforts toward achieving compliance in specific problem areas as documented in our municipal inspections. 3. Consider adding CMSWS video footage to municipal training.
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Section 9: Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)
CMSWS has developed and implemented a program for addressing non-point source pollutant loading associated with the Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) approved by EPA for the receiving waters of the Phase II MS4 storm water discharges and/or waters downstream of these discharges. The goal of the TMDL Program is to reduce non-point source pollutant loading to the receiving stream to the maximum extent practicable.
9.1 Implementation Status for FY2017
Table 22 describes the BMPs identified in the Storm Water Plan for the TMDL Program and the specific actions completed between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 for implementation of these BMPs as well as whether the measurable goals for the BMPs specified in the plan have been fulfilled.
Table 22: BMP Summary Table for the TMDL Program BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Evaluate In June 2017, an evaluation was completed of the 305(b) report and 303(d) list for X Impaired 2014 and 2016. The 2014 report has been approved by EPA whereas the 2016 Waters report is still under review. The delisting of AU # 11-138-1 (West Fork Twelve (IW-1) Mile Creek) for Poor Fish Community (Category 5 to Category 1) was the only change observed between the 2014 and 2016 versions. No new TMDLs have been developed for Mecklenburg County since 2014. Table 23 identifies the receiving waters for MS4 discharges in Mecklenburg County that have a TMDL approved by EPA based on these reports. The TMDL watersheds in Mecklenburg County span both Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions. All Phase I and Phase II TMDL compliance efforts are administered by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services (CMSWS), which includes both City of Charlotte (City) and Mecklenburg County (County) programs. The City’s program is responsible for compliance with its Phase I storm water permit and Mecklenburg County’s program is responsible for Phase II permit compliance for the County, CMS, CPCC and the Towns of Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill, and Pineville. To ensure effective coordination, the City and County have agreed that the City will serve as the lead jurisdiction for compliance with TMDL requirements when the majority of the TMDL watershed lies within the Phase I jurisdiction. When most of the watershed lies within Phase II, the County will serve as the lead. The lead jurisdiction is responsible for coordinating and implementing all required TMDL compliance efforts and submitting all the required plans and reports to the State. They are also responsible for coordinating with the other jurisdictions as necessary in the implementation of compliance efforts. Table 23 identifies the lead organization for compliance with TMDL requirements based on the above criteria. Figure 4 shows the locations of these receiving waters in relation to the Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions in Mecklenburg County. Develop and All Water Quality Recovery Plans (WQRPs) have been developed and X Implement implemented for those watersheds with TMDLs that are the responsibility of Water Quality Mecklenburg County as described in Table 23. In FY2017, a change was made in Recovery that all TMDL Water Quality Recovery Plans (WQRPs) were incorporated into the Plans Storm Water Plan along with Water Quality Recovery Strategies (WQRSs) (IW-2) whereas previously these WQRPs had been standalone documents. The BMPs described in the Storm Water Plan for TMDL compliance were effectively and efficiently implemented in FY12017.
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
BMP Goal Met Implementation Actions Description Yes No Develop and Same as IW-2 above. X Implement Water Quality Recovery Strategies (IW-3) Assess, An evaluation was completed of the effectiveness of the TMDL Program as X Report and described in the latest version of the Storm Water Plan. The TMDL annual Modify assessment is included as Attachment 1 of this report. WQRPs (IW-4)
Table 23: Approved TMDLS for Mecklenburg County’s Phase I and Phase II Jurisdictions TMDL EPA MS4 Lead AU Name AU Number Class Pollutant Approved Allocation? Jurisdiction DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte Irwin Creek 11-137-1 C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte Long Creek 11-120-(0.5) C Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte Long Creek 11-120-(2.5) WS-IV Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte Long Creek 11-120-(7) WS-IV CA Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte Little Sugar 11-137-8a C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte Little Sugar 11-137-8b C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte Little Sugar 11-137-8c C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte
McAlpine 11-137-9a C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Creek
Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte McAlpine 11-137-9b C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Creek Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte
McAlpine DO 2/5/96 No Charlotte 11-137-9c C Creek Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
TMDL EPA MS4 Lead AU Name AU Number Class Pollutant Approved Allocation? Jurisdiction Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte
McAlpine 11-137-9d C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Creek
Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Sugar Creek 11-137b C Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Sugar Creek 11-137c C Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte McKee Creek 13-17-8-4 C Fecal Coliform 8/1/2003 Yes Charlotte Rocky River 13-17a C Fecal Coliform 9/19/2002 Yes Mecklenburg Steele Creek (1) 11-137-10 C Fecal Coliform 5/2007 Yes Charlotte Lake Wylie 11-122 C Chlorophyll-a 2/5/1996 No Mecklenburg Lake Wylie 11-(123.5)a C Chlorophyll-a 2/5/1996 No Mecklenburg Goose Creek 13-17-18a C Fecal Coliform 7/8/2005 Yes Mecklenburg Goose Creek 13-17-18b C Fecal Coliform 7/8/2005 Yes Mecklenburg Statewide Statewide All Mercury 10/12/2012 NA NA
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Figure 4: Waters of Mecklenburg County with Approved TMDLs
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
9.2 Status of Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017
No improvements were recommended to the TMDL Program for implementation in FY2017.
9.3 Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018
No improvements in the TMDL Program have been identified for implementation in FY2018.
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Section 10: Program Effectiveness
During FY2017, the permittee has satisfactorily implemented the BMPs and fulfilled the measurable goals specified in Storm Water Permit No. NCS000395 in accordance with the Storm Water Plan. The other provisions of the Permit have also been satisfactorily fulfilled; therefore, compliance with the Permit has been achieved. The permittee further finds that the implementation of the Storm Water Plan as well as the individual BMPs contained in the Plan has resulted in satisfactory compliance with 4 of the eight (8) identified measures of success as indicated in Table 24. The implementation of the program enhancements described in Table 25 are meant to improve effectiveness at meeting these measures. Three (3) of the four (4) measures of success where compliance was not achieved relate to our overall program goal of reducing the number of notices of violation issued and/or deficiencies/issues detected as a result of routine inspections, which is an indicator of success at improving compliance. During FY2018, one of the primary program enhancements will be to improve compliance through enhanced education and enforcement targeted at specific problem areas. The fourth measure of success where compliance was not achieved relates to increasing the number of contacts made through our media campaign. This was only slightly reduced from FY2016 and it expected that it will increase during FY2018 although it is currently fairly high at 96.4%.
Table 24: Measures of Success in FY2017 Target Met # Measures of Success Target FY2017 Results (Yes or No) 1 Documentation – Document Storm Water Program All activities All activities Yes activities that demonstrate successful fulfillment of documented documented BMPs. 2 Raising Awareness – Percentage of respondents 50% 74.6% Yes aware that water flowing into storm drains goes directly to creeks and lakes. 3 Number of Contacts and Distribution Estimates – Increased from Decreased from No Increased percentage of population reached based previous years 97.4% in FY2016 on Media Campaign results. to 96.4% in FY17 4 Number of Participating Volunteers – Greater than 3,100 3,488 Volunteers Yes 3,100 volunteers participating in events. volunteers 5 Percentage of Notices of Violation Issued Based Decreased from Increased from No on the Number of IDDE Inspections Conducted – previous years 4.5% in FY16 to Decreased percentage indicates success at 7% in FY17 improving compliance. 6 Number of Notices of Violation Issued per 100 Decreased from Decreased from Yes Erosion Control Inspections Conducted – previous years 2.12 in FY16 to Decreased number indicates success at improving 1.86 in FY17 compliance. 7 Percentage of Noncompliant BMPs Based on the Decreased from Increased from No Number of BMPs Inspected – Decreased previous years 36% in FY16 to percentage indicates success at improving 64% in FY17 compliance. 8 Average Number of Findings/Deficiencies Decreased from Increased from No Detected per Municipal Inspection Conducted – previous years 1.23 in FY16 to 2.9 Decreased average indicates success at improving in FY17 compliance.
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Section 11: Program Enhancements for FY2018
Table 25 summarizes the improvements recommended for implementation in FY2018 as identified in the previous sections. In the FY2018 annual report, the status of the implementation of these improvements will be described.
Table 25: Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2017
# Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018 Desired Impact
Public Education and Outreach 1 Focus educational efforts toward achieving compliance in specific problem areas Increase compliance as documented in our IDDE, BMP and municipal inspections. (Numbers 5, 6, 7, and 8 in Table 24). 2 Investigate the purchase of a mascot costume for CMSWS. Mascot to be used to Increase awareness and promote clean water to citizens, students and businesses, and to bring attention to volunteerism (Numbers 2, our message at public events. 3 and 4 in Table 24). 3 Effectively distribute the auto BMP posters to the appropriate facilities in order Increase compliance to educate auto maintenance employees of proper best management practices for (Number 5 in Table 24). pollution prevention. 4 Continue to pursue opportunities for education in high schools. Increase awareness and volunteerism (Numbers 2, 3 and 4 in Table 24). 5 Continue developing curriculum sheets for educational programs. Increase awareness (Numbers 2 and 3 in Table 24). 6 Grow our social media presence and improve our content and messaging. Increase awareness and volunteerism (Numbers 2, 3 and 4 in Table 24). Public Involvement and Participation 1 Investigate the potential of a Storm Drain Marking Rally in the Phase II Increase volunteerism jurisdictions. (Number 4 in Table 24). 2 Complete a volunteer opportunity video to promote our volunteer programs. Increase volunteerism (Number 4 in Table 24). 3 Continue to develop new partnerships with other organizations within the Increase awareness and community. volunteerism (Numbers 2, 3 and 4 in Table 24). Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination 1 Focus educational efforts toward achieving compliance in specific problem areas Increase compliance as documented in our IDDE inspections. (Numbers 5 in Table 24). 2 Continue to refine the capabilities of the pilot-study multi-variate analysis of Improve capabilities to continuous monitoring system field data to predict relationships with other identify and eliminate pollutants such as fecal coliform. This will be accomplished by collecting pollution sources. additional data to improve the sensitivity of the model. 3 Continue to promote the Water Watchers App. and encourage greater use by the Improve capabilities to public. identify and eliminate pollution sources. 4 Continue to expand microbial source tracking (MST) into areas with elevated Improve capabilities to fecal coliform levels where no source has been identified. identify and eliminate pollution sources. 5 Improve field outfall inspection technology. Data collection will convert from Improve use of data. Arc Mobile to Arc Collector. Outfall data collected over the past 5 years will be consolidated into one feature class.
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
# Improvements Identified for Implementation in FY2018 Desired Impact
6 Make contact with identified livestock operations to promote animal surface Improve capabilities to water exclusion projects. identify and eliminate pollution sources. 7 Continue efforts to reduce the use of coal tar sealants at County facilities. Reduce discharges of PAHs to surface waters. Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control 1 Update the Enhanced Erosion Control Policy and Procedures and implement for Increase compliance the Town of Matthews. (Number 6 in Table 24). 2 Finalize the Erosion Control Policy and Procedures Manual update. Increase compliance (Number 6 in Table 24). 3 Add a new “Meeting” inspection form in CityWorks. Increase compliance (Number 6 in Table 24). 4 Update CMCSI presentations for new and incoming staff participation. Increase compliance (Number 6 in Table 24). Post-Construction Site Runoff Control 1 Focus education and enforcement efforts toward achieving BMP compliance. Increase compliance (Number 7 in Table 24). 2 Complete updated questions and answers for the BMP templates for Cityworks. Increase compliance (Number 7 in Table 24). 3 Train more third-party inspectors on how to use Cityworks. Increase compliance (Number 7 in Table 24). 4 Implement an automatic email notification to BMP owners of the due date for Increase compliance annual inspection reports. (Number 7 in Table 24). 5 Develop new brochures for BMP maintenance and place on website. Increase compliance (Number 7 in Table 24). 6 Develop on-line training tools, such as “How to maintain bioretention gardens” Increase compliance (or other BMPs). (Number 7 in Table 24). Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations 1 Focus educational efforts toward achieving compliance in specific problem areas Increase compliance as documented in our municipal inspections. (Number 8 in Table 24). 2 Ensure Phase II municipal facilities are complying with NPDES storm water Increase compliance permit requirements as documented in the facilities’ SWPPPs. CMSWS (Number 8 in Table 24). inspectors will fully explain these requirements to facility managers and send them calendar reminders for semi-annual inspections, qualitative monitoring, non-storm water discharge evaluations of outfalls, and other recurring SWPPP requirements. 3 Consider adding CMSWS video footage to municipal training. Increase compliance (Number 8 in Table 24).
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Section 12: Storm Water Quality Management Program Plan Modifications for FY2017
Part II, Section A of Mecklenburg County’s Phase II Permit (Permit # NCS000395) specifies that the Storm Water Quality Management Program Plan, referred to as the Storm Water Plan, must be kept up to date by the permittee. It further specifies that the permittee must evaluate the effectiveness of the Storm Water Plan at least annually and modify as necessary to address any procedural, protocol or programmatic changes. The modified Storm Water Plan must be submitted to the Director of NCDEQ within 90 days for approval. In FY2017, CMSWS completed its annual review of the Storm Water Plan developed for compliance with Permit # NCS000395. As a result of this review, the following modifications were made to the Storm Water Plan: 1. The specific positions responsible for the overall coordination, implementation, and revision of the Plan were updated along with contact information. 2. Figures, tables, data and other information in the Plan were updated. 3. The BMPs for the management of pesticide, herbicide and fertilizer application contained in Section 8.8 were revised. 4. The Water Quality Recovery Plans that were previously standalone documents were rolled into Section 9 of the Storm Water Plan along with Water Quality Recovery Strategies.
In September 2017, CMSWS attached the updated Storm Water Plan to an email to Robert Patterson with NCDEQ. The updated Storm Water Plan is also available at the following website: http://storm water.charmeck.org (select “Surface Water Quality,” select “Program Overview,” select “Current Storm Water Management Plan” under Phase II Permit at the bottom of the page).
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Annual Report for July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 - Phase II MS4 Permit No. NCS000395
Attachment 1: Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the TMDL Program
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Annual Assessment Report for TMDL Program Implementation
For Compliance With: NPDES Phase II Storm Water Permit Number NCS000395
Reporting Period: FY2016 (July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017)
Submitted By: Charlotte Mecklenburg Storm Water Services
Submittal Date: August 2017
Table of Contents
Section 1: TMDLs in Mecklenburg County ...... 1 Section 2: Assessment of Storm Water Quality Management Program Plan ...... 2 2.1 BMPs and Associated Measurable Goals ...... 2 2.2 Existing BMP Measures ...... 3 2.2.1 Public Education & Outreach (Section 3 of SWQMPP) ...... 3 2.2.2 Fats, Oils and Grease Program ...... 8 2.2.3 Public Involvement and Participation (Section 4 of SWQMPP) ...... 8 2.2.4 Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) (Section 5 of SWQMPP) ...... 9 2.2.4 Sewer Use Ordinance ...... 15 2.4.5 Sanitary Sewer System Inspections and Maintenance ...... 15 2.4.6 SSO Rapid Response ...... 15 2.4.7 Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control (Section 6 of SWQMPP) ...... 15 2.4.8 Post-Construction Site Runoff Control (Section 7 of SWQMPP) ...... 16 2.4.9 Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping (Section 8 of SWQMPP) ...... 17 Section 3: Assessment of Current and Historical Monitoring Data ...... 18 3.1 Fecal Coliform Monitoring and Data Assessment for the Rocky River ...... 19 3.2 Fecal Coliform Monitoring and Data Assessment for Goose Creek ...... 21 3.3 Chlorophyll-A Monitoring and Data Assessment for Lake Wylie ...... 22 3.4 Mercury Monitoring and Data Assessment Statewide ...... 23 Section 4: Additional BMP Measures ...... 24 Section 5: Tracking and Reporting Success ...... 26 Section 6: TMDL Reporting ...... 26
Tables:
Table 1: Approved TMDLs for Mecklenburg County’s Phase I and Phase II Jurisdictions ...... 1 Table 2: BMP Summary Table for Impaired Waters with TMDLs ...... 2 Table 3: Public Presentations Conducted During FY2017 ...... 5 Table 4: Public Events Attended During FY2017 ...... 6 Table 5: Service Requests Received by Jurisdiction ...... 10 i
Table 6: Annual Analysis of the Rocky River Watershed for the Monitoring Plan ...... 20 Table 7: Number of Chlorophyll-a Violations – Lake Wylie ...... 23 Table 8: Number and Percentage of Chlorophyll-a Violations – Lake Wylie ...... 24
Figures
Figure 1: Waters of Mecklenburg County with Approved TMDLs ...... 1 Figure 2: Stream Walks Completed during FY2017 ...... 14 Figure 3: Compliance with the Instantaneous Fecal Coliform Standard – Rocky River ...... 21 Figure 4: Annual Fecal Coliform Geometric Mean – Rocky River...... 21 Figure 5: Compliance with the Instantaneous Fecal Coliform Standard – Goose Creek ...... 22 Figure 6: Annual Fecal Coliform Geometric Mean – Goose Creek ...... 22 Figure 7: Compliance with the Chlorophyll-a Standard – Lake Wylie ...... 23 Figure 8: Annual Chlorophyll-a Average – Lake Wylie ...... 24
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Section 1: TMDLs in Mecklenburg County
The purpose of this document is to satisfy the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) reporting requirement for the period July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017 (FY2017) as specified in Part II, Section H of NPDES Phase II Storm Water Permit Number NCS000395.
The TMDL watersheds in Mecklenburg County span both Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions. All Phase I and Phase II TMDL compliance efforts are administered by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services (CMSWS), which includes both City of Charlotte (City) and Mecklenburg County (County) programs. The City’s program is responsible for compliance with its Phase I storm water permit and Mecklenburg County’s program is responsible for Phase II permit compliance for the County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Central Piedmont Community College and the Towns of Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill, and Pineville. To ensure effective coordination, the City and County have agreed that the City will serve as the lead jurisdiction for compliance with TMDL requirements when the majority of the TMDL watershed lies within the Phase I jurisdiction. When most of the watershed lies within Phase II, the County will serve as the lead. The lead jurisdiction is responsible for coordinating and implementing all required TMDL compliance efforts and submitting all the required plans and reports to the State. They are also responsible for coordinating with the other jurisdictions as necessary in the implementation of compliance efforts.
In June 2017, an evaluation was completed of the 305(b) report and 303(d) list for 2014, which has been approved by EPA, and for 2016, which is currently under review. The delisting of AU # 11-138-1 (West Fork Twelvemile Creek) for Poor Fish Community (Category 5 to Category 1) was the only change observed between the 2014 and 2016 versions. No new TMDLs have been developed for Mecklenburg County since 2014. Table 1 identifies the receiving waters for MS4 discharges in Mecklenburg County that have a TMDL approved by EPA based on these reports. Table 1 also identifies the lead organization for compliance with TMDL requirements based on the above criteria. Figure 1 shows the locations of these receiving waters in relation to the Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions in Mecklenburg County.
Table 1: Approved TMDLs for Mecklenburg County’s Phase I and Phase II Jurisdictions AU Name AU Number Class TMDL EPA MS4 Lead Pollutant Approved Allocation? Jurisdiction DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte Irwin Creek 11-137-1 C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte Long Creek 11-120-(0.5) C Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte Long Creek 11-120-(2.5) WS-IV Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte Long Creek 11-120-(7) WS-IV CA Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte Little Sugar 11-137-8a C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte
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AU Name AU Number Class TMDL EPA MS4 Lead Pollutant Approved Allocation? Jurisdiction DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte Little Sugar 11-137-8b C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte Little Sugar 11-137-8c C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte McAlpine 11-137-9a Creek C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte
DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte McAlpine 11-137-9b C Creek Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte DO 2/5/96 No Charlotte McAlpine 11-137-9c Creek C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte
DO 2/5/1996 No Charlotte McAlpine 11-137-9d Creek C Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte
Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Sugar Creek 11-137b C Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte Fecal Coliform 3/28/2002 No Charlotte Sugar Creek 11-137c C Turbidity 2/8/2005 Yes Charlotte McKee Creek 13-17-8-4 C Fecal Coliform 8/1/2003 Yes Charlotte Rocky River 13-17a C Fecal Coliform 9/19/2002 Yes Mecklenburg Steele Creek (1) 11-137-10 C Fecal Coliform 5/2007 Yes Charlotte Lake Wylie 11-122 C Chlorophyll-a 2/5/1996 No Mecklenburg Lake Wylie 11-(123.5)a C Chlorophyll-a 2/5/1996 No Mecklenburg Goose Creek 13-17-18a C Fecal Coliform 7/8/2005 Yes Mecklenburg Goose Creek 13-17-18b C Fecal Coliform 7/8/2005 Yes Mecklenburg Statewide Statewide All Mercury 10/12/2012 NA NA
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Figure 1: Waters of Mecklenburg County with Approved TMDLs
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Section 2: Assessment of Storm Water Quality Management Program Plan
This Section discusses each of the BMPs and their Measurable Goals for reducing non-point source pollutant loading to the receiving streams of TMDL watersheds to the maximum extent practicable as described in the Storm Water Quality Management Program Plan (SWQMPP), including implementation status and documentation of those activities completed during FY2017.
2.1 BMPs and Associated Measurable Goals
During FY2017, all the BMPs and measurable goals identified in Permit NCS000395 and the associated SWQMPP were effectively fulfilled. Table 2 presents the BMPs and Measurable Goals, identifies whether the BMPs were fully implemented and the Measurable Goal met during FY2017 and provides the Activity Report number from the County’s Cityworks database that includes documentation of the work completed for each BMP. FY2017 is in the 1st year of the 5- year permit term effective 2/17/2017 through 2/16/2022. The subsections following Table 2 identify the specific actions taken to fulfill each BMP and meet each Measurable Goal.
Table 2: BMP Summary Table for Impaired Waters with TMDLs Schedule (years) Activity BMP Responsible Measurable # Measurable Goals Report Description 1 2 3 4 5 Staff Goal Met # IW-1 Evaluate Evaluate the X X X X X Rusty Rozzelle YES 27085 Impaired current 305(b) (Program Waters report and 303(d) Manager) list for N.C. to identify those impaired waters with an approved TMDL that are the responsibility of the Phase II jurisdictions. IW-2 Develop and Develop and X X X X X Rusty Rozzelle YES 27087 Implement implement (Program BMPs appropriate BMPs Manager) within the scope of the Phase II Permit’s six (6) minimum measures to reduce nonpoint source pollutant loading to the MEP in the TMDL watersheds. IW-4 Assess, Submit to the State X X X X X Rusty Rozzelle YES 27084 Report and a report assessing (Program Modify the effectiveness of Manager) BMPs BMPs, identifying additional measures as necessary, and
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Schedule (years) Activity BMP Responsible Measurable # Measurable Goals Report Description 1 2 3 4 5 Staff Goal Met # providing a brief explanation as to how the programs, controls, partnerships, projects and strategies address impaired waters.
2.2 Existing BMP Measures
The primary pollutants of concern for the TMDL watersheds where Mecklenburg County is the lead are fecal coliform bacteria, chlorophyll-a and mercury (see Table 1). CMSWS has reviewed existing strategies and BMPs within the scope of the six (6) minimum Phase II Permit compliance measures and has identified the following as suitable for best addressing the TMDL pollutants of concern. Details regarding these BMPs are available in the SWQMPP.
2.2.1 Public Education & Outreach (Section 3 of SWQMPP)
The following existing public education and outreach activities have been identified as suitable for addressing the pollutants of concern in the TMDL watersheds. These BMPs will address impaired waters by informing the community of the impacts of the pollutants of concern on water bodies and the steps that the public can take to reduce these pollutants. These BMPs were effectively implemented during FY2017 and are currently being implemented in the Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions in Mecklenburg County. 1. Utility Bill Inserts 2. Brochures, Environmental Notices and Newsletters 3. Print Ads 4. Media Campaign 5. Social Media 6. Workshops and Video Taped Messages 7. Web Pages 8. Educational Presentations and Public Events 9. Storm Water Helpline
During FY2017, the following specific public education and outreach activities were completed by CMSWS that will reduce discharges of pollutants of concern in the TMDL watersheds.
The following handouts/brochures/pamphlets/environmental notices were distributed by CMSWS staff during service requests, inspections, etc. BMP handouts are also available to the public on the CMSWS website under the “Surface Water Quality” tab, click on “Pollution Prevention.” • A Guide to Used Oil Recycling • Scoop the Poop (proper handling of animal waste) • Only Rain Goes Down The Storm Drain – The Citizen’s Guide to Pollution Prevention
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• Volunteer Opportunities • A Brief Look at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services – Your Storm Water Fees at Work • Grease Free (proper disposal of grease from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities) • Household Hazardous Waste – What do you do with left over chemicals • Environmental Notices for Homeowners– Disposal into the storm drain is against the law (available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean) • Environmental Notices for Businesses– Disposal into the storm drain is against the law (available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean) • Water Watchers door hanger • Household Hazardous Waste slider • Dispose of Leaves Properly postcard • Water Quality Buffers postcard • When Surface Waters Turn Colors (Pollen, Tannin, Iron Bacteria) • Non-Structural Best Management Practices Handout o Mobile Detailer o Landscapers o Painters o Contractors o Carpet Cleaners o Vehicle Service o Food Service o Multi-family o Stone Cutting & Fabrication Industry o Concrete Industry o Commercial Property Management o Asphalt Sealing o Swimming Pool & Spa Industry o Horizontal Directional Drilling • Structural Best Management Practices Handout o Dry Detention o Rain Garden o Sand Filter o Stormwater Wetland o Wet Pond
Handouts/brochures/pamphlets were also provided to the Phase II Town Halls, and Fire Departments (paid & volunteer). A new volunteer brochure was developed and printed for distribution at events and presentations.
During FY2017, educational newsletters were developed and disseminated to the Phase II partners (Davidson, Cornelius, Huntersville, Mint Hill, Matthews, Pineville, CMS, and CPCC) covering TMDL pollutants of concern. These newsletters focused on steps the public can take to reduce pollution, including participating in volunteer programs and reporting suspected pollution problems. Target topics included: human waste, pet waste, sediment, fertilizers, pesticides, and yard materials, wash water and cleaners, oil and automotive fluids, chemicals and hazardous
4 wastes, and general water quality messages and volunteer opportunities. The Water Watchers social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter) were used as the main method to help disseminate these messages. Phase II social media contacts were responsible for sharing messages on the Towns’ or institutions’ social media accounts. Due to not using social media, Barbara Monticello with the town of Pineville was emailed messages to be included in the local town mailer. In order to address compliance with the Goose Creek TMDL, two separate messages were provided to Sheryl Smith with the Town of Mint Hill, one on 1/4/17 that focused on promoting conservation seedlings and rain barrels sold by the Mecklenburg County Soil and Water Conservation District and one on 6/12/17 that focused on reducing bacteria and grease.
During FY2017, age specific educational information was developed and distributed in schools. In October 2016, science teachers and CMS Afterschool Coordinators were emailed information on the water quality educational programs being offered. As a result, 23 presentations were given in the Phase II jurisdiction to 864 students, details are as follows: • 12/15/16 & 12/16/16 – J.M. Alexander Middle School – 270 students (9 classes) – 8th grade – Enviroscape, PowerPoint & Video • 1/5/17 – Trillium Springs Montessori School – 20 students (1 class) 3rd, 4th & 5th grades – Enviroscape and Video • 1/17/17 – Francis Bradley Middle School – 300 students (1 assembly) 6th,7th &8th grades - PowerPoint • 3/6/17 & 3/8/17 – J.V. Washam Elementary School – 175 students (7 classes) 5th grade – Enviroscape & PowerPoint • 4/19/17 – Woodlawn School – 30 students (1 class) 8th grade – McDowell Creek Restoration site & Lake Water Quality at Blythe Landing • 6/2/17 – Pioneer Springs Community School – 39 students (3 classes) 3rd grade – Enviroscape & PowerPoint • 6/6/17 – Grand Oaks Elementary – 55 students (3 classes) K-5th – Common Water & Story Time
During FY2017, CMSWS staff conducted 21 public presentations contacting 1,407 participants as summarized in Table 3.
Table 3: Public Presentations Conducted During FY2017 # of Date Group Name/Audience Presentation Title/Topic Participants 7/16/2016 NC Green Industry Council 250 Presentation: Leveraging Green Infrastructure for Water Symposium presentation City Services and Attracting Investment 8/18/2016 NCAEP Presentation 50 Presentation 9/12/16 APWA (NC) Annual 125 Presentation: Mitigation Fee Program for Post Stormwater Management Construction Compliance Division Conference 9/13/16 APWA (NC) Annual 30 Presentation: PAHs, Coal Tar Sealants, and Stormwater Management Stream Toxicity in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Division Conference 9/13/16 APWA (NC) Annual 30 Presentation: Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Efforts to Stormwater Management Reduce Sanitary Sewer Overflow Contributions Division Conference for Multifamily Residential Communities
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# of Date Group Name/Audience Presentation Title/Topic Participants 9/13/16 APWA (NC) Annual 70 PPT Presentation/Pushing the Limits of Stormwater Management Constructability Pushes the Limits of Project Division Conference Planning 9/13/16 APWA (NC) Annual 70 PPT Presentation/Case Study Stormwater Management Division Conference 9/23/16 UNCC 26 Stream Bioassessment-Intro to Aquatic Insects, Purpose, Procedures, and Use of Data 11/9/16 Aquatic Pesticide License 113 Aquatics Pesticide Management holders 11/10/16 Charlotte PCSO Training 2016 118 Presentation: City Redevelopment Mitigation Option 11/30/17 811 50 Illicit Discharges and Horizontal Directional Drilling 1/10/2017 Ansco & Associates and their 100 Stormwater pollution prevention best practices subcontractors for horizontal directional drilling 1/11/17 Design Resources Group 25 Compliance with Buffer & PCO Requirements in Char-Meck 1/21/17 Mecklenburg County BSA 60 Conservation & Pollution Prevention Council 1/26/17 Habitat Steward Training 23 Aquatic Ecosystems & Marcoinvertebrates and education activities 2/9/17 Greater Charlotte Apartment 150 Grease, sewage, ponds and pools Association 3/3/17 Girl Scout Journeys 75 General WQ & pH test activity 3/15/17 Webelos Cub Scout Pack 3 52 Enviroscape 3/16/17 Sanitary Sewer Overflow 40 Ordinance overview and methods to prevent Reduction Workshop for overflows Multifamily Communities 5/16/17 League of Women Voters 25 Presentation 5/22/17 Matthews Rotary Club 25 General WQ Total 21 presentations 1,407
During FY2017, CMSWS staff attended 22 events involving 4,103 participants as summarized in Table 4.
Table 4: Public Events Attended During FY2017 # of Citizens Date of Event Name Interacted With Booth Display, Materials, etc. Event (Estimate) 8/20/16 Hummingbird Festival 200 Booth, Restoration map display, postcards 9/21/16 Landscapers Breakfast 50 Landscape Tri-fold and promo items 10/1/16 Neighborhood Exchange and 120 Tabletop tri-fold display, prize wheel, Leadership Awards giveaways 10/7/16 City Environmental Vendor Fair 100 Prize wheel, display, giveaways 10/23/16 Open Streets 704 500 Flood Display Model, prize wheel, swag, stormy books, blue books 11/17/16 Annual Air Quality Forum 100 Display board, giveaways, handouts
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# of Citizens Date of Event Name Interacted With Booth Display, Materials, etc. Event (Estimate) 11/19/16 Passport to STEM 150 Floodplain model, giveaways 1/24/17 CGIN Trade Show & Pesticide 115 Display board, giveaways, handouts Seminar 2/25/17 Soil & Water Tree Sale 60 Trifold, giveaways, handouts 3/4/17 Auto Bell Creek Challenge 28 Trifold, giveaways, handouts 3/24/17 Hope for Youth Rally 100 Display, giveaways, handouts 3/24/17 Weatherfest 300 Floodplain model, display, giveaways 4/19/17 UNCC Earth Day 300 Display, giveaways, handouts 4/20/17 Ballantyne Earth Day 150 Display, giveaways, handouts 4/22/17 Roots Festival 100 Prize wheel, display, giveaways, handouts 4/22/17 Matthews Earth Day 250 Stream side demo 4/23/17 UNCC Earth Day Festival 150 Prize wheel, display, giveaways, handouts 4/29/17 Bark in the Park 500 Prize wheel, display, giveaways, handouts 5/5/17 Charlotte Knights 150 Prize wheel, display, giveaways, handouts 5/7/17 Open Streets 704 400 Bug table, prize wheel, flyers, swag, stormy book 5/20/17 Fresh Expo 150 Prize wheel, display, giveaways, handouts 6/26/17 Charlotte Knights 130 Prize wheel, display, giveaways, handouts Total 22 events 4,103
In May of 2017, a poster containing pollution prevention BMPs for automobile maintenance facilities was developed and made available to staff. The poster was produced in English and Spanish. CMSWS staff that inspection these facilities provide the poster to the owner for display.
On January 24, 2017, staff attended the CGIN Trade Show and Pesticide Seminar and manned a booth. The tri-fold display board, handouts, and giveaways were available.
Throughout FY2017 a task force worked to reduce the impacts from Horizontal Directional Drilling. The BMP handout developed in FY2016 was used, along with Social Media Posts, website banner, and letters to area utility boring contractors. Staff from CMSWS attended quarterly meetings with the Utility Boring group.
CMSWS had a section in the March 2017 Airwaves newsletter that focused on reporting pollution, volunteering, and street to stream. The newsletter is published by the Mecklenburg County Air Quality Program and was distributed to 238 air quality permitted commercial and industrial facilities.
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In September of 2016, CMSWS launched a new website platform. During FY2017, informational pages covering a wide variety of topics were maintained on the website, including current water quality conditions, storm water pollutants and ways to minimize them, reporting pollution, volunteering, municipal storm water projects/activities, etc. These web pages also provide a means to register for various volunteer initiatives. The targeted pollutants on the pollution prevention pages include: bacteria and pet waste, turbidity and sediment, phosphorus, nitrogen and organics, fertilizers, pesticides and yard waste, surfactants, hydrocarbons, pH, and toxic compounds. A new target pollution source (Horizontal Directional Drilling) was added this year to provide compliance tips for this industry. The targeted audiences are residential, commercial and institutional. The general messages promoted on the web pages are street to stream, only rain down the storm drain, and be a Water Watcher/Volunteer. The web pages also provide contacts for reporting pollution problems/concerns and submitting questions to staff. During FY2017, Google Analytics (with a gap in data from September 16, 2016-October 26, 2016 due to new site launch) determined that CMSWS’s web pages had 190,898 page views, which is a decrease of 66% from the 288,432 views in FY2016. This decrease is attributed to the new site launch and the old site being bookmarked and the link being broken. The pages most often visited were The Big Spring Clean, Regulations, and the BMP Design Standards Manual.
During FY2017, a media campaign was developed and implemented to reach the targeted audience (residential, commercial, and institutional) regarding reporting pollution, volunteering, and flood safety. The campaign included television, radio, online, and print ads as well as social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube). Print ads included the 4th Street Garage banner (Big Spring Clean), and monthly Utility Bill Inserts. Utility Bill Insert messages were mailed to customers in Charlotte-Mecklenburg once a month for a total of 7 months. A total of 706 television ads (WCNC-TV, WSOC-TV, WBTV-TV and WJYZ-TV) and 94 radio ads (WFAE-Radio) ran throughout FY2017. Water Quality and Volunteer commercials from FY2016 were aired during FY2017. A new partnership with PBS created a commercial to air on PBS kids that focused on pollution prevention using small children in the film footage.
CMSWS has several social media accounts including Facebook (account created in 2010), Twitter (July 2014), and Instagram (May 2015). In FY2017, Facebook started the fiscal year with 3,500 Likes and ended the fiscal year with 5,105 (up 1,605) Likes; Twitter started with 518 Followers and ended with 734 Followers (up 216); and Instagram started with 264 Followers and ended with 380 Followers (116 increase). Posts include a variety of stormwater-related topics.
2.2.2 Fats, Oils and Grease Program
The City’s water and sewer utility department (Charlotte Water) maintains a public education program focused on keeping food related fats, oils, and grease from being discharged to the sanitary sewer system. This effort helps to reduce clogging and blockages in the system and prevent SSOs, which can introduce fecal coliform and other pollutants to water bodies.
2.2.3 Public Involvement and Participation (Section 4 of SWQMPP)
The following existing public involvement and participation activities have been identified as suitable for addressing the pollutants of concern in the TMDL watersheds. These BMPs will
8 address impaired waters by involving the public in program development and implementation to reduce the pollutants of concern. These BMPs were effectively implemented during FY2017 and are currently being implemented in the Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions in Mecklenburg County. 1. Adopt-A-Stream 2. Storm Drain Marking 3. Surface Water Clean Up Event 4. Volunteer Monitoring 5. Tree Planting Events 6. Volunteer Monitoring
During FY2017, 27 groups that included a total of 484 volunteers donated 1330.75 hours toward the completion of 41 stream cleanups resulting in the removal of 5.31 tons of trash and debris from 41.69 miles of streams in Mecklenburg County’s Phase II jurisdiction. These efforts were completed under the County’s Adopt-A-Stream Program. All data and information regarding these cleanups was input into the County’s Volunteer Database.
During FY2017, five (5) groups that included a total of 6 volunteers donated 26.75 hours toward marking 325 storm drains in Mecklenburg County’s Phase II jurisdictions. These efforts were completed under the County’s Storm Drain Marking Program. All data and information regarding the storm drain marking activities was input into the County’s Volunteer Database.
The annual surface water cleanup referred to as the “The Big Spring Clean” was completed on May 13, 2017. A summary of the event is provided below: • Number of Staffed Sites: 8 • Total Number of Volunteers: 246 • Total Miles of Streams/Shoreline Cleaned: 15 • Total Number of Trash Bags Filled: 139 • Total Number of Recycling Bags Filled: 72 • Total Pounds of Trash Collected: 6,099 lbs. or 3.04 tons • Interesting Items Collected: roll of carpet, luggage, cable wheel, terra-cotta pipe, gutters, blow dryer.
Volunteers from the Adopt-A-Stream, Storm Drain Marking, and Volunteer Monitoring programs attended the appreciation event held on May 5, 2017 at a Charlotte Knight’s baseball game. Each volunteer received free entry into the game (a $14.00 value) and each ticket contained $6.00 in additional spending money that could be used anywhere within the ball park. Approximately 162 volunteers attended the event. The event was also used to promote CMSWS volunteer programs. Promotional items which advertised CMSWS volunteer programs were handed out to ballgame attendees at the gate. A CMSWS promotion table was set up near the entrance of the stadium, which included games and give-a- ways.
2.2.4 Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) (Section 5 of SWQMPP)
The following existing IDDE activities have been identified as suitable for addressing the pollutants of concern in the TMDL watersheds. These BMPs will address impaired waters by
9 identifying and eliminating sources of the pollutants of concern. These BMPs were effectively implemented during FY2017 and are currently being implemented in the Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions in Mecklenburg County. 1. Storm Sewer System Mapping 2. Pollution Control Ordinance 3. Enforcement 4. Citizen Requests for Service 5. Routine Water Quality Monitoring Activities 6. Volunteer Activities 7. GIS Mapping 8. Illicit Discharge Elimination Program (IDEP) 9. Short Term Monitoring 10. Hot Spot Investigations 11. Stream Walks 12. Facility Inspections 13. Dry Weather Flow Investigations
In FY2017, an ESRI Arc GIS application was developed to track outfall inspections. The written SOPs for these inspections were also updated and training was provided to staff. During FY2017, a total of 84 outfalls were inspected in the Phase II jurisdictions under this program element. No significant pollution sources were identified as a result of these inspections.
During FY2017, staff responded to 140 service requests regarding potential water quality problems in the Phase II jurisdictions. Nineteen (19) of these service requests were emergency responses. The most common type of service requests other than land development and buffer issues, involved the discharge and/or dumping of potential surface water/storm water pollutants. The most common pollutants observed were: • Petroleum = 23 • Sewage = 16 • Sediment = 6 • Trash = 5 • Wash water = 3
As a result of the 140 service requests responded to there were a total of 70 problems detected and 70 problems corrected in Phase II jurisdictions during FY2017. Table 5 provides data regarding the number of service requests received by category in each of the Phase II jurisdictions as well as the number of responses to spills and other emergencies.
Table 5: Service Requests Received by Jurisdiction Number of Service Number of Emergency Jurisdiction Request by Category Responses Cornelius Buffer – 15 4 Natural Condition - 1 No Incident Identified – 2 Discharge/Dumping - 9 Accidental Spill - 6 Other - 1 Cornelius Total = 34
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Number of Service Number of Emergency Jurisdiction Request by Category Responses Davidson Accidental Spill - 1 0 Buffer – 1 No Incident Identified – 2 Unknown - 1 Davidson Total = 5 Huntersville Discharge/Dumping – 7 2 Natural Condition - 1 Algae Bloom – 1 Erosion - 1 Other – 2 Accidental Spill – 5 No Incident Identified – 3 Huntersville Total = 20 Matthews Discharge/Dumping – 6 3 No Incident Identified - 1 Accidental Spill – 2 Buffer – 1 Illicit Connection - 1 Matthews Total = 11 Mint Hill Discharge/Dumping – 3 1 Accidental Spill – 5 No Incident Identified – 4 Other - 1 Mint Hill Total = 13 Pineville Discharge/Dumping – 6 1 Erosion – 1 Unknown - 1 Pineville Total = 8 Mecklenburg Discharge/Dumping – 11 8 Algae Bloom – 1 Fish Kill – 1 Buffer – 8 Monitoring Follow-up - 2 No Incident Identified – 8 Accidental Spill – 7 Other – 3 Erosion – 4 Unknown – 2 Mecklenburg Total = 47 TOTALS 140 19
During FY2017, Notice of Violation (NOV) protocols, procedures and templates were reviewed and minor changes were made. The applicable ordinances, notice of violation and enforcement decision-making process and penalty/enforcement guidance were also reviewed, but no changes were necessary. On November 16, 2017, refresher training was provided to staff on NOV and enforcement procedures/protocols. Consistency when issuing NOVs and NREs was emphasized. A total of 25 staff members attended this training. During FY2017, a total of 17 written NOVs were issued in the Phase II jurisdictions as follows: Cornelius – 3; Huntersville – 3; Matthews – 1; Mecklenburg County – 8; Mint Hill – 1; and Pineville – 1. The types of NOVs and/or the materials released were as follows: concrete – 1; cooking oil/grease – 2; motor oil – 2; petroleum - 1; sewage – 5; trash – 1; wash water – 3; waste water - 2. All violations were corrected and remediated as necessary.
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Two (2) facilities accepting used oil from the public were inspected during FY2017 to ensure proper handling and disposal to prevent discharges of pollution, including: • AutoZone, 10320 Compass Street, Huntersville, inspected on April 27, 2017 • AutoZone, 11300 East Independence Boulevard, Matthews, inspected on April 27, 2017 The inspections revealed that the facilities were operating properly without pollution problems. An online interactive map is posted on CMSWS’s website to assist citizens in locating a facility that accepts used oil and other automotive wastes. The link is as follows: http://maps.co.mecklenburg.nc.us/website/recyclecenters/
During FY2017, CMSWS conducted continuous automated monitoring activities at seven (7) sites in the Phase II jurisdictions resulting in the collection of 242,152 QA/QC accepted data points (~86.5% data acceptance rate). The Phase II sites include MC4 – McDowell Creek (Huntersville), MC40D – Four Mile Creek (Matthews), MC50 – Gar Creek (Huntersville), MY1B – West Branch Rocky River (Davidson), MY8 – Clear Creek (Mint Hill), MY9 – Goose Creek (Mint Hill), MY10 – Clarke Creek (Huntersville). In FY2017, site MC40D, a monitoring station at the southern edge of the Town of Matthews on Four Mile Creek, was added to the network due to concerns regarding elevated turbidity levels from residential development upstream. Site MY1B was removed on April 20, 2017 after experiencing repeated sediment issues blocking the probes on the sondes making the site unmonitorable. All data collected was evaluated for the identification of potential pollution problems that were subsequently followed up on for the identification and elimination of pollution sources and restoration of degraded water quality conditions. Collected data was used to calculate the Stream Use Support Index (SUSI), which is a general indicator of water quality conditions in our streams. This index was made available to the public on the website as follows: http://stormwater.charmeck.org (select “Water Quality” at the top of the page).
During FY2017, Fixed Interval Monitoring was conducted on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 11 sites throughout the Phase II jurisdictions. At each site, samples were collected and analyzed for 17 water quality parameters as follows: ammonia-nitrogen, fecal coliform bacteria, total kjeldahl nitrogen, nitrate/nitrite, total suspended solids, total phosphorus, enterococcus, e. coli, turbidity, suspended sediment, magnesium, calcium, hardness, copper (total), lead (total), chromium (total), and zinc (total). Thirty-three (33) baseflow action level exceedances were detected during the year. Nine (9) of these exceedances occurred at Duck Creek (MY14) for Total Phosphorus, related to the Ashe Plantation wastewater treatment plant located upstream. Seven (7) fecal coliform exceedances occurred at Four Mile Creek in the Town of Matthews. It is believed that these elevated results were associated with the increased turbidity seen downstream of several ongoing construction projects in the town.
In FY2017, CMSWS identified two (2) pollution related issues using the CMANN monitoring network. One issue was in the Four Mile Creek watershed in Matthews and the other was in the Clarke Creek watershed in Huntersville. Both issues were related to erosion control and were referred to Mecklenburg County Erosion Control staff and were corrected by the developers.
In FY18, CMANN staff will remain diligent in maintaining the equipment to ensure that we retain the highest quality data possible. In the coming years, CMSWS will begin integrating new hardware into all monitoring sites. The current platform of data collection sondes that CMSWS has is aging and will no longer be supported by the manufacturer by the year 2020. CMSWS has 12 begun the process of budgeting the replacement of this hardware into the normal operating budget.
During FY2017, nine (9) facilities were inspected under the Illicit Discharge Elimination Program (IDEP) in Phase II. Seven (7) of these industrial facilities are NPDES permitted, one was non-permitted, and one was a vehicle maintenance facility. The purpose of the Illicit Discharge Elimination Program (IDEP) program is to support and enhance Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) efforts in Mecklenburg County. The identification of pollution sources is accomplished by investigating and monitoring storm water outfalls, business corridors, multi-family private sewer systems, and all outfalls that drain directly to Mecklenburg County’s three (3) reservoirs using qualitative and analytical measurements. IDEP activities were conducted from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017.
During FY2017, staff walked approximately 149.55 stream miles in the Phase II (57.39) and ETJ (92.16) jurisdictions (see Figure 2). The following miles were assessed within each municipal boundary(s): 1.80 were walked in Cornelius, 8.44 were walked in Davidson, 1.29 were walked in Huntersville, 22.8 were walked in Mint Hill, 8.99 were walked in Pineville, and 0.09 were walked in Stallings. 13.92 miles were solely walked within Mecklenburg County’s jurisdictional boundary. 92.16 miles were walked in the ETJ. Six (6) features were mapped in Cornelius, 29 in Davidson, 8 in Huntersville, 141 in Mint Hill, 49 in Pineville, 2 in Stallings and 336 points collected in the ETJ. In all, there were 571 points or features were collected, 171 outfalls inspected, 220 new outfalls collected and 206 fecal coliform samples collected. 16 of these samples resulted in bacteria action level exceedances (>3000 col/100ml). No exceedances above the action level for total phosphorus were sampled (0.50 ppm). Three (3) buffer/floodplain disturbances were identified and reported to Mecklenburg-County Storm Water Services. No observed illicit discharge pollution sources were identified; therefore, no Notices of Violations (NOVs) were issued.
The training for Illicit Discharge, Detection, and Elimination produced in FY2015 titled “Water Pollution: What to do?” was designed to be shown to all municipal employees who have the potential to observe a water quality problem. The video teaches what pollutants can look like, and provides the proper contacts to report pollution issues. In FY2015, the video was pushed out to the Towns and CMS. In FY16, CPCC and select Mecklenburg County departments (DSS, Environmental Health, Code Enforcement, Solid Waste, Air Quality, Parks and Recreation, and the Sheriff’s department received the training. As of the end of FY2017, 858 county employees from select departments had completed the training.
During FY2017, Utility Bill Inserts (UBIs) with educational storm water topics, including pollution prvention were placed inside utility bills (water, sewer, and storm water) and mailed to 255,000 customers on seven (7) occasions.
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Figure 2: Stream Walks Completed during FY2017
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2.2.4 Sewer Use Ordinance
Implementation and enforcement of the Sewer Use Ordinance by Charlotte Water provides the legal mechanism to ensure proper use and connection to the sanitary sewer system and correction of problems and illegal practices. Ensuring that the system is used properly will help prevent leaks and overflows as well as upsets at wastewater treatment plants thus helping control the TMDL pollutants of concern.
2.4.5 Sanitary Sewer System Inspections and Maintenance
Charlotte Water conducts inspections and maintenance of various components of the sanitary sewer system to ensure proper operating function and prevent leaks and overflows. These include food service grease trap inspections, commercial oil/water separator inspections, sanitary sewer line root control and cleaning, sewer line right-of-way clearing and maintenance, and lift station inspection and maintenance. Ensuring that the system is used properly inspected and maintained will help prevent leaks and overflows as well as upsets at wastewater treatment plants thus helping control the TMDL pollutants of concern.
2.4.6 SSO Rapid Response
Charlotte Water maintains a rapid response program designed to quickly and efficiently respond to sanitary sewer overflows, thus reducing the discharge of pollutants to the MEP and helping control the TMDL pollutants of concern.
2.4.7 Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control (Section 6 of SWQMPP)
The following existing construction site storm water runoff control activities have been identified as suitable for addressing the pollutants of concern in the TMDL watersheds. These BMPs will address impaired waters by reducing discharges of pollutants of concern from construction sites. These BMPs were effectively implemented during FY2017 and are currently being implemented in the Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions in Mecklenburg County. 1. Erosion Control Ordinance 2. Erosion Control Plan Reviews 3. Enforcement 4. Inspections 5. Erosion Control Hotline 6. Erosion Control Education 7. Government Projects
During FY2017, a total of 95 new projects were permitted for construction in Mecklenburg County’s Phase II jurisdictions with a total of 1,121 disturbed acres. 1,691 inspections were performed with 29 Notice of Violations (NOV’s) issued. Nine (9) penalties were assessed for a total of $51,000.00. To date, $17,150.00 in penalties has been collected, with $12,000.00 under appeal. Provided below are the totals for the Phase II jurisdictions. • Cornelius: 247 inspections conducted, 5 NOVs issued, and 3 penalties assessed with $3,750.00 paid for, and $12,000.00 under appeal
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• Davidson: 155 inspections conducted, 2 NOVs issued, and 2 penalties assessed with $11,400.00 paid. • Huntersville: 645 inspections conducted, 15 NOV’s issued, and 1 penalty. • Matthews: 274 inspections conducted, 4 NOVs issued, and 1 penalties assessed with $2,000 paid for. • Mint Hill: 296 inspections conducted, 3 NOVs issued, and 2 penalties assessed. • Pineville: 74 inspections conducted, 0 NOVs issued.
Three (3) erosion control educational programs were conducted during FY2017, occurring on August 25, 2016, January 12, 2017 and May 11, 2017. There were a total of 451 paid attendees for the three (3) programs with 353 taking the test and passing.
During FY2017, an evaluation was completed of the effectiveness of the BMPs for the Construction Site Storm Water Control Program as described in the latest version of the Storm Water Plan. The evaluation revealed that the Construction Site Storm Water Control Program is successful at addressing the discharges of sediment and other pollutants from construction sites in Phase II jurisdictions. Three (3) improvements are recommended for implementation in FY2017 based on this evaluation as described in Section 6.3 below. There are two (2) measures of success for the Construction Site Storm Water Control Program contained in the Storm Water Plan, including the documentation of the completion of activities that demonstrate the successful completion of the BMPs associated with the program and the number of NOVs issued for every 100 inspections. The evaluation revealed that all documentation was successfully completed.
2.4.8 Post-Construction Site Runoff Control (Section 7 of SWQMPP)
The following existing post-construction site runoff control activities have been identified as suitable for addressing the pollutants of concern in the TMDL watersheds. These BMPs will address impaired waters by reducing discharges of pollutants of concern from new development and redevelopment projects. These BMPs were effectively implemented during FY2017 and are currently being implemented in the Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions in Mecklenburg County. 1. Post-Construction Storm Water Ordinance 2. Compliance by Co-Permittees with Post-Construction Ordinance Requirements 3. Requirements for Non-Structural BMPs 4. Requirements for Structural BMPs 5. Natural Resource Protection 6. Open Space Protection 7. Tree Preservation 8. Redevelopment 9. Green Infrastructure Practices 10. Operation and Maintenance
During FY2017, the post-construction ordinances applicable to the Phase II jurisdictions were evaluated for effectiveness. The only change proposed to these ordinances was for the Town of Huntersville in response to Town’s request to create additional opportunities for development and redevelopment in the Town, particularly in the Town Center, without significantly diminishing the effectiveness of the ordinance at protecting water quality. The proposed ordinance modifications were approved by the Huntersville Advisory Board on June 1, 2017. It
16 is anticipated that the modifications will be presented to the Huntersville Town Board for consideration for adoption in the fall. The Phase II post-construction ordinances in Mecklenburg County are supported by an Administrative Manual. In FY2017, no changes were made to this Manual.
During FY2017, 95 plans were approved for the Phase II jurisdictions, totaling 1,120.98 permitted acres. There were also 31 documented interpretations made by the storm water administrator to assess compliance with post-construction ordinance requirements. During FY2017, 640 inspections were conducted of structural BMPs for compliance with post- construction ordinance requirements. As a result of these inspections, 408 deficiencies were detected, but no penalties were assessed.
On 11/09/2016, CMSWS staff gave a PowerPoint presentation regarding BMP maintenance at workshop entitled “Aquatic Pesticide & Storm Water Management” that included 113 contractors and other stormwater professionals. On 11/10/2016, staff gave a PowerPoint presentation in a workshop entitled “Post Construction Storm Water Training” to a group of 118 professional engineers and other storm water staff. On May 16, 2017, staff gave a PowerPoint presentation to a group of 40 storm water professionals in a workshop entitled “2017 Municipal Wet Weather Stormwater Conference” regarding BMP Keys to Success – Long Term Maintenance Strategies. Staff provided BMP educational binders and flash drives during inspections.
2.4.9 Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping (Section 8 of SWQMPP)
The following existing pollution prevention and good housekeeping activities have been identified as suitable for addressing the pollutants of concern in the TMDL watersheds. These BMPs will address impaired waters by reducing discharges of pollutants of concern from municipal facilities and operations. These BMPs were effectively implemented during FY2017 and are currently being implemented in the Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions in Mecklenburg County. 1. Inventory of Municipal Operations 2. Training 3. Operation and Maintenance Programs, Spill Prevention and Spill Response 4. Minimizing Pollution from Municipally-Owned Streets, Roads and Parking Lots 5. Operation and Maintenance of Municipally Owned Storm Sewer System 6. Management of Pesticide, Herbicide and Fertilizer Application 7. Preventing or Minimizing Pollution from Vehicle and Equipment Cleaning Areas 8. Waste Disposal 9. Flood Management Projects
During FY2017, a total of 697 municipal operations’ staff from the Towns, County, CMS and CPCC received training regarding techniques for identifying, eliminating, or reducing pollution sources at their facilities and around the community
Municipal inspection procedures and inspection forms were reviewed at the beginning of FY2017; no changes were made. On September 19, 2016, CMSWS staff received training on all
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Phase II municipal inspections. Training included a review of inspection protocols, reports, and deadlines. Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) requirements were also reviewed, and staff were instructed to update SWPPPs for Phase II facilities in concurrence with inspections. CMSWS staff inspected 13 Mecklenburg County municipal facilities and six (6) town municipal facilities. Based on findings from previous years, inspectors especially focused on identifying sources of petroleum-based pollutants, such as aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) and vehicle/equipment maintenance areas, and sediment, such as outdoor material storage areas and areas with heavy erosion. Eight (8) deficiencies were observed at county and town municipal facilities. Two (2) deficiencies were for soil contamination from discharges of petroleum products to the ground in Vehicle/Equipment Areas, one (1) deficiency was for excessive residual diesel fuel on the outside of an AST, and the remaining five (5) deficiencies were for non-compliance with SWPPP requirements. Follow-up inspections were conducted as necessary. All observed deficiencies (excluding those associated with SWPPP requirements) were satisfactorily corrected. All SWPPPs were reviewed and updated to reflect any changes in the previous year. Four (4) Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) campuses were inspected in FY2016. The most common pollutant identified from CPCC facility inspections in previous years was sediment, largely due to the amount of construction and landscaping activity at these sites; therefore, erosion was a focal area for inspectors in FY2017. Inspectors observed four (4) deficiencies at CPCC facilities; all deficiencies were for non-compliance with SWPPP requirements, including failure to conduct semi-annual inspections or qualitative monitoring. This is an increase from three (3) deficiencies observed in FY2016. Fifteen (15) other findings were noted by inspectors, including recommendations for various housekeeping improvements and/or preventive maintenance. One repeat finding was documented for a stormwater best management practice (BMP) at CPCC-Cato Campus that may not be functioning as designed. No follow-up inspections were required for CPCC facilities. SWPPPs were reviewed and updated as needed. Inspections were conducted at 30 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) facilities. Of these facilities, eight (8) have SWPPPs and are inspected annually. The remaining 22 facilities were inspected for the first time and will be inspected in the future on a rotation of approximately five (5) years. CMS facilities have historically had problems with illicit discharges of wash water from mop buckets and vehicle washing operations, inadequate maintenance of BMPs, deterioration of waste disposal containers, and leaks/spills of oil and other automotive fluids at vehicle/equipment areas (i.e., bus maintenance/storage facilities); all of these were areas of emphasis for FY2017 inspections. Three (3) deficiencies were found at CMS facilities, a decrease from nine (9) deficiencies in FY2016. One (1) deficiency was for missed qualitative monitoring events, one was for an illicit discharge of wash water from bus washing operations, and the other was for excessive pavement staining in a loading/unloading area. CMSWS staff recorded 90 additional findings, which were generally recommendations for improved housekeeping and/or preventive maintenance. There were no repeat findings. SWPPP updates at CMS facilities (where required) are completed annually by Mr. Jeff Mitchell of CMS.
Section 3: Assessment of Current and Historical Monitoring Data
CMSWS conducts fixed interval stream monitoring at identified locations in or immediately downstream of the TMDL watersheds on a monthly basis. This monitoring is primarily used to determine water quality trends, but is also used as a tool to detect pollution problems in surface waters. Monitoring results that exceed threshold values are referred for follow-up under the
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IDDE program. CMSWS also conducts routine lake monitoring every other month during the calendar year as follows: January, March, May, July, September, and November. Monitoring for fecal coliform bacteria is performed monthly during the summer months from May through September. Data from this lake monitoring is used to identify trends and to initiate watershed management strategies for restoring degraded water quality conditions. CMSWS also maintains a Continuous Monitoring and Alert Notification Network or CMANN that monitors surface waters at select sites in streams and lakes for turbidity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, conductivity, and pH. All monitoring results that exceed threshold values are referred for follow-up under the IDDE program.
3.1 Fecal Coliform Monitoring and Data Assessment for the Rocky River
As identified in Table 1, a section of the Rocky River in Mecklenburg County (AU Number 13- 17a) is subject to a fecal coliform TMDL with a WLA assigned to storm water that was approved on September 19, 2002. Mecklenburg County has been assigned responsibility for compliance with this TMDL on behalf of the Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Section H.2.d of Mecklenburg County’s Phase II Permit (expiring November 10, 2016), required that a monitoring plan be developed for the Fecal Coliform TMDL in the Rocky River Watershed unless a waiver was obtained from NCDEQ. In August 2013, CMSWS submitted a letter to NCDEQ requesting such a waiver for the following reasons: 1. NCDENR maintains a monitoring site on the Rocky River. Additional monitoring on the impaired section of the Rocky River would duplicate the sampling conducted at this location. 2. Outfall monitoring would provide little useful information. As of August 2013, there was only one storm water outfall located in the Mecklenburg portion of the watershed, which receives runoff from several large lot residential homes. The storm water from the outfall flows through more than 200 feet of forested buffer before discharging to the Rocky River. Inspection of the outfall shows very limited erosion or scour indicating very limited flow and a high degree of infiltration. 3. No perennial streams drain from Mecklenburg County to the impaired section of the Rocky River. All drainage from Mecklenburg County to the impaired section of the Rocky River flows through intermittent channels and/or direct overland flow. Sampling of intermittent channels and overland flow is very difficult and of questionable usefulness. Moreover, the stream buffer is largely forested ensuring ample treatment of the runoff conveyed to the Rocky through the intermittent channels and overland pathways.
In their response letter dated June 26, 2014, NCDEQ approved the request to waive the monitoring requirement for the Rocky River stating the following: “The State waives the requirement for a Monitoring Plan for the Fecal Coliform TMDL in the Rocky River (AU 13- 17a). Mecklenburg County should continue to evaluate the land use and development within the watershed on an annual basis and if additional storm water infrastructure is installed or higher intensity land uses are constructed a Monitoring Plan may be warranted.” For the completion of this annual analysis, CMSWS decided to use the following watershed measures: increase in impervious area broken down for residential and commercial land uses and increase in storm water outfalls. The justification for the use of these watershed measures is that as impervious
19 area and the number of outfalls increase in the watershed the fecal coliform waste load contribution from storm water will also increase thus creating a potential need for a local monitoring effort to identify and control contributing sources for meeting the TMDL. Impervious area is updated countywide on an ongoing basis by Mecklenburg County’s GIS program. This data is used in assessing storm water fees and is fairly accurate. New outfalls are identified and entered into GIS by CMSWS when final inspections are performed of new construction. The data collected for this watershed analysis through January 2016 is provided in Table 6. This January 2016 data is the most current data available as of June 30, 2017. As indicated in Table 6, the current impervious cover in the watershed is 23 acres, which represents a 58% increase since 2011. The majority of this increase is associated with commercial development. This is a significant increase; however, the percentage of impervious cover in the watershed still remains very low at 3% (23 acres of impervious cover ÷ 747 total watershed acres). Therefore, based on this analysis a monitoring program is still not warranted for the Rocky River TMDL watershed. The next annual analysis will occur in January 2018.
Table 6: Annual Analysis of the Rocky River Watershed for the Monitoring Plan # % Increase Increase Watershed Measure 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 from from FY11 FY11
Residential Impervious Cover (acres) 14.22 14.22 14.17 14.19 16.1 16.1 1.88 13%
Commercial Impervious Cover (acres) 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.33 8 7.67 2324%
Total Impervious Cover (acres) 14.55 14.55 14.5 14.52 16.43 23 8.45 58%
Storm Water Outfalls (number) 1 1 3 3 4 5 4 400%
CMSWS has obtained fecal coliform data collected in the Rocky River Watershed (AU 13-17a) by NCDEQ at monitoring site Q733 where data collection began on July 15, 1970 and continued at various intervals, generally monthly, until October 2, 1986 when it was discontinued. Fecal coliform sampling was restarted on May 2, 1995 and continued monthly through 2016, excluding 2014 when only 2 samples were reported. NCDEQ was contacted concerning the missing data between October 2, 1986 through May 2, 1995 and it was confirmed that fecal coliform sampling was not performed during these years. All available fecal coliform data from NCDEQ for Q733 was analyzed to identify trends. The most current data available in the State’s database (Storet) as of June 2017 dated back to May 2016. This data was used to calculate a five (5) year rolling average for violations of the instantaneous fecal coliform standard of 400 colonies/100 ml as shown in Figure 3 as well as the annual geometric mean for fecal coliform as shown in Figure 4. Based on this analysis, fecal coliform colony counts continue to be just above the State standard, but well below historical 1970 to 1986 colony counts. Also of note, compliance with the instantaneous standard fell in 2016 as it has for the past three (3) years. The five-year (2012 to 2016) geometric mean fecal coliform value was 263 colonies/100 ml (n=63), compared to 2016’s
20 geometric mean of 599 colonies/100 ml (n=5). 2016’s compliance rate was 20%, while the five- year compliance rate was 70%.
Rocky River- Fecal Coliform compliance (400 CFU/100 ml) 80 100% 70 80% 60 50 60% 40 30 40%
20 Compliant % 20% NumberSamples of 10 0 0% 19701972197419761978198019821984198619961998200020022004200620082010201220142016
Compliant Non-Compliant % Compliant
Figure 3: Compliance with the Instantaneous Fecal Coliform Standard – Rocky River
Rocky River - Fecal Coliform 100000
10000
1000 CFU/ CFU/ 100 ml
100 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
Geometric Mean
Figure 4: Annual Fecal Coliform Geometric Mean – Rocky River
3.2 Fecal Coliform Monitoring and Data Assessment for Goose Creek
As identified in Table 1, two (2) sections of Goose Creek in Mecklenburg County (AU Numbers 13-17-18a and 13-17-18b) are subject to a fecal coliform TMDL with a WLA assigned to storm water that was approved on July 8, 2005. Mecklenburg County has been assigned responsibility for compliance with this TMDL on behalf of the Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions in Charlotte- Mecklenburg. CMSWS maintains a fixed interval monitoring site where Stevens Mill Road crosses Goose Creek in Union County. An analysis has been completed of the fecal coliform data collected from this site between 1985 and 2016 with a gap between 1991 and 2006 when
21 monitoring at the site was temporarily discontinued. A five (5) year rolling average was calculated for violations of the instantaneous fecal coliform standard of 400 colonies/100 ml as shown in Figure 5. The fecal coliform data was also used to calculate the annual geometric mean as shown in Figure 6. This data reveals that fecal coliform compliance continues to be variable annually, but remains improved over the 1985 to 1991 compliance rates. Fecal coliform counts ranged from 110 to 6400 colonies/100 ml in 2016, with a 53% compliance rate. The geometric mean for 2016 was 454 colonies/100 ml.
Figure 5: Compliance with the Instantaneous Fecal Coliform Standard – Goose Creek
Goose Creek- Fecal Coliform 1000
800
600
400 CFU/ CFU/ 100 ml 200
0 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015
Geometric Mean
Figure 6: Annual Fecal Coliform Geometric Mean – Goose Creek
3.3 Chlorophyll-A Monitoring and Data Assessment for Lake Wylie
As identified in Table 1, two (2) sections of Lake Wylie in Mecklenburg County (AU Numbers 11-122 and 11-(123.5)a) are subject to a chlorophyll-a TMDL approved on February 5, 1996 that does not include a WLA assigned to storm water. Mecklenburg County has been assigned responsibility for compliance with this TMDL on behalf of the Phase I and Phase II jurisdictions
22 in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. An analysis has been completed of chlorophyll-a data collected by CMSWS between 1994 and 2016 at 34 monitoring sites in the Lake Wylie TMDL area. A five (5) year rolling average was calculated for violations of the chlorophyll-a standard of 40 µg/l as shown in Figure 7. The chlorophyll-a data was also used to calculate an annual average as shown in Figure 8. The data reveals that chlorophyll-a compliance across Lake Wylie continues to be high at 98.2% for the 22-year period from 1994 through 2016 with only 30 documented standard violations. The two (2) most recent violations were observed at LW10 (Wither’s Cove) in 2016 and LW4 (Paw Creek Cove) in 2015 as shown in Table 7. Table 8 shows that most violations occurred at LW4 (Paw Creek Cove) at nine (9) or 30% followed by BC1 (Browns Cove) at 5 or 17%. Most samples remain well below the State standard, with an average of only 12.3 µg/L in 2016 as shown in Figure 8.
3.4 Mercury Monitoring and Data Assessment Statewide
As stated in sub-section 9.5.3, the State did not include an MS4 NPDES WLA for mercury in their statewide TMDL; therefore, an analysis of mercury data is not included in this document.
Lake Wylie - Chlorophyll-a compliance (40 ug/L) 200 100%
95% 150 90% 100 85%
50 Compliant %
80% NumberSamples of 0 75%
Compliant Non-Compliant % Compliant
Figure 7: Compliance with the Chlorophyll-a Standard – Lake Wylie
Table 7: Number of Chlorophyll-a Violations – Lake Wylie Site # Year BC1 LW1 LW10 LW2 LW3 LW4 LW5 LW7 LW9 Total 1996 1 2 5 8 1997 1 1 1 3 1999 1 1 2 2001 2 1 3 2002 2 1 3 2003 1 1 2007 1 3 1 5 2008 1 1 2 23
Site # Year BC1 LW1 LW10 LW2 LW3 LW4 LW5 LW7 LW9 Total 2009 1 1 2015 1 1 2016 1 1 Total 5 1 4 2 3 9 1 4 1 30
Table 8: Number and Percentage of Chlorophyll-a Violations – Lake Wylie Site # Total Violations % of Violations Comments BC1 5 17% Brown’s Cove*Historic LW1 1 3% Lake Wylie Dam LW10 4 13% Wither’s Cove LW2 2 7% Allison Creek *Historic LW3 3 10% South Fork LW4 9 30% Paw Creek Cove LW5 1 3% Duchman’s Creek *Historic LW7 4 13% Crowder’s Creek *Historic LW9 1 3% Long Creek*Historic Total 30 100%
Lake Wylie - Chlorophyll-a 25
20 a a (ug/L)
- 15
10
5 Chlorophyll 0
Average
Figure 8: Annual Chlorophyll-a Average – Lake Wylie
Section 4: Additional BMP Measures
CMSWS is continuing to develop and implement measures to improve water quality conditions in the TMDL watersheds by identifying and eliminating sources of the pollutant of concern. In November 2014, approximately 250 trees were planted in the buffer at the Rocky River Bluff Nature Preserve (Parcel Number 00307115) by a total of 31 volunteers through a partnership
24 between CMSWS, Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation Department, and the Davidson Lands Conservancy. Partial funding for the event was provided through an Urban Cost Share Grant. This enhanced buffer will provide additional filtering for nonpoint source pollutants that will assist with TMDL pollutant removal. In FY2015, CMSWS completed a review of historic aerial imagery from the Rocky River Watershed, which revealed that since 1993 an equestrian area had been located approximately one-half mile upstream of monitoring site Q733 on the Mecklenburg County side of the Rocky River. In recent years, a septic system was installed to treat wash water from a stable located in this area. CMSWS performed monitoring upstream and downstream of this potential source, but results were inconclusive. During FY2016, the following actions were completed to reduce fecal coliform bacteria levels and enhance water quality in the Rocky River Watershed (see Cityworks Activity Report #22840): 1. Additional aerial imagery was evaluated and no sources of fecal coliform bacteria were identified. 2. Agricultural operations in the watershed, which are mainly horse farms, were evaluated and no sources of fecal coliform bacteria were identified. 3. Health Department records were reviewed and only two (2) failed septic systems were identified in the watershed between FY2009 and FY2016, which suggest that failing septic systems are not a chronic problem in this area. Inspections were conducted where these failing systems had been detected and no sources of fecal coliform bacteria were identified. 4. The four (4) outfalls in the watershed were inspected and no evidence of dry weather flows was observed. These inspections were documented in GIS using the ESRI app for iPhone. 5. Fecal coliform samples were collected at the locations where the Rocky River enters and exits Mecklenburg County. These samples showed no significant elevation in fecal coliform levels within the County. 6. The Mecklenburg County Soil & Water Conservation District worked with the property owner at 18005 Callaway Hills Lane in Davidson, N.C. to complete a stream bank stabilization project immediately upstream of the first storm water outfall. The cost of the project was $42,000 with the NC Ag Cost Share Program reimburse the landowner $32,000, leaving the landowner portion at $10,000. The completion of this project will reduce the sediment load in the stream, which will in-turn reduce fecal coliform bacteria levels.
During FY2017, the following actions were completed to reduce fecal coliform bacteria levels and enhance water quality in the Rocky River and/or Goose Creek Watersheds: 1. Health Department records were reviewed and no failed septic systems were identified in the Rocky River or Goose Creek Watersheds. 2. Major outfalls were inspected in the Rocky River Watershed. No dry weather flows were detected. 3. Samples were collected for bacteria source tracking (BST) in the Goose Creek and Rocky River Watersheds to identify potential sources of fecal coliform bacteria. 4. On June 27, 2017, fecal coliform samples were collected from the Rocky River where it enters and exits Mecklenburg County. Results indicated fecal coliform levels at 980 and 1020 colonies/100ml, respectively. This represents an insignificant increase.
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In FY2018, the following additional enhanced BMP measures are planned: 1. By June 30, 2018, bacteria source tracking (BST) will be used to identify potential sources of fecal coliform bacteria. Follow up actions will be implemented as necessary to eliminate these sources. 2. By June 30, 2018, watershed surveys and appropriate follow up actions will be implemented to identify and eliminate nutrient sources in Paw Creek and Withers Coves on Lake Wylie where data shows most chlorophyll-a violations occurred.
Section 5: Tracking and Reporting Success
CMSWS will document all activities completed for the identification and elimination of pollution sources in the TMDL watersheds, including all inspections conducted and corrective actions implemented. All confirmed pollution sources will be mapped in GIS and where possible pollutant loads will be estimated. This data will be tracked over time as a measure of the success of program activities.
Section 6: TMDL Reporting
This report fulfills the SWQMPP TMDL reporting requirement by providing a summary of the following: 1. Water quality restoration activities performed during the past fiscal year. 2. Assessment of current and historical monitoring data. 3. Recommendations for additional BMP measures.
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