This recently completed project distilled recent urban stormwater data into a curated database representing 14,000 storm events across 91 sites in Minnesota. The database represents the outcome of hard work and large investments in collection of stormwater data by many individuals and organizations over the past 15 years. We applied the database to generate characterization of runoff quantity and quality specific to Minnesota and used it to reveal prominent features of stormwater quality and identify relationships between land cover, climate, and major stormwater pollutants. In this seminar we present the database, major findings from our analyses, and discuss further opportunities to leverage stormwater data collection to research and management. This project was funded by the Minnesota Stormwater Research Council.
Jacques Finlay is a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. His group does research in wetlands, lakes, ponds and rivers, examining both global changes and basic ecology of freshwater ecosystems. He is an investigator with the new NSF supported Long Term Ecological Research site in the Twin Cities region, which includes a large focus on urban watersheds and lakes.
Ben Janke is a Research Associate at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, working with the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geo-Engineering and the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior. He is also affiliated with the Natural Capital Project at the Institute on the Environment. Ben's research interests broadly include many aspects of urban eco-hydrology, with a focus on stormwater management. He is interested in stormwater-borne pollutants and excess nutrients, and their related impacts on water quality of urban lakes and streams, wildlife, and people. His research as part of the Minnesota Nat Cap team and the Sustainable Cities initiative has focused primarily on development and application of new models for InVEST, specifically for hydrologic ecosystem services of urban watersheds.