Stormwater Control Measures Research Articles

A Traditional Analysis of the First Flush Effect for Nutrients in Stormwater Runoff from Two Small Urban Catchments

Nonpoint stormwater runoff remains a major threat to surface water quality in the USA. More effective stormwater control measures can be designed by understanding patterns in pollutant export with respect to the runoff hydrograph. In particular, nutrient concentrations in urban stormwater can cause deleterious effects in sensitive watersheds in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic USA. A year-long study captured stormwater samples from 36 storm events at two catchments (one primarily impermeable and the other substantially wooded) and analyzed for total suspended solids and various nutrient species. Using these data, the first flush effect (the assumption that the initial portion of a rainfall-runoff event is more polluted than the later portions) was evaluated based on several published methods and definitions. Based on an analysis of multiple methodologies, the ranking of first flush strength among the pollutants was total suspended solids (TSS) > ammonia (NH3) > total Kjeldahl nitrogen > NO2-NO3 > total phosphorus > orthophosphate (O-PO4). Nitrogen species generally displayed a stronger first flush than phosphorus species, with O-PO4 showing the weakest first flush effect. Various relationships ° climate, land use, and the first flush strength were also explored. Of the rainfall characteristics analyzed, total rainfall and runoff volume each inversely affected the first flush strength of TSS on the more impervious catchment. Although orthophosphate did not have a strong first flush effect, the relative first flush strength for O-PO4 increased with increasing rainfall or runoff. Land use did not influence the first flush strength of the pollutants. On average, most pollutants exhibited a slight first flush effect, but substantial pollutant loading still occurred in the latter portion of the storm’s total runoff volume. Thus, treating the majority of a storm’s total pollutant load requires capturing a commensurate fraction of runoff volume.

Denitrification Potential in Stormwater Control Structures and Natural Riparian Zones in an Urban Landscape

Humans have significantly altered urban landscapes, creating impervious surfaces, and changing drainage patterns that increase volume and velocity as well as frequency and timing of runoff following precipitation events. These changes in runoff have impaired streams and riparian areas that previously reduced watershed nitrogen (N) flux through uptake and denitrification. Stormwater control measures (SCM) are used most frequently to mitigate these hydrologic impacts. While SCM control runoff, their ability to remove N compared to natural riparian areas is not well-known. In this study we compared potential denitrification [as denitrification enzyme activity (DEA)] in five types of SCM (wet ponds, dry detention ponds, dry extended detention, infiltration basin, and filtering practices) and forested and herbaceous riparian areas in Baltimore, MD. DEA was higher in SCM (1.2 mg N kg(-1) hr(-1)) than in riparian areas (0.4 mg N kg(-1) hr(-1)). While DEA was highly correlated with soil moisture, organic matter, microbial biomass, and soil respiration areas across sites, it was always higher in SCM at equivalent levels of these variables. SCM appear to function as denitrification hotspots and, despite having similar microbial biomass, have higher potential denitrification than natural riparian areas.

Quantifying Evaporation from Pervious Concrete Systems: Methodology and Hydrologic Perspective

AbstractPermeable pavements underlain by infiltration beds have been used as storm-water control measures (SCMs) for several decades. As a design practice, runoff volume reduction in those systems is attributed exclusively to subsurface infiltration. Neglecting evaporation in the hydrologic cycle of permeable pavement systems is based on the perceived insignificance of this factor rather than on scientific evidence. This paper presents research designed to fill the knowledge gap in the evaporation behavior of pervious concrete SCMs. A laboratory simulation was conducted to identify parameters affecting evaporation from pervious concrete systems and to obtain the evaporation rates typical for summer months in the Philadelphia area. Considerations used in the experiment design, methodology, the experimental program, and the results are presented here. The depth to water surface and the time since rainfall event were both found to be significant terms in predicting the evaporation rate. The concept of influe...

Internal Water Storage Enhances Exfiltration and Thermal Load Reduction from Permeable Pavement in the North Carolina Mountains

AbstractThermally-enriched stormwater runoff can negatively impact coldwater streams and their associated ecosystem services. The introduction of local and federal guidelines specifically targeting urban runoff temperature in the United States and Canada promulgate the use of practices that reduce thermal pollutant load from a catchment. Several stormwater control measures (SCM) have been shown to buffer thermal impacts to waterways by passing water through cooler subsurface media or by reducing overall discharge volume. Permeable pavement exposes stormwater to these mechanisms, which makes it a promising practice for thermal mitigation. A newly constructed permeable interlocking concrete paver (PICP) parking lot was monitored for 1 year in the mountain region of North Carolina to quantify runoff reduction, temperature buffering, and thermal load export. The effects on hydrology caused by internal water storage (IWS) in the pavement profile were also investigated by dividing the 239-m2 lot into three cell...

Hybrid knowledge-based expert system and multi-criteria analysis for minimizing erosion and sedimentation due to stormwater in Malaysian construction sites

Malaysia is located in a tropical zone wherein heavy rainfall occurs in all seasons of the year. Land clearing and earthwork activities combined with heavy rainfall and the widely varied topography can result in severe soil loss that shall eventually be deposited into the adjacent water bodies via stormwater. Recently knowledge-based systems have been used in many fields especially when human expertise and data are limited. In the current study, a hybrid knowledge-based expert system and multi-criteria analysis (MCA) were developed to minimize erosion and sedimentation due to stormwater in Malaysian construction sites. This system called the Multi-criteria Erosion and Sediment Control (MCESC) system. The role of MCA is to identify the best stormwater control measure based on specified criteria and the criterion's weight. Data from road construction project in Permas Jaya, Johor Bahru State, Malaysia has been utilized for testing the MCESC system's functionality in solving real erosion and sediment control problem. The MCESC system can be used by engineers, contractors, and decision makers to develop erosion and sediment control plan and environmental management plan for any construction site in Malaysia.

A Side‐by‐Side Comparison of Pervious Concrete and Porous Asphalt1

Welker, Andrea L., James D. Barbis, and Patrick A. Jeffers, 2012. A Side‐by‐Side Comparison of Pervious Concrete and Porous Asphalt. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(4): 809‐819. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2012.00654.xAbstract: This article compares the performance of two permeable pavements, pervious concrete and porous asphalt, that were installed side‐by‐side in fall 2007. Because the pavements are located directly adjacent to one another, they experience the same vehicle loads, precipitation, and pollution loads. These permeable pavements are part of an infiltration stormwater control measure (SCM). This article focuses on the comparison of water quality parameters, maintenance and durability, and user perception. Eleven different water quality parameters were analyzed at this site for 19 different storm events over a one year period: pH, conductivity, total suspended solids, chlorides, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total dissolved copper, total dissolved lead, total dissolved cadmium, total dissolved chromium, and total dissolved zinc. Results from the two pavement types were compared using the Mann–Whitney U‐test. The only parameter that was found to be statistically different between the two pavements was pH. Periodic inspection of the two pavement types indicated that after two years of use both pavements were wearing well. However, there was some evidence of clogging of both pavements and some evidence of surface wear. A survey of users of the lot indicated that the perception of these permeable pavements was favorable.

Effect of Urban Catchment Composition on Runoff Temperature

AbstractUrban runoff adversely impacts cold-water stream environments due to sporadic fluxes of thermally enriched runoff. This adversely impacts tourism in regions that support trout and salmon streams. Research on storm water control measures (SCMs) has shown that meeting the 21°C trout threshold is not consistently feasible with current SCM technologies. Thus, it is important to consider other factors in storm water temperature management, such as catchment characteristics. Median and maximum runoff temperatures from a shaded parking lot were consistently lower than those from a nearby unshaded lot. This suggests the need to implement a tree canopy cover in trout-sensitive catchments. A light-colored chip seal pavement was compared to a traditional hot-mix asphalt pavement; the light-colored chip seal produced median storm water temperatures that were 1.4°C lower than the standard hot-mix asphalt. It was shown that runoff temperature measurement location is critical when evaluating SCM performance, and...

Long-Term Orthophosphate Removal in a Field-Scale Storm-Water Bioinfiltration Rain Garden

AbstractUnabated runoff from impervious surfaces after rain events is considered a major source of impairment of receiving water bodies. Bioinfiltration storm-water control measures (SCM) have been shown to be effective in reducing runoff and pollutants from urban areas and thus provide a mechanism for protecting downstream sources from erosion and contamination from suspended solids, metals, and nutrients. However, less is known about the loss mechanisms responsible for contaminant removal and the long-term performance of such SCMs. Even less is known of the performance from a vadose zone perspective. The research presented herein examines the long-term (9 year) performance of a bioinfiltration rain garden with specific emphasis on the removal of orthophosphate. Field data indicated clear removal trends for orthophosphate (PO43−P), the bioavailable form of phosphorus, as the storm water infiltrated into the infiltration bed of the rain garden. The median PO43−P concentration decreased from 0.21–0.25 mg/...

Harvestable Nitrogen Accumulation for Five Storm Water Wetland Plant Species: Trigger for Storm Water Control Measure Maintenance?

As the use of constructed storm water wetlands to treat storm water runoff becomes more frequent, strategies for maintaining or increasing their pollutant removal over time must be examined. One potential strategy is plant harvesting at the water surface to remove nutrients that would otherwise be deposited back into the wetland during senescence. This technical note presents a first look at this strategy from a storm water management perspective. Vegetation was harvested from two storm water wetlands located in Smithfield and Pactolus, North Carolina, to evaluate the ability of five wetland plant species to sequester nitrogen. Biomass samples were collected from the following species of emergent vegetation: Pontederia cordata (Pickerelweed), Saururus cernuus (Lizard Tail), Scirpus cyperinus (Wool Grass), Sagittaria latifolia (Arrowhead), and Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani (Softstem Bulrush). Samples were collected immediately prior to senescence in September and October 2007 and analyzed for nitrogen content on a percent of biomass basis. At the Pactolus wetland the Pontederia cordata, Scirpus cyperinus, and Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani biomass retained significantly (p<0.05) more nitrogen than Sagittaria latifolia and Saururus cernuus. At the Smithfield wetland, Pontederia cordata and Sagittaria latifolia biomass retained significantly more nitrogen than Scirpus cyperinus and Saururus cernuus. Wetland maturity appears to have a direct relationship to harvestable nitrogen, which could explain why the relative amount of nitrogen sequestered in Scirpus cyperinus and Sagittaria latifolia varied between the two wetlands. A positive relationship existed between the density of harvested biomass and nitrogen removal for two species. To estimate the relative amount of harvestable nitrogen, a model for estimating total nitrogen loading in Coastal Plain watersheds in North Carolina was used to compare estimated inflow nitrogen mass to that which could theoretically be harvested. The harvestable N mass was greater than 20% of inflow nitrogen on an annual basis. Storm water wetland plant harvesting as a maintenance activity has potential to supplement wetland nitrogen removal.

Improving bioretention/biofiltration performance with restorative maintenance

One of the most popular Stormwater Control Measures is bioretention, or biofiltration. Anecdotal evidence suggests that well-designed bioretention cells are often not adequately installed and that maintenance is lacking, leading to less-than-adequate water storage volume and/or surface infiltration rates post-construction. In March 2009, two sets of bioretention cells were repaired by excavating the top 75 mm of fill media, increasing the bioretention surface storage volume by nearly 90% and the infiltration rate by up to a factor of 10. Overflow volume decreased from 35 and 37% in the pre-repair state for two different sets of cells, respectively, to 11 and 12%. Nearly all effluent pollutant loads exiting the post-repair cells were lower than their pre-repair conditions. The bioretention systems employed two different media depths (0.6 and 0.9 m). The deeper media cells discharged less outflow volume than the shallower cells, with 10-11% more runoff volume leaving as exfiltration from the 0.9-m than from the 0.6-m media depth cells. This study showed that maintenance is both critical and beneficial to restore otherwise poorly performing bioretention. Moreover, while deeper media cells did outperform the shallower systems, the improvement in this case was somewhat modest vis-à-vis additional construction costs.

Ecosystem service provision by stormwater wetlands and ponds – A means for evaluation?

Stormwater control measures (SCMs) such as constructed stormwater ponds and constructed stormwater wetlands (CSWs) are designed to regulate runoff hydrology and quality. However, these created ecosystems also provide a range of other benefits, or ecosystem services, which are often acknowledged but rarely quantified. In this study, additional ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and cultural services, were assessed and compared between 20 ponds and 20 CSWs in North Carolina, USA. Carbon sequestration was estimated through the carbon content of pond and wetland sediments across a gradient of system age. Biodiversity was quantified in terms of the richness and Shannon diversity index of vegetative and aquatic macroinvertebrate communities. Cultural services were qualitatively assessed based on the potential for recreational and educational opportunities at each site. Ponds and wetlands were found to support similar levels of macroinvertebrate diversity, though differences community composition arose between the two habitat types. CSWs demonstrated greater potential to provide carbon sequestration, vegetative diversity, and cultural ecosystem services. This assessment provides an initial framework upon which future assessments of ecosystem service provision by SCMs can build.

Hydraulic performance of grass swales for managing highway runoff

The hydraulic performance of grass swales as a highway stormwater control measure was evaluated in a field-scale study adjacent to a Maryland highway. Two common swale design alternatives, pretreatment grass filter strips and vegetated check dams, were compared during 52 storm events over 4.5 years. Swale performance is described via three regimes, dependent on the relative size of the rainfall event. Overall, half of the events were small enough that the entire flow was stored, infiltrated, and evapotranspirated by the swales, resulting in no net swale discharge. Swales significantly reduced total volume and flow magnitudes generally during events with rainfall less than 3 cm. While the majority of improvement can be attributed to the swales, inclusion of check dams increases swale effectiveness. Pretreatment grass filter strips produced mixed effects. The swales demonstrated essentially no volumetric reduction during large storm events, functioning instead as conveyance, and smoothing fluctuations in flow.

Effectiveness of LID for Commercial Development in North Carolina

AbstractThe purpose of this project was to characterize runoff and pollutant export from three commercial sites: one with no storm water control measures (NoTreat), one with a wet detention basin (WetBasin), and one with low impact development (LID) measures. The sites were located in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain physiographic regions of central North Carolina. Rainfall, runoff, and pollutant concentrations were monitored at each site for more than one year by using automated rain gauges and samplers. The storm event mean concentrations (EMCs) of total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), nitrate+nitrite nitrogen (NOx-N), and total phosphorus (TP) in runoff were generally less than corresponding EMCs for many other urban areas in the United States. Also, EMCs were similar to those found for eight parking lots in North Carolina. Storm runoff to rainfall ratio was greatest for the NoTreat site and least for the WetBasin site, which was anticipated because the NoTreat site had no detention/storage and the WetBasin sit...

Meeting Hydrologic and Water Quality Goals through Targeted Bioretention Design

AbstractBioretention is one of the most commonly used stormwater control measures (SCMs) in North America and Australasia. However, current design is not targeted to regulatory need, often reflecting an outdated understanding of how and why bioretention works. The purpose of this manuscript is to synthesize research to recommend a suite of design standards focused on the purpose of bioretention SCM. Both hydrologic (peak flow mitigation, infiltration, annual hydrology, and stream stability) and water quality [total suspended solids (TSS) and particulates, pathogen-indicator species, metals, hydrocarbons, phosphorus, nitrogen, and temperature] regulatory and stream ecology needs are addressed. Bioretention cells designed to meet a prioritized subset of those measures would be substantially different than cells that are designed for a different subset of needs. Designers have the ability to adjust bowl volume, media composition, media depth, underdrainage configuration, and vegetation type. This study exami...

Stormwater control measure (SCM) design standards to limit stream erosion for Piedmont North Carolina

Summary This study evaluated the potential impacts of sub-bankfull flows produced by stormwater control measures (SCMs) on stream geomorphic stability. In part, design standards for SCMs include peak flow attenuation to maintain pre-development flow conditions to those of undeveloped watersheds or return urbanized, developed watersheds back to the pre-developed state. Most SCMs target lower frequency storms, usually the 2-and/or 10-year discharge events, but leave peak flows resulting from higher frequency storms uncontrolled. SCMs are possibly subjecting streams to longer and more frequent periods of erosion, increasing stream channel instability. The d 65 substrate size, pattern, profile, and dimension of 33 reference stream cross-sections in Piedmont North Carolina were modeled using the continuous simulations program, SWMM, to develop (1) a unit critical discharge metric in L/s/ha, Q c = 0.0035( d 65 ) 1.5048 , (2) allowable annual erosional hour standard, Log(AAEH) = −1.26Log( d 65 ) + 1.21, and (3) allowable volume of eroded bedload standard, Log(AV) = −0.64( Q c ) − 1.52, for watersheds containing SCMs discharging into surface waters. The unit critical discharge represents a threshold that, once exceeded, incipient motion of the d 65 particle can occur. These standards represented benchmarks of stable, naturally eroding reference streams. Ninety-four percent of the unit critical discharges were less than the 2-year 24-h event, indicating the necessity of controlling higher frequency sub-bankfull flows. The standards were applied to an urbanized watershed (one sub-catchment containing a structural SCM and two sub-catchments without) in Raleigh, North Carolina. The unit critical discharge metric appeared to adequately represent urbanized stream geomorphic processes for the sub-catchment undergoing urbanization (4.5% difference) but not for the mature urbanized sub-catchments (47.5% and 68.8% difference). Depending on the long-term management goal of the unstable stream, this metric is not applicable for all urbanized watersheds due to the discrepancy between the field and calculated unit critical discharges. Standards developed from urbanized reference streams could possibly better represent SCMs in urbanized watersheds. All three sub-catchments failed to meet the erosional standards demonstrating the ability of the standards to predict unstable geomorphic processes in streams. The addition of a detention SCM (wet pond), in the urbanized sub-catchment extended the duration of erosive flows from 37 to 87 h/ha/yr, but reduced the estimated volume of eroded bedload from 1.81 to 0.99 m 3 /m/ha/yr when compared to uncontrolled urbanization (no wet pond). Alterations to the design of the wet pond, increased volume size and change in orifice diameter, were explored to see if erosional standards could be better met. This study demonstrated the effect of current SCM design standards on stream stability and why geomorphic processes of stream channels should be incorporated in SCM design standards.

Evaluation of undersized bioretention stormwater control measures for treatment of highway bridge deck runoff

Two grassed bioretention cells were constructed in the easement of a bridge deck in Knightdale, North Carolina, USA, in October, 2009. One was intentionally undersized ('small'), while the other was full sized ('large') per current North Carolina standards. The large and small cells captured runoff from the 25- and 8-mm events, respectively. Both bioretention cells employed average fill media depths of 0.65 m and internal water storage (IWS) zones of 0.6 m. Flow-proportional, composite water quality samples were collected and analyzed for nitrogen species, phosphorus species, and TSS. During 13 months of data collection, the large cell's median effluent concentrations and loads were less than those from the small cell. The small cell's TN and TSS load reductions were 84 and 50%, respectively, of those achieved by the large cell, with both cells significantly reducing TN and TSS. TP loads were not significantly reduced by either cell, likely due to low TP concentrations in the highway runoff which may have approached irreducible levels. Outflow pollutant loads from the large and small cell were not significantly different from one another for any of the examined pollutants. The small cell's relative performance provides support for retrofitting undersized systems in urbanized areas where there is insufficient space available for conventional full-sized stormwater treatment systems.

Constructed Storm-Water Wetland Installation and Maintenance: Are We Getting It Right?

Constructed storm-water wetlands (CSWs) have become one of the more popular storm-water control measures (SCMs). CSWs offer a hybrid between larger detention technologies like storm-water wet ponds and newer green infrastructure technologies. The systems are characterized as being predominately shallow retention practices, with water elevations sufficiently low to support diverse flora and fauna. Figs. 1(a–c) illustrate several successful examples of CSWs. Many researchers have found that CSWs remove sediment, nutrients, and metals from storm-water runoff (Greenway 2004; Hathaway and Hunt 2010; Line et al. 2008; Kohler et al. 2004; Wadzuk et al. 2010). One of the principal drivers for the use of storm-water wetlands is the amount of credit awarded to them by various governmental agencies with respect to nutrient removal and sequestration [North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) 2009]. The apparent improvement in nutrient capture from storm-water runoff over that of storm-water wet ponds is one of the main reasons designers choose CSWs over the more traditional wet pond. Extensive coverage of vegetation allows for several pollutant removal mechanisms: filtration of particles, stabilization of sediments, nutrient uptake, microbialrhizophere interaction to promote nitrification and denitrification, and the provision of increased surface area for biofilm/periphyton growth (Greenway 2004). In regions where thermal loads threaten cold water fisheries, CSWs have been shown to release cooler water to streams than do wet ponds because of the shading caused by the vegetation—but absent from wet ponds (Jones and Hunt 2010). Some concerns have also presented themselves with respect to CSWs, which have prevented the practice from outright replacing the wet pond. Foremost among them is the threat of mosquito infestation that wetlands invariably face in relation to the public (QDNR 2000). Research has shown that exorbitantly high mosquito populations need not accompany CSWs, provided they are diversely vegetated (Greenway et al. 2003; Hunt et al. 2006). However, if wetlands are allowed to become monocultures of specific mosquito-protective plants, such as Typha spp. (commonly referred to as cattails in the United States), they can become the very mosquito breeding grounds that the public fears (Greenway et al. 2003; Hunt et al. 2005). If storm-water wetlands are to be constructed, they must both (1) meet their intended water quality (and hydrologic) design goals and (2) not be a public nuisance. Anecdotal observation of CSWs constructed worldwide shows how many well-intended CSW designs fail. Two principal reasons were identified: One appears to be that not enough care was taken to ensure the storm-water wetlands’ normal pool elevation was appropriately shallow (that is, often the elevation of water in CSWs is too deep). The cause has been previously identified by Greenway et al. (2007). The second is clogging of the outlet structure that artificially raises the elevation above normal pool for extended periods of time. In both cases, simple preventative actions could be taken to ensure constructed storm-water wetlands maintain their designed integrity. The purpose of this forum is to document how poor design and inadequate management of two CSWs caused each to effectively become wet ponds, which results in (1) a reduced efficiency in the removal of some pollutants; (2) a degradation of biodiversity, which leads to an increased risk of having the wetlands become mosquito breeding grounds; and (3) degraded aesthetics.

Field Evaluation of Storm-Water Control Measures for Highway Runoff Treatment

The thousands of kilometers of highways in North Carolina have the potential to generate large amounts of storm-water runoff. Thus, investigation of storm-water control measures (SCMs) for these somewhat unique linear catchments, where space is limited for SCM implementation, was needed. This study examined the quantity and quality of highway runoff at four sites over a 48-km stretch of Interstate 40 in the coastal plain of North Carolina. The highway had a 4-cm overlay of permeable asphalt, known as permeable friction course (PFC), which influenced the export of sediment-bound pollutants and produced median effluent concentrations of total suspended solids (TSS) of 8 mg/L , 8 mg/L , 9 mg/L , and 17 mg/L at the four sites, well below concentrations observed from standard asphalt highway runoff. Two vegetative filter strips (VFSs), two traditional dry swales, and two wetland swales were also tested for pollutant removal efficacy at the four highway research sites. The filter strips generally produced h...

Hydrologic Performance of Bioretention Storm-Water Control Measures

The transportation and urban infrastructure relies heavily on impervious surfaces. Unmitigated rainfall runoff from impervious surfaces can lead to a myriad of environmental problems in downgradient areas. To address this issue, novel stormwater control measures (SCMs) are being emphasized and implemented widely to mitigate some of the impacts of impervious surface. Bioretention is a soil/media-based SCM that is often used for this purpose, but current design practices are highly empirical. This study compiles work from three research sites in three states to provide some fundamental underpinnings to bioretention design. Although all sites demonstrate different levels of performance, water volumetric performance trends are common to all. These trends are based on the available storage in the bioretention cell, termed herein as the Bioretention Abstraction Volume (BAV). The BAV is directly related to available media porosity and storage in the surface bowl. A finite capacity to completely store all runoff from smaller events is defined by the BAV. Normalization for this storage provides prediction for volumetric performance. Recommendations for bioretention design are provided.

Exploring fecal indicator bacteria in a constructed stormwater wetland

Microbial pollution in surface waters is a concern throughout the world, with both public health and economic implications. One contributing source to such pollution is stormwater runoff, often treated using various types of stormwater control measures. However, relatively little is known regarding microbe sequestration in constructed stormwater wetlands (CSWs), one type of commonly installed stormwater control measure. In this study, indicator bacteria concentrations in both the water and sediment of a CSW were evaluated at multiple locations. Results suggested that fecal coliform concentrations in stormwater runoff decrease through the system, with relatively consistent concentrations noted throughout the second half of the wetland. This potentially indicates a baseline concentration of fecal coliform is present due to internal processes such as animal activity and microbial persistence. However, wetland sediments showed little E. coli present during most sampling events, with minimal patterns existing with respect to sediment sampling location. CSW designs should promote optimization of hydraulic retention time and minimization of stormwater velocities to promote sedimentation and degradation of microbes by way of wetland treatment functions.