On-demand Webinar

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This webinar was co-sponsored by ASCE's Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) and ASCE Continuing Education

Instructors: 
Chris Olson, Ph.D., P.E.
Jim Wulliman, P.E.
Andrew Earles, Ph.D., P.E., BC.WRE

Course Length: 1 Hour

Purpose and Background

The Watershed Approach for Stormwater Task Committee that is part of the Sustainable Stormwater Infrastructure Standing Committee in association with the Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater Council presents a 3-part webinar series.

Low impact development (LID) and green infrastructure (GI) approaches that infiltrate, evapotranspire and/or reuse stormwater to reduce the rate and volume of stormwater runoff are quickly becoming the national standard of practice for how stormwater is managed in urban areas. The EPA Stormwater Management Model (SWMM) has many capabilities for modeling LID and GI at the watershed and site levels; however, in many cases detailed guidance and criteria for applying SWMM to model effects of LID and GI are lacking. This webinar short course will teach SWMM modeling techniques applicable to suburban and highly urbanized settings through the use of two case studies:

  • A greenfield development in Parker, Colorado is a new development in the Cherry Creek watershed consisting primarily of residential development. SWMM analysis for this project included event-based and continuous simulation from the lot scale to the watershed scale. This case study will provide examples of applying SWMM at varying scales and will discuss some of the challenges with representing hydrologic processes in continuous simulation mode.
  • An ultra-urban redevelopment project in downtown Denver will transform the South Platte riverfront. This case study illustrates application of SWMM to evaluate LID and GI approaches in an ultra-urban environment.

This is the first webinar in a series of three webinars on this topic. This webinar is intended to provide an overview of basics of SWMM to prepare participants for the second and third webinars in the series, which address event-based and continuous simulation techniques, respectively.

Primary Discussion Topics

  • Basics of the four-cover model for impervious and pervious surfaces
  • Representation of LID and GI at the watershed scale
  • Modeling of LID and GI at the site scale

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

  • Determine the four-cover impervious/pervious model and the importance of disconnecting impervious area
  • Identify the hydrologic and hydraulic analysis capabilities of SWMM for representing LID and GI
  • Review basics of SWMM modeling as preparation for subsequent webinars on event-based modeling of LID and GI practices and continuous simulation

Webinar Benefits

  • Improve SWMM application capabilities, including event and continuous modeling
  • Learn new techniques for representing LID and GI in SWMM
  • Understand differences in approaches for modeling suburban versus ultra-urban sites
  • Share experiences with troubleshooting SWMM

Assessment of Learning Outcomes

Students' achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed via a short post-assessment (true-false, multiple choice and fill in the blank questions).

Intended Audience

  • Civil engineers (water, environmental, civil)
  • Public agency engineers (development reviewers)
  • Hydrologists
  • Hydraulic engineers
  • Development engineers

Webinar Outline

  • Introduction
  • Overview of course objectives
  • Suburban development
  • Watershed overview
    • Proposed development
    • Approaches to stormwater management
    • Modeling approaches
  • Urban development
    • Watershed overview
    • Proposed development
    • Approaches to stormwater management
    • Modeling approaches
  • Objectives of modeling
  • Assumptions and limitations
  • Overview of example model files for class

How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs and Receive Your Certificate of Completion

To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short on-line post-test and receive a passing score of 70% or higher within 1 year of purchasing the course.

How do I convert CEUs to PDHs?

1.0 CEU = 10 PDHs [Example: 0.1 CEU = 1 PDH]