Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 03/02/2015

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Updated Storm Water Management Plan (SWMP) City of Ramsey, Minnesota ponds, overflow drainage ways and natural channels to evaluate whether the emergency over flows (EOFs) function as intended. Storm water detention facilities with peak discharge rates less than 2 cfs/40 acres are typically susceptible to high water levels during snowmelt conditions. Special consideration of the snowmelt condition becomes critical for areas, like the Anoka Sand Plain where infiltration dampens the effect of runoff from rainfall. These areas can accept high amounts of rainfall during the warm, summer months, but often remain frozen later in the season and are relatively impervious in the spring during the snowmelt. Hence, snowmelt runoff can be a greater flood hazard than a large summer rainfall due to the impermeable nature of frozen soil. Accordingly, final basin design must consider snowmelt conditions when sizing storage and outlet structures. When rainfalls exceed the recommended 10 -year storm sewer infrastructure design, the excess runoff will be accommodated by ponding in low spots in streets for short periods of time and outflow through overland drainage routes and/or EOFs. With proper planning, this short-term flooding and overland drainage should minimize damage to property that would occur if those facilities were not provided. Drainage routes and EOF locations should be protected and preserved either by ordinance or through recorded permanent easements. Where possible, storm water pond designs shall include an emergency overflow to provide an outlet one -foot below the lowest floor elevation of any adjacent structure for added safety. The Rational Method is a flow rate design method that ignores volumes and assumes a peak flow to each pipe based on hydrologic parameters such as watershed area, time of concentration, and standard rainfall intensity curves. This design method requires the selection and/or computation of a time of concentration and a runoff coefficient. The time of concentration is the time required for the runoff from a storm to become established and for the flow from the most remote point (in time, not distance) of the drainage area to reach the design point. The time of concentration will vary with the slope and type of surface that the rain falls on. Rational Method design including design methodology and hydrologic references should be based on the Minnesota Department of Transportation Drainage Manual. A minimum concentration time of fifteen minutes for residential areas and ten minutes for commercial/industrial areas shall be used for design of the trunk storm sewer systems. These minimum times shall be considered in the design of lateral systems. As the storm water runoff enters the system, the flow time in the storm sewer is then added to the concentration time and compared to the downstream drainage area concentration time. The maximum of these values is used downstream, which results in a longer concentration time and peak runoff rate as the flow moves downstream from the initial design point. 5. Land Use Factors in Modeling (Runoff Coefficients) The percentage of rainfall falling on an area that must be collected by a hydraulic facility is dependent on watershed variables such as soil permeability, ground slope, vegetation, surface depressions, type of development and antecedent rainfall. These factors are taken into consideration when selecting a runoff Section IV February 20, 2015March 6, 2015 Page 36