CITY OF WALNUT CREEK SUMMARY OF PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

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1 CITY OF WALNUT CREEK SUMMARY OF PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS A. New Development and Construction Controls The City of Walnut Creek is committed to meeting its NPDES permit requirements in new development and reconstruction through a number of policies and enforcement of the City s Grading and Stormwater ordinances. In this permit year, the City processed two new development applications for projects that fall under the C.3 requirements bringing the number of covered projects to twenty since Provision C.3 was adopted by the Regional Water Quality Control Board. Planning and Engineering staff distributed brochures and fact sheets on Provision C.3 requirements at the earliest design stage possible. To ensure effective operation and maintenance of stormwater treatment facilities, staff recognized the importance of their being constructed according to the approved plan. Staff used an inspection checklist to verify construction of these facilities, which listed several milestones during different stages. We had 34 new site development permits and 10 projects carried over from previous years. Of these permits, 30 involved site grading and remained active during wet weather, requiring erosion control plans to be implemented. Engineering inspectors monitored construction sites regularly to ensure adequacy of stormwater quality control measures. They also inspected projects prior to the beginning of the wet season to ensure implementation and throughout the season for adequacy of erosion/sediment controls.a total of 646 drive-by and on-site inspections were performed on these projects during the rainy season. This is an average of 19 driveby and on-site inspections per site during rainy season. Two Stop Work Orders and six verbal warnings were issued for non-compliance by our Engineering inspectors. An average of seven inspections was conducted during dry weather. B. Public Education and Industrial Outreach Protecting the environmental by preventing pollution and conserving natural resources are goals the City strives to achieve through a number of activities, public outreach events and programs. Our annual expenditure for the public education program exceeded $65,000 per year in addition to the City s contribution of $33,250 toward regional educational efforts administered by the Contra Costa Clean Water Program. The City continued co-sponsoring free educational workshops to residents, local educators and businesses through its partnerships with Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority, Central Contra Costa Sanitary District (CCCSD), East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), Gardens at Heather Farm, the Watershed Project, Urban Creek Council, Kathy Kramer Consulting and other municipalities. The City is a member of the Bay-Friendly Coalition, a regional effort that provides critical leadership and consistent standards for sustainable landscaping practices. 1

2 The City co-sponsored a series of 2009 Bay-Friendly Landscaping: Training and Qualification workshop series, which was attended by 42 professional landscapers. Six City staff attended the workshop and successfully qualified as Bay-Friendly landscapers. Two Healthy Gardening workshops were offered to residents through a partnership with Gardens at Heather Farm. Additionally, the City funded a Kids in Gardens workshop through the Watershed Project on October. Eighteen teachers attended the workshop and learned the importance of clean water and how to decrease urban runoff pollution into our watersheds. The 2009 Bringing Back the Natives garden tours that the City co-sponsored received overwhelming interest from the general public. About 5,244 people registered on-line with an additional 600 people took the tour through walk-in registration. Nearly 14,000 garden visits were made on the day of the tour. The number of visits to each garden varied from a low 56 visitors at the El Sobrante Library to a high 709 at the Ledgerwood garden in Walnut Creek. About 235 volunteers participated at the City s Annual Creek Cleanup Day in May and removed approximately 40 cubic yards of debris from downtown creeks. Two student interns installed 150 and City crew installed 17 permanent storm drain decals throughout the City. The location and type of storm drain decals were entered into the City s Geographic Information System (GIS) map for easy tracking. Most residents and students asked during community events recalled seeing the message of No Dumping Drains to Creek on the decals affixed to the storm drain inlets. The City engaged businesses in a number of different ways including co-funding the Contra Costa Green Business Program. The program recognizes and promotes businesses and government agencies that voluntarily conduct their operations in an environmentally responsible way. To date, the City of Walnut Creek has received five Green Business awards. Eighty-three businesses in the City are certified as having met the highest environmental standards. The City actively supports recycling of household hazardous materials, yard clippings, and other wastes as a way to control pollution at its source. The City allocated its share of $17,850 of the used oil recycling block grant to the Mr. Funnelhead, a program designed to promote the recycling of used motor oil and oil filters through school education and recycling center certification. Walnut Creek residents recycled 4,595 gallons of used motor oil, 13,239 gallons of paints, 1,737 gallons of pesticides, and 24,577 gallons of miscellaneous hazardous materials at the household hazardous waste collection facility operated by the CCCSD in Martinez. Additionally, the City recycled 11,345 pounds of glass, metals, aluminum and bi-metal containers at public parks, open space areas and public buildings. About 46 City employees participated in the Commute Alternative program (such as car-pooling, walking, and using public transportation and bicycles), and over 143 City employees participated in either Telecommuting or Flex Work programs to reduce traffic congestion and transportation usage. In May, the City promoted and participated in Bike to Work Day and hosted one energizer station to reward cyclists on their healthy, non-polluting commute to work and home. At this station, staff counted 106 riders stopped. C. Municipal Maintenance 2

3 City crews swept a total of 13,100 curb miles and removed 2,462 cubic yards of debris, including leaf materials during fall season. In this permit year, the City hired Brown and Caldwell to perform detailed sampling and analysis of its street sweeping materials. The analysis performed was to include potential parameters that may be necessary to prepare a waste profile for disposal purposes. In general, the laboratory results for the sweeping materials appeared to be normal when compared to results for other residential communities with little or no industrial activity. Consistent with its commitment to implementing Sustainable Principles, the City replaced its older fleet with those operating on alternative energy. Currently, we have seven hybrid vehicles, two compressed natural gas (CNG) pickup trucks, two electric-powered carts, one ethanol/gasoline-powered mini van and six ethanol/gasoline Police cars. All City diesel-powered vehicles and equipment are powered by Bio-Diesel fuel, which produces cleaner air discharges. The City is doing its part to conserve natural resources by turning off water features at some public playgrounds. All irrigation systems at public parks use a smart irrigation control system that tailors water needs to plant type, soil type, sun exposure and weather condition. The new technology reduced water usage at public parks significantly. The majority of our roadside ditches are privately maintained. Maintenance staff mailed out reminder letters to property owners to remove over-grown vegetation and maintain the drainage conveyance system within their properties. Public Services crews inspected and cleaned 4,172 storm drain inlets, 113 culverts, 18 miles of constructed channels, and 23 trash racks. They removed about cubic yards of debris from these facilities during routine maintenance and an additional 40 cubic yards during the Annual Creek Cleanup event. City crews followed the established schedules outlined in the Drainage Maintenance Plan, which divided the City s sphere of influence into 15 municipal maintenance zones. The goal is to complete all maintenance in these zones at least once a year. Heavy winter and spring storms require that the crews clean catch basins more frequently in areas prone to erosion. Inspection, cleaning and maintenance activities were entered into Cartegraph asset management database and GIS map for ease of tracking. Public Services Department adopted an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Administrative Policy, which outlines an ecosystem-based strategy that focused on long-term prevention of pests through a combination of biological control, habitat manipulation, and modification of cultural practices. The document outlined roles and responsibilities of different City staff and established procedures for various activities. The City s Park Maintenance Division no longer uses a fixed schedule of spraying pesticides. Landscape maintenance crews now spray on an as-needed basis only. In sensitive areas, mechanical methods are being used, though this practice has become expensive over the years. When selecting the appropriate herbicide, supervisors consider the overall risk to the applicator and impact to the environment. In this permit year, City maintenance crews and City contractors applied 1,364 3

4 pounds of pesticides in both solid and liquid forms. They applied about 16,527 pounds of fertilizers. Twenty-six of the 38 full-time Parks employees have obtained a Qualified Applicator s Certificate (QAC), Qualified Applicator s License or Pest Control Advisor s License. Stormwater-related trainings on pollution prevention and installing erosion control measures were held in December. A total of 57 employees attended four in-house trainings, which were followed by field trips to the Walnut Creek Library project site. Four City employees attended a Municipal Maintenance Workshop in April, which highlighted the proposed Municipal Regional Permit (MRP), recycling of waste tires, sewer overflow regulatory requirements and spill response procedures. D. Inspection Activities On behalf of the City, CCCSD inspectors conducted 186 initial inspections and reinspections with 69 follow-up inspections or enforcement. The City s goal was to conduct 153 total inspections for the year. District inspectors issued 23 Notices of Violation for confirmed violations and 25 Warning Notices for potential nonstormwater discharges. The number of citations issued was almost double compared to the prior year. Restaurants continued to be the primary violators observed during these inspections, receiving 16 of the 48 citations issued. Trash, poor housekeeping practices and illegal washing activities were primary reasons for issuing citations. When a problem occurs in a common area (such as trash enclosure) and no single tenant can be identified as the responsible party, it is our policy to issue citations to all tenants in the retail complex. This explained the higher number of citations issued in this permit year. District inspectors distributed 627 pieces of informational material during their inspections this permit year. The NPDES Coordinator mailed letters to building owners and property managers informing them of proper surface cleaning BMPs to share with their employees and cleaning contractors. The letters generated few inquiries from owners about the Bay Area Stormwater Agencies Association (BASMAA) s list for certified surface cleaners. The NPDES Coordinator and inspector responded to 69 callouts, mostly related to contractors without City permits and individual homeowners. City staff issued 11 verbal warnings, eight written Warning Notices and 12 Notices of Violation. Most citations were issued to pool maintenance and concrete contractors. Additionally, we received two referrals from CCCSD inspectors, which the City Attorney s Office pursued. In October, the NPDES Coordinator gave a joint presentation with the City of Concord s Stormwater Manager at the Contra Costa Annual Inspector workshop on the After-Hour Surveillance program. The workshop was well received. Five City staff attended the workshop. E. Illicit Discharge Control Activities 4

5 The City s Stormwater Ordinance prohibits discharge of non-stormwater into the City s conveyance system. This was enforced through the Illicit Discharge Control Activities (IDCA) inspections, which typically are done in May of each year. Ten storm drain inlets and outfalls in the low-priority, 10 in the medium-priority, and 20 in the high-priority field screening areas were randomly selected due to their proximity to a waterway, land-use designation or prior stormwater violations. From the inspections, we found a few of the inlets in downtown areas to contain cigarette butts, food wrappers and a small amount of debris. Debris removal was part of the inspection program. Illegal dumping or spill incidents in the public right-of-way within the City limit are few. If they do occur, our Maintenance crew will clean them up within 24 hours after being reported to the City. The City of Walnut Creek has an aggressive program to tackle littering or trash problems through our Code Enforcement and Clean Water program. Trash most commonly found within public right-of-way was typically blown from adjacent freeways or businesses with open dumpsters. The NPDES Coordinator continued to work closely with the City s Maintenance supervisor to coordinate call-out response efforts. Field crews have become familiar with the inspection process and they participated in a round-table discussion on how the response process can be improved. Four spill incidents occurred due to auto accidents and illegal dumping incidents. Five incidents involved discharge of chlorinated swimming pool water by contractors and homeowners. Public Services crews and new customer service counter staff members were trained on using the spill response process and routing calls to appropriate staff/agency. Overall, we strive to improve our performance in meeting the City s NPDES Permit requirements through process improvements, public outreach and educations. There is more awareness toward stormwater pollution and environmental stewardship in general as evidenced by the increased participation of Walnut Creek residents and public employees. 5