University of Minnesota co-leads new national center to accelerate urban stormwater research and technical assistance
Center is one of four of the country’s first stormwater Centers of Excellence
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (07/17/2024) — A University of Minnesota Twin Cities team is co-leading a new center funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aimed at enhancing efforts to support the nation’s water infrastructure and protect water quality. The center is expected to be funded at $1.5 million per year for five years and is one of the first national stormwater centers established by the federal government.
The University of Minnesota and the University of New Hampshire will co-lead the Cold Climate Center of Excellence for Stormwater Infrastructure Technology (CCCESIT), a collaborative effort including the National Municipal Stormwater Alliance. The new center will play an important role in conducting research on new and emerging stormwater control infrastructure technologies. A Technical Advisory Committee will include experts from across the country.
Stormwater runoff is a significant source of water pollution and a threat to the health of waterways across the country. It is a complicated problem for communities to manage because of the engineering and financial challenges associated with stormwater.
The CCCESIT will conduct cold climate stormwater research and provide technical assistance to stormwater communities. Research will be conducted at both lead universities. Nearly $700,000 will come to the University of Minnesota in the first year of funding. The interdisciplinary team at the University of Minnesota includes researchers and professionals from the College of Science and Engineering’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, and the College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Sciences’ Water Resources Center and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering.
The two initial research projects for the CCCESIT will be biofiltration (rain garden) media improvement to retain pollutants and road salt reduction strategies. CCCESIT’s work will also include technical assistance and education for stormwater researchers in both the public and private sectors as well as the greater community. The center will provide webinars, workshops, and training.
“Stormwater causes flooding in our streets and ditches, and contributes pollution to our lakes and rivers,” said Andy Erickson, research manager at the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory and co-director of CCCESIT. “In cold climates, like Minnesota, this problem is exacerbated by spring snowmelt, freeze/thaw cycles, and road salt. We are building a team of national stormwater experts that live in our neighborhoods and experience these challenges with the rest of us. We will conduct state-of-the-science research to tackle and overcome these challenges together.”
The University of Minnesota has been a leader in stormwater research for more than 20 years, producing numerous publications and technological inventions that are being used by stormwater practitioners around the country. The effort will build upon the foundation of work being led by the St. Anthony Falls Lab, Water Resources Center, Minnesota Stormwater Research Council, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering and many others.
The center hopes to increase the number of trained stormwater professionals, increase awareness about stormwater control technologies among professionals in cold climate regions of the U.S., enhance sustainable regional collaborations that support long-term stormwater regional needs, increase the number of communities that receive information on stormwater technology (state, tribal and local governments), and create a stronger involvement by local community groups.
Nationwide, the EPA announced $5 million in first-year grants to establish four new Centers of Excellence for Stormwater Control Infrastructure Technologies and a national clearinghouse for new and emerging stormwater control technologies.
Read more about the new Centers of Excellence for Stormwater Control Infrastructure Technologies on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website.