Stormwater runoff is the #1 cause of water pollution in Massachusetts and the rest of New England. In this era of increasingly extreme weather events, rainfall patterns are becoming more intense. For local towns in Franklin County, that means more rainfall and more stormwater running off of hard surfaces like roads, roofs and parking lots. Stormwater runoff picks up animal waste, oil and antifreeze, salt and sand, and many other substances and contaminants that can pollute local rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. The Western Millers River Watershed Low Impact Development (LID) Project has provided resources to assist towns in the Western Millers River Watershed in protecting their local waters from stormwater runoff and flooding.
A series of three workshops and a field trip showcasing LID installations in Franklin County were presented by the FRCOG and the Millers River Watershed Council (MRWC) in 2015 under an EPA-funded Section 319 grant administered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). The three workshops were:
- Introduction to Stormwater Management in the Western Millers River Watershed
- LID Technologies and Best Management Practices and Franklin County LID Field Trip
- Incorporating Low Impact Development (LID) into Local Bylaws and Public Projects
FRCOG and MRWC staff also prepared the following white papers for use by local officials:
- Incorporating Low Impact Development (LID) into Local Bylaws
- Integrating Green Infrastructure into Public Projects
- Economic Benefits of Low Impact Development (LID) Projects for Stormwater Management: Highlights from Recent Literature
Presentations from the workshops, the Franklin County LID Field Trip Briefing Book, and the white papers can be found on the FRCOG website at: https://frcog.org/publication/view/western-millers-river/.
