The live, free webcast titled, “Making Urban Trees Count” is Wednesday, June 21, 2017, 1pm to 2:30pm, at the Town of Colonie, Public Operations Center, 347 Old Niskayuna Road, Latham, NY. If you’d like to attend, please call or e-mail to reserve a seat: swcoalition@albanycounty.com or 447-5645.

From the Center for Watershed Protection website: “The water quality benefits of forests are widely accepted, yet very few studies have successfully quantified the runoff and pollutant-reducing impacts of trees in the urban landscape. Using everything from individual street trees up to small patches of forest as a stormwater best management practice (BMP) is hampered by this uncertainty of how to “credit” urban trees for runoff and pollutant load reduction. This webcast will review the available stormwater crediting systems for urban tree planting and will present a new crediting system that includes a design specification for urban tree planting that can be integrated into state and local compliance  systems for stormwater management, TMDLs and other water quality requirements.”

This Center for Watershed Protection webcast was purchased by the Stormwater Coalition of Albany County as part of their public education and outreach program. See flyer for details. For information about other Center for Watershed Protection webcasts go to the Center’s website.

The Stormwater Coalition Board of Director’s is meeting Friday, June 16, 2017 at the Town of Colonie, Public Operations Center, 347 Old Niskayuna Rd, Latham, NY 12110, 8:30am to 10:00am. For more information, contact swcoalition@albanycounty.com.

By June 1, regulated MS4/municipalities must file with NYSDEC an Annual Report which describes progress over the past year implementing requirements named in the MS4 Stormwater Permit. As required by the Permit, prior to finalizing the report, a DRAFT Annual Report is made available for public comment.

The links below point to the DRAFT Joint Stormwater Coalition MS4 Permit Annual Report for the reporting year ending March 9, 2017. Individual Annual Reports for all 12 Coalition members are included in the report, which due to its size has been broken up into sets.

Set 1 DRAFT 2017 Joint Coalition Annual Report: Albany County; University at Albany-Uptown; City of Albany; Town of Bethlehem

Set 2 DRAFT 2017 Joint Coalition Annual Report: City of Cohoes; Town of Colonie; Village of Colonie; Village of Green Island

Set 3 DRAFT 2017 Joint Coalition Annual Report: Town of Guilderland; Village of Menands; Town of New Scotland; City of Watervliet

The Annual Report itself is a standardized form developed by NYSDEC which can be explained in further detail upon request. Please use the website Public Comment interface to submit your comments and as needed to request a meeting. The public comment period ends May 19, 2017, 4pm and the FINAL Joint Annual Report will be posted after June 1.

For more detailed information regarding program priorities and measurable goals, see the recently updated Joint Stormwater Management Program Plan – 2015 to 2018 (SWMPv5, dated April 24, 2017). 

For information about the stormwater regulations, Coalition, and program activities, explore the Coalition website; Member website links; and reach out to the public contact named on the Member page.

The Stormwater Coalition Board of Director’s is meeting Friday, March 17, 2017 at the Town of Colonie, Public Operations Center, 347 Old Niskayuna Rd, Latham, NY 12110, 8:30am to 11:30am. For more information, contact swcoalition@albanycounty.com.

A NYSDEC 4 Hour Erosion and Sediment Control Construction Activity Training, presented by David Mosher, CPESC is scheduled for April 5, 2017 at the William Rice Center, 24 Martin Road, Voorheesville, NY. This event is organized by the Albany County Soil and Water Conservation District (ACSWCD), with the Stormwater Coalition of Albany County a co-sponsor.  See flyer and registration form for program details. This program pertains to requirements detailed in the NYSDEC SPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Construction Activity.

The Stormwater Coalition Board of Director’s is meeting Friday, January 20, 2017 at the Town of Colonie, Public Operations Center, 347 Old Niskayuna Rd, Latham, NY 12110, 8:30am to 10:00am. For more information, contact swcoalition@albanycounty.com.

The Stormwater Coalition of Albany County has (2) vacancies for the position of Stormwater Program Technician Assistant. (See Job Description & Application Information). They are 40 hr/wk positions with benefits, salary competitive, contingent on experience. These multi-year grant funded positions will focus on mapping stormwater infrastructure owned and operated by regulated municipalities. Training provided as needed. Some academic coursework required, however work experience, ability to work with others, and a commitment to protecting and improving water quality is highly valued.

The live, free webcast titled, “Non-Traditional MS4s” is Wednesday, November 16, 2016, 1pm to 2:30pm, at the Town of Colonie, Public Operations Center, 347 Old Niskayuna Road, Latham, NY. If you’d like to attend, please call or e-mail to reserve a seat: swcoalition@albanycounty.com or 447-5645.

This is the second of two 2016 Center for Watershed Protection webcasts purchased by the Stormwater Coalition of Albany County as part of the Coalition public education and outreach program. See See flyer for details. For information about other Center for Watershed Protection webcasts go to the Center’s website.

From the Center for Watershed Protection website: “Some MS4s have their own unique characteristics that make developing a stormwater plan a challenge. Examples of non-traditional MS4s include college campuses, airports, and prisons. This webcast will look at how these special MS4s are treated in the regulatory process, and examine unique characteristics for successful planning.”

The live, free webcast titled, “Retrofitting Revisited: Forward Into the Past” is Wednesday, October 12, 2016, 1pm to 2:30pm, at the Town of Colonie, Public Operations Center, 347 Old Niskayuna Road, Latham, NY. If you’d like to attend, please call or e-mail to reserve a seat: swcoalition@albanycounty.com or 447-5645.

This is the first of two 2016 Center for Watershed Protection webcasts purchased by the Stormwater Coalition of Albany County as part of the Coalition public education and outreach program. See See flyer for details. For information about other Center for Watershed Protection webcasts go to the Center’s website.

From the Center for Watershed Protection website: “This webcast will focus on the restoration of urban and suburban watersheds through stormwater retrofitting. In particular, we will revisit some past case studies highlighted in earlier webcasts and discuss the design and implementation of stormwater retrofit practices, how the retrofits have been performing, and what lessons we learned during the process. The webcast will also provide information about the cost and pollutant removal performance of stormwater retrofits.”

The Stormwater  Coalition is organizing 4 volunteer stream monitoring events, Thursday evenings from 4pm to 8pm, 7/7; 7/14; 7/21; and 7/28. No experience necessary! We will be monitoring in the Krumkill, Bozenkill, Vlomanskill, and Dry River watersheds. See flyer for details.