2023 Annual Conference Agenda

Pre-Conference Workshop – Green Stormwater Infrastructure (Additional Fee Applies)

Introduction to Green Stormwater Infrastructure
Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) can be used to supplement or replace traditional gray stormwater infrastructure for managing the impacts of rain in urban areas. GSI reduces pollution and treats stormwater by retaining rainfall near its source instead of directing it to a centralized pond or treatment system. Hear the basics of GSI, and learn about available design, education, and funding resources.

Claire Lewis, Florida-Friendly Communities Statewide Coordinator
FDEP

Nathan Jagoda, Education Coordinator, Environmental Specialist III
FDEP

Green Stormwater Infrastructure Municipal and Regulatory Considerations
Local codes and ordinances can directly or indirectly restrict or prohibit use of Low-Impact Development (LID) approaches and GSI techniques. Learn about tools developed to help local governments identify sections of code that can be improved to facilitate better stormwater management, as well as available funding options for local governments.

Eban Bean, PhD, PE, Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist
University of Florida

Nathan Jagoda, Education Coordinator, Environmental Specialist III
FDEP

Green Stormwater Infrastructure Selection
Green stormwater infrastructure practices are being used more to reduce stormwater runoff and pollutant loads to receiving water bodies. Deciding what GSI to use in specific applications can be challenging. Is it the right application for the site? What maintenance practices should be considered to ensure long-term performance? The presenters will provide information on how to decide what GSI are best for a site and how to plan for maintenance to ensure performance.

Eban Bean, PhD, PE, Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist
University of Florida

Chris Bogdan, NGICP, Green Infrastructure Business Development Manager
Ferguson Waterworks

Green Stormwater Infrastructure Lessons Learned and Roundtable
Join our panel of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) experts from a variety of backgrounds. Hear case studies and lessons learned regarding the design, maintenance, and execution of GSI projects.

Eban Bean, PhD, PE, Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist
University of Florida

Chris Bogdan, NGICP, Green Infrastructure Business Development Manager
Ferguson Waterworks

Jessica Bruso, Urban Green Infrastructure BMP Specialist – Florida
Ferguson Waterworks

Nathan Jagoda, Education Coordinator, Environmental Specialist III
FDEP

Claire Lewis, Florida-Friendly Communities Statewide Coordinator
FDEP

30^th Anniversary Kickoff Celebration

Welcome, Announcements & What’s Next - Celebrating FSA’s 30 Years!

Liz Perez, FSA 2022-23 FSA President    
President, Collective Water Resources

FSA Jim Hunt Volunteer Service Award and Excellence Awards Ceremony
Join us as we recognize this year’s volunteer leader along with outstanding stormwater programs, projects, and public efforts across the state!

TRACK A – 2023 Legislative Session Review
Consideration of revisions to Florida water policy continued to receive a lot of attention in 2023.  The session will examine what was introduced, what passed and failed in 2023, and what might be reconsidered in 2024.  Attendees will have a chance to review the future of water policy and how water quality improvement programs may change in Florida.            

Diana Ferguson, Lobbyist
Florida Stormwater Association

Kevin Coyne, Regulatory Affairs
Florida Stormwater Association

TRACK B – What Lies Ahead - A Comprehensive Inland Climate Vulnerability Analysis
Alachua County recently completed one of the first climate vulnerability analyses for an inland community. This pioneering project evaluated the County's exposure to a broad range of hazards beyond flooding. This session summarizes the project and how the County identified exposure to hazards. An overview of the countywide flood model will be included along with a summary of how the County analyzed vulnerability to changes in seasonal rainfall, temperatures, and population migration.

Justin Gregory, PE, Senior Manger/Vice-President
Jones Edmunds           

Shane Williams, PhD, PE, Stormwater Engineer
Alachua County

TRACK A – Statewide Results from HB 53 20-year Needs Analysis
The results are in! HB 53 passed during the 2021 Session and required local governments operating stormwater management systems to complete a 20-year needs analysis for those systems and submit the data to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR). This session includes a compilation of the data received by EDR and covers the report submitted to the Senate President and House Speaker. This is the first time a systematic survey of stormwater systems has been conducted in Florida. The results include some interesting facts regarding costs, systems, and stormwater management activities performed by local governments in Florida.

Michael Bateman, PE, Chief Engineer
Project Hydrology

TRACK B – Canary in a Rainstorm - Flood Risk Mitigation in Pinellas County
Join us to learn how Pinellas County is actively advancing the use of existing watershed-level stormwater models and other storm forecast and stream gauge data to generate flood forecasts across the County. The session will share how this information is then used to identify localized areas that are anticipated to flood including timing, depth, and duration of inundation. Combining this with newly developed standard operating guidelines for stream gauge monitoring, the County can issue tailored flood warning notices to specific neighborhoods.              

Paul Miselis, PE, CFM, ENV SP, Water Resources Engineer
Land & Water Engineering Science

Lisa Foster, CFM, Floodplain Administrator
Pinellas County       

Kent Boulicault, PE, Principal Engineer
Singhofen & Associates

TRACK A – Statewide Stormwater Rule Status
The Florida Statewide Stormwater Rule, initiated through the 2020 Clean Waterways Act, sets a framework for stormwater management and increased nutrient removal throughout the state of Florida. It applies to all public and private developments, including residential, commercial, industrial, and permitted agricultural facilities. The rule also strengthens operation and inspection requirements and outlines how to manage stormwater runoff from construction sites. The final draft rule was published with a Notice of Change on March 24, 2023, and was filed with the Department of State on April 28, 2023. The next step in the process is ratification by the legislature which has to be done before the rule will be effective given the statewide fiscal impact of the rule change. A bill for ratification of the stormwater rule did not happen during the 2023 Legislative Session. The final rule language will be adopted but not effective 20 days after filing, until it is ratified by the legislature next year. This session will discuss the rule changes and next steps that are expected in the implementation process.

Borja Crane-Amores, Program Administrator - NPDES Stormwater Program
Division of Water Resource Management, FDEP

Emma Baird, Engineering Specialist III, NPDES Stormwater Program
Division of Water Resource Management, FDEP

TRACK B – Emerging Technologies
FSA’s practice of highlighting the latest developments in stormwater technologies and services from the private sector will be continued this year and features the top firms from Florida and other parts of the country!

TRACK A – Ocklawaha River Restoration: The End of a 50-year Federal Travesty
The subtropical Ocklawaha River and associated spring systems were dealt a direct, debilitating blow by the construction of the first phase of the Cross Florida Barge Canal in the 1960s. The Rodman dam and reservoir continue to cause significant, adverse ecological impacts to four major ecosystems – Silver Springs, the Ocklawaha and St. Johns Rivers and the South Atlantic Bight. Given the emerging, overwhelming public support to remove the dam, executive and/or legislative action is anticipated within the next year. This session will describe the restoration plan and the extensive ecological, economic and recreational benefits that would accrue from its implementation.

Casey Fitzgerald, President
Florida Springs Council

TRACK B – Don’t be Baffled by Your Baffle Box
Nutrient Separating Baffle Boxes with upflow filters are an increasingly common best management practice (BMP). This session will present the results of a 1-year water quality evaluation performed on a system installed in Orange County. The system was evaluated for total nitrogen and total phosphorus reduction, hydraulic performance, and debris collection rates. This session will present the design and construction issues encountered, lessons learned, as well as the results of the performance assessment.           

Kevin Tyre, Water Resource Scientist
Geosyntec Consultants            

Mike Hardin, PhD, PE, CFM, Principal Engineer
Geosyntec Consultants

TRACK C – Funding for Integrated Waters Resource Management Initiatives
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has created new funding streams that are available to support municipalities in their Integrated Water Resource strategies within their communities. This session will focus on the programs that have been created to assist with funding to rehabilitate and upgrade water infrastructure projects with innovative design strategies to improve water quality and public health and safety involving this valuable resource. 

Carlton Spirio, PE, Section Director, Drainage/Environmental Group
Burgess & Niple

Why is it important to calibrate a flood risk assessment model to past events if the model is used to simulate hypothetical, synthetic extreme conditions? This session will provide an overview of calibration approaches of an integrated surface water/groundwater model. Specific examples will be provided from the Palm Beach County model developed to evaluate items such as sea level rise, changing climate conditions and land use changes as a part of the SFWMD’s Flood Protection Level of Service Program will be highlighted.

Maria Loinaz, PhD, PE, Principal Engineer
Collective Water Resources

TRACK B – Grey to Green with ICPR
So, you want to go from grey to green on that roadway redevelopment project? It can be a daunting task with fifty or more individual BMPs of varying types, all hydraulically interconnected, with many that depend on percolation. How effective will the overall green system be for pollutant load reductions with so many complex interactions? And let’s say the load reductions are great, will the redeveloped roadway flood? A little scary, isn’t it? This session will demonstrate how ICPR can be used to model not only the hydrology and hydraulics of these systems but also water quality aspects such as pollutant load removal efficiencies.     

Pete Singhofen, PE, Founder
Streamline Technologies

TRACK C – Holistic Flood Management and Modeling Under Climate Impacts
Municipalities and utilities are facing unprecedented challenges in planning for extreme precipitation and flooding that are occurring more frequently and unpredictably. This session will review a Water Research Foundation project that builds upon and consolidates ongoing research in urban flooding and adaptive planning to develop an informed synthesis document for municipalities and utilities currently facing climate-driven challenges, moving toward a holistic approach to flood mitigation planning and modeling.

Andrea Crumpacker, Principal
Stantec

As part of a review of the regional water management infrastructure, a Flood Protection Level of Service (FPLOS) analysis was performed for a 200-square mile area in central Miami-Dade County. An analysis of storms under current and future Sea Level Rise conditions was performed to determine the Level of Service provided as well as potential flood mitigation strategies. This session will provide an overview of how to develop flood mitigation strategies that address current and future flooding concerns.       

Stephanie Long-Marquez, PE, PhD, Senior Engineer
Chen Moore

Laura Vogle, Senior Engineer
Chen Moore

TRACK B – Guiding Groundwater BMPs for Restoration of the Indian River Lagoon
Join us as we present the findings of a long standing groundwater nutrient monitoring effort that compared communities on septic tanks, sewer, and sewer with reclaimed water. Some of the septic and reclaimed communities were prioritized for groundwater BMPs, such as septic to sewer connections and wastewater treatment facility upgrades. This session will provide background information of pre-retrofit nutrient fingerprints as well as a post implementation sneak peek of selected groundwater BMPs. 

Claudia Listopad, PhD, President
Applied Ecology    

TRACK C – Green Infrastructure BMPs for Stormwater Flooding and Water Quality
Due to aging drainage infrastructure and a lack of capacity during flooding conditions the Town of Lake Park set out to conduct a comprehensive update of their Stormwater Masterplan (SWMP).  This session will provide an overview of the plan and how it seeks to apply state-of-the-art planning approaches including Green Infrastructure-based Low Impact Development Best Management Practices (BMPs) for stormwater management and climate change abatement town-wide.        

Raul Mercado, PE, CFM, Principal Engineer
WRMA

Michael Mercado, PE, Principal Engineer
WRMA

It’s time to relax!  So get comfortable and join us in your favorite flip flops for snacks, drinks, and the chance to win a door prize.  This will be the final hour to visit FSA’s Exhibitors, be sure to stop by to learn more about Florida’s emerging stormwater technologies!

TRACK A – Options for Achieving Enhanced Stormwater Removal to Meet the New Statewide Stormwater Rule
The new Statewide Stormwater Rule requires substantially higher levels of nutrient removal compared with current standards which will require significant revisions to traditional design techniques. This session will review how a multi-faceted approach will be needed to achieve the new removal goals.

Harvey Harper, PhD, PE
Environmental Research & Design

TRACK B – Improving Resiliency and Life-Cycle Costs of a Nutrient Reduction
Learn how the Lake County Water Authority is upgrading its Nutrient Reduction Facility to be more resilient to highly variable flows resulting from extreme weather events. Operating since 2009, the facility’s primary function is to remove phosphorous from the waters of the Upper Ocklawaha River Basin downstream of Lake Apopka.            

Scott Shannon, PE, Principal
Woodard & Curran       

Josh Schmitz, PE, Senior Technical Manager
Woodard & Curran

TRACK C – Biosolids Land Application - Can Phosphorus Pollution be Reduced?
The land application of biosolids has provided nutrients and organics to agricultural land for decades. Historically biosolids application rates have been calculated on the nitrogen (N) content alone, which can result in the over application of phosphorus (P).  This session will provide an overview of a project set out to identify and evaluate technologies to reduce P content in biosolids to reduce its contribution to pollution. This session is focused on identification, screening and evaluation of proven and promising P-recovery technologies that may reduce the P content in biosolids and/or the availability of the P to be transported after land application to surface or ground water.

Vickie Hoge, Environmental Scientist IV
SJRWMD

Tony Janicki, President
Janicki Environmental

TRACK A – A Look Back at the First Year of Operation of a Smart Stormwater Pond
Florida's first Continuous Monitoring and Adaptive Controlled (CMAC) pond began operation in June 2022 in Hillsborough County. This session will look back at the facility’s design and permitting, its construction, and its first year of operation including a detailed review of the data collected and expected vs. actual operation. Finally, the session will examine nutrient removal estimates calculated by the model, based on what really happened.    

Mark Thomasson, PE, LEED-AP, Executive Vice President
National Stormwater Trust

TRACK B – Funding Restoration & Resilience: A National Estuary Program Approach
Funding for water quality and habitat restoration can be challenging.  This session will provide an overview of one regional programmatic response to funding challenges and the opportunities available for protection, restoration, and enhancement of natural resources.        

Jessica Lewis, Program Support Specialist
Tampa Bay Estuary Program