SMC preparing to kick off pilot phase to build regional BMP performance monitoring network

The Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition (SMC) is preparing to kick off the initial pilot phase of a SCCWRP-led effort to build a regional network for monitoring the performance of a wide variety of structural stormwater BMPs (best management practices) across Southern California.

The SMC’s Regional BMP Monitoring Network, expected to be operational in 2023, will help address significant, persistent knowledge gaps in managers’ understanding of how to optimize the operation, maintenance and performance of these water-quality control measures.

During the pilot phase, scheduled to begin this winter, SMC member agencies are investigating two key aspects of BMP performance: (1) what levels and types of pollutants are being removed by flow-through bioretention/biofiltration BMPs, and (2) the rates at which sediment loading into multiple types of BMPs decreases the infiltration rates of runoff.

Results from the pilot monitoring are expected to be available in summer 2023.