This week, the New England Stormwater Collaborative honored VHB with a Stormy Award for our work on the Catch Basin Inspection and Cleaning Optimization project. Water Resources Engineer Kelly Siri and Water Resources Designer Colin Bergmann accepted the award this week at the annual New England Water Works Association (NEWWA) Conference, where they also presented the project with our partners at the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (MassDCR).
The Stormy Awards program seeks to identify New England’s most unique, innovative, and imaginative stormwater ideas. The Catch Basin Inspection and Cleaning Optimization project received the program's top scores in the category of Program Efficiency and Technology Support.
VHB collaborated with MassDCR to establish a catch basin inspection and cleaning program to comply with the Massachusetts Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems Permit (MS4 Permit), which requires that no catch basin can be more than 50 percent full of sediment or debris at any time.
VHB developed an innovative, data-informed GIS-based program for MassDCR to optimize inspection and cleaning schedules for over 8,000 catch basins. A priority ranking system assigns inspection frequency based on historical data and MS4 permit requirements. VHB’s custom Experience Builder visualizes inspection progress to allocate field resources efficiently—helping DCR reach their annual inspection targets and reducing the number of catch basins requiring yearly inspection by 43 percent over four years.
Read how our water resources team collaborates to deliver creative and comprehensive solutions to address a wide range of water resources issues.
