The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has developed and documented the highway-runoff database (HRDB), the stochastic empirical loading and dilution model (SELDM), and other tools and techniques for addressing highway-stormwater issues. These tools are used widely by State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Washington, and others. The number of State DOTs facing stormwater issues increases each year. Federal and State stormwater practitioners need ongoing training and technical support on stormwater issues as problems evolve and new people join stormwater-practitioner teams. Time, training, and effort are required to build a self-sustaining user base for the FHWA stormwater analysis tools. Journal articles, conference presentations, and other technical reports are needed to raise awareness among stormwater professionals. Technical support is needed to help users apply the FHWA stormwater analysis tools for their information needs. 

• 693JJ319N300063

• Planning, Environment, and Realty

• FY 2002-2022 / Planning, Environment, and Realty / Accelerating Project Delivery

• Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation
• Data and Analysis

The objective of this interagency agreement is to provide information, technical support, and training on stormwater analyses for Federal and State stormwater practitioners. Activities included in this agreement will include: 
•    Ongoing training: stormwater training classes will be provided in coordination with the FHWA and State DOTs. This may include in person and/or online training sessions.
•    Outreach: Outreach activities may include participation in Transportation Research Board meetings, National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) panels, FHWA stormwater practitioner’s meetings, stormwater conferences, and direct outreach to State DOTs and educational organizations conducting highway-stormwater research.
•    Stormwater-analysis tool maintenance: Maintenance may include data updates, bug fixes, and any required documentation changes.
•    Technical Support: Technical support may include efforts that range from responses to simple queries on highway-stormwater issues to serving on a technical advisory committee for State stormwater research projects; technical support also may include efforts to include HRDB data and SELDM analyses in reports by the USGS, FHWA, State DOTs, and the NCHRP.
•    Research Support: Research support may include efforts to identify and assess emerging highway-stormwater issues of concern to the FHWA and State DOTs.
 

The FHWA and State DOTs are, increasingly, faced with more stringent requirements for addressing adverse effects of runoff, for implementing stormwater best management practices, and for implementing total maximum daily loads. The HRDB and SELDM provide the tools to meet these needs for the trained model user. The FHWA’s mission is to improve the quality of our Nation's highway system and its intermodal connections by providing leadership, expertise, resources, and information in cooperation with its partners. The mission of the USGS is to provide reliable information to describe and understand the Earth and manage its natural resources. This information will assist resource managers and policymakers at Federal, State, and local levels in making sound decisions. In a merging of the missions of the FHWA and the USGS this project will provide scientifically defensible information about highway-stormwater issues for the FHWA and State DOTs.