Sustainable Stormwater Management Plan for Franklin County

Overview

Managing stormwater runoff is increasingly difficult with climate change and the more frequent and intense storm events we are experiencing. Sustainable stormwater management utilizes Best Management Practices (BMPs) that capture, clean, and store water on site, close to where it falls, and in doing so, effectively reduce runoff and improve water quality. BMPs that manage stormwater associated with roads and other major development projects are also known as Low Impact Development (LID). Stormwater management practices in a rural area like Franklin County are an essential component of efforts to preserve natural resources, protect critical transportation infrastructure, and foster sustainable growth and development. 

Many of the county’s more developed urban and village centers are historic and located along rivers where factories once operated. In these settings, it is common that the municipal stormwater drainage infrastructure is aging, undersized, and extremely susceptible to hazards caused by large volumes of stormwater. The need for incorporating stormwater management BMPs into municipal redevelopment projects in urban centers is increasingly urgent in the context of climate change. The co-benefits that are possible with sustainable stormwater management – including increased climate resilience, enhanced water quality and natural resource protection, expanded pollinator and wildlife habitat, and community beautification, for example – add to their value and importance compared to conventional techniques, in which drainage is the singular purpose.

Franklin County’s roads are the backbone of our communities and represent the majority of the county’s infrastructure. These roads, particularly the 419 miles of unpaved roads in Franklin County, are vulnerable to more intense rain events. Eroding unpaved roads can channel rainfall runoff into waterways, causing flooding and increasing erosion, and depositing sediment into high quality streams, rivers, and lakes. Many of the unpaved roads cross through the county’s undeveloped forested areas and agricultural land, and over streams. Accelerated erosion and runoff from unpaved roads can concentrate and increase runoff from upland areas into rivers and streams, leading to downstream flooding.  

This StoryMap provides an overview of FRCOG's Sustainable Stormwater Management Plan for Franklin County and presents some of the primary findings and recommendations. You can scroll through the StoryMap to learn about stormwater BMPs in different contexts, or use the navigation bar at the top to read about a specific project type.

The full Plan and Stormwater Pilot Technical Reports are available below.

Pilot Communities

The goal of FRCOG's Sustainable Stormwater Management project is to help Franklin County communities become more familiar with stormwater BMPs and support implementation of practices in priority locations by providing the initial screening, site assessment, conceptual designs, and potential funding pathways for towns to implement them. By implementing a pilot approach for stormwater management in three (3) typical sites and characteristic road infrastructure project settings – Rural Roads, Downtown Revitalization, and Complete Streets – this plan identifies major stormwater impacts affecting most or all Franklin County towns, common challenges faced by Highway Departments in addressing these challenges, and potential opportunities for implementing stormwater BMPs in the pilot communities and beyond. 

The next three sections provide examples of pilot studies in each of the selected project settings.

Downtown Revitalization

FRCOG staff selected “Downtown Revitalization” as a pilot community category because of the opportunities available in the downtown central business districts in the region to align multiple projects and funding sources. Like most urban areas, there is very little undeveloped space remaining in downtowns to retrofit or add stormwater management. By focusing on communities with ongoing downtown revitalization projects, these pilot studies demonstrate how to integrate the installation of stormwater management BMPs into larger construction projects. FRCOG partnered with Orange, Erving, and Greenfield to identify projects and select BMPs. Aligning project funding and BMP implementation will result in the more efficient use of resources and, in the long run, save money for municipalities and the Commonwealth. The pilot studies for Orange, Erving, and Greenfield provide a template that town officials can use as they piece together the funding and BMP implementation puzzle. The pilot communities described below range from large, central business districts to dense, residential neighborhoods. 

In the Stormwater Pilot Technical Report (linked above), FRCOG staff identified two stormwater BMP projects in each of the three pilot communities. One of the two projects and concept designs is highlighted for each community in the following slides. Please view the technical report for more information on each project.

Examples of BMPs identified for Downtown Revitalization Pilot Communities

City of Greenfield

Stormwater BMPs for Greenfield were identified for a large downtown parking lot on Legion Avenue. Redevelopment of the parking lot is currently being planned, so the timing is optimal for the City Engineer to incorporate ideas identified in the stormwater management concept designs into design development and project implementation. The concept design includes several locations on the periphery of the parking lot where stormwater bioretention basins with sediment forebays could be located and recommends the use of linear infiltration basins in between rows of parking. 

This photo is of the current conditions at the Legion Avenue/Greenfield Market Parking Lot. The proposed design for the site will manage stormwater runoff, provide pollutant removal and decrease the standing pools of water, as well as improve the aesthetics of the parking lot.

Town of Orange

A major street redevelopment project on South Main Street in Orange is an excellent opportunity for integrating stormwater BMPs with planned municipal road work funded by a MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant. The site assessment and conceptual plan recommends incorporating linear bioretention areas into proposed new streetscapes, upgrading to deep sump catchbasins, and including native street trees and shrubs into streetscape beautification plantings, especially in the bioretention areas/raingardens.

Town of Erving

A dense, residential neighborhood located on steep slopes below Farley Ledges was assessed for stormwater BMPs to deal with flash flooding in the street and front yards of several homes. A series of strategically located bioretention areas were identified to capture runoff from the recently re-crowned road. The Highway Department can utilize space in the right-of-way, which is wider than the current road surface, to accommodate the basins which can be planted with native herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees to suit the neighborhood setting.

Complete Streets

FRCOG selected municipalities with approved Complete Streets plans as another pilot community category. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s (MassDOT) Complete Streets program provides planning and implementation funding to create “complete streets,” in which all travel modes – walking, biking, transit, and vehicles – are safe and accessible for people of all ages and abilities. In order to become a Complete Streets community and receive construction funding, a town must have created a prioritized list of projects that will improve safe travel on their streets. From the perspective of this project, these Prioritization Plans are a list of opportunities in which construction projects may be occurring in the near future along streets that are in need of improved stormwater management. The Complete Streets construction funding is limited in scope to only funding improvements that are directly related to transportation improvements listed in the Prioritization Plan. While this prevents this funding from being used for stormwater management, it is still an opportunity to align other funding sources to conduct one integrated construction project at one time. 

In the Stormwater Pilot Technical Report (linked above), FRCOG staff identified two stormwater BMP projects in each of the three pilot communities. One of the two projects and concept designs is highlighted for each community in the following slides. Please view the technical report for more information on each project.

Examples of BMPs identified for Complete Streets Pilot Communities

Northfield

Integration of stormwater BMPs with Northfield’s Complete Streets Plan focused on two streets: Project #7 – located on Maple Street and Project #8 – located on Warwick Road. Both project areas are known to be susceptible to flash flooding, and in addition, the water table has risen significantly in the area. The town would like to see suitable stormwater BMPs for managing flash flooding to protect the planned Complete Street upgrades from flooding in the presence of the high water table. Recommendations highlighted the potential for linear bioretention areas compatible with planned sidewalk upgrades, and to include native street trees and shrubs into bioretention areas/raingarden plantings.

As shown in the concept design, Warwick Road is flanked by a wetland on both sides. When a sidewalk is constructed as a part of a Complete Streets project, installing linear bioretention areas will help to pre-treat stormwater before entering the wetland.

Deerfield

One of Deerfield’s Complete Streets projects focused on Pleasant Street (Project #12) in the village of South Deerfield. The Complete Streets projects proposed for Pleasant Street provided opportunities for narrow raingardens to be incorporated along with proposed new sidewalks which serve as walking routes for students attending Deerfield Elementary School as well as Frontier Regional High School. There was also an opportunity to incorporate a bioretention area to treat runoff from the High School parking lot and to improve the vegetated riparian buffer along Bloody Brook.

Complete Streets Projects #15 and #18 in Old Deerfield focus on sidewalk improvements in historic Deerfield which is highly visible and receives a large amount of pedestrian traffic throughout the year. The Complete Streets upgrade along Old Main Street is an opportunity for the Town to incorporate bioretention areas/raingardens into the overly-wide utlity strip in between the street and the sidewalk. The challenge here is how to co-locate or strategically locate raingardens around underground utilities in the median.

Montague

The Town of Montague is also looking for stormwater BMPs to address flash flooding on some of its streets. The area known as ‘the Hill’ is one of the most problematic locations, and recommendations for stormwater BMPs identified opportunities for capturing and infiltrating stormwater in the Keith Street Complete Streets Project (#17). This project recommends incorporating linear bioretention areas into designs for the sidewalk on Keith Street, ensuring that water sheds quickly into the basin where it can be infiltrated to the water table and that streets and sidewalks do not flood. Catchbasin maintenance is also critically needed in this neighborhood to mitigate localized flooding and the resulting stress on the storm drain and sewer systems. Keith Street is an important walking route to school for Sheffield Elementary students and the town wants to ensure it is kept safe from flooding.

Rural Roads

Because Franklin County is the most rural county in the Commonwealth, FRCOG staff wanted to make sure that a demonstration of stormwater management integration with rural, unpaved roads be an element of this Plan. A Rural Roads pilot town includes the towns with the smallest populations – and resources – with many unpaved roads. Unpaved roads are a particular issue in rural communities because accelerated erosion and runoff from dirt or gravel roads can concentrate and increase runoff from upland areas into rivers and streams, leading to downstream flooding and sedimentation of nearby waterbodies.  An eroding dirt or gravel road with improper stormwater management also causes high maintenance costs for towns with very limited resources and threatens residents with closed, washed-out roadways. 

There are currently not many resources available in Massachusetts to help rural communities with the maintenance and stormwater management of unpaved roads. This Plan provides a guide that small towns can use for the initial assessment of an unpaved road and determining which stormwater BMPs may be most suitable and effective. The pilot studies described below show how roads that are similar throughout Franklin County could have improved stormwater management and be more resilient. 

In the Stormwater Pilot Technical Report (linked above), FRCOG staff identified two stormwater BMP projects in each of the three pilot communities. One of the two projects and concept designs is highlighted for each community in the following slides. Please view the technical report for more information on each project.

Examples of BMPs identified for Rural Road Pilot Communities

Leverett

The Leverett Highway Department is managing stormwater on dirt roads by ensuring that roads are crowned and shedding water, keeping drainage swales and culverts cleared of sediment and debris, and creating large bioretention areas in strategic locations for capturing and storing stormwater off the road sides. However, locating suitable locations for bioretention areas is a challenge on private property, and stormwater easements may be a necessary tool for the town to access sufficient space to implement stormwater management practices. The town’s existing basins should be improved with other BMPs like outlet sediment traps, sediment forebays, and level spreaders, which would improve water quality benefits by establishing a treatment train of multiple, interconnected practices.

Existing drainage swales should be upgraded to rip-rap lined waterways to prevent down-cutting erosion. The Broad Hill Road site demonstrates the need for these upgrades to existing systems already put into place by the Highway Department. Pictured here is an example of the down-cutting erosion on Broad Hill Road in Leverett.

New Salem

Similar to Leverett, the Town of New Salem is already managing stormwater with practices that can be readily implemented by the Highway Department, such as crowning the roads and directing stormwater through roadside swales and culverts. All too often though, the town’s road work is quickly undone by a significant precipitation event. This is the case at both Cooleyville Road locations that were assessed for stormwater BMPs in New Salem. Existing roadside swales need upgrading to riprap-lined waterways to prevent down-cutting erosion, new bioretention areas need to be located to capture, store and infiltrate stormwater, and existing basins need to be upgraded with sediment forebays and level spreaders to improve the water quality benefits of the treatment train.

Ashfield

Bug Hill Road, an unpaved road in the Town of Ashfield, was the focus area for the Town’s stormwater site assessment and stormwater BMPs due to on-going washouts, repair work, and public safety concerns resulting from stormwater impacts on the road. A steep grade combined with a right-of-way that is tightly constrained by bedrock, mature trees, and historic stone walls, means that the Highway Department has limited options for getting fast-moving stormwater off of the road surface and safely stored to the side. Mobilized sediment occasionally washes out onto Route 112 from the base of Bug Hill Road, creating a hazard to traffic traveling along the state highway.

Recommendations for stormwater BMPs on Bug Hill Road include implementing several connected, deep sump catchbasins at strategic locations in the constrained right-of-way, and upgrading an existing dry basin with a sediment forebay and level spreader where runoff can be pretreated, infiltrated, and safely overflow into the surrounding area. Riprap-lined waterways to help slow and infiltrate stormwater are needed along the roadsides with outlet sediment traps to capture sediment that can be cleaned out later. However, given the cost and technical difficulty of engineering and constructing these stormwater BMPs on Bug Hill Road, and the urgent need to reduce erosion and on-going road repair, and to ensure public safety, the Highway Department may opt for paving the road surface instead.

Paving dirt roads to deal with repetitive stormwater issues is a common response among highway departments. This is primarily due to the lack of available funding and technical assistance that small towns need in order to properly maintain and manage stormwater on the many miles of unpaved roads in their communities.

Next Steps & Resources

This Franklin County Sustainable Stormwater Plan focused on nine stormwater pilot communities and provided important lessons learned that can be applied across a broader scale and to communities of all types. While the landscape may be different between a rural, unpaved road and an urban, downtown street, for small towns in Franklin County, many of the challenges and issues are the same. A lack of staff and resources constrains a community from being able to properly assess priority locations, design effective stormwater solutions, and pursue various and complicated funding sources for implementation.

In order for small towns, like those in Franklin County, to be able to implement effective stormwater management BMPs there will need to be changes to funding sources and regulations and advocating at the state level will be a necessary action. The towns and entities, such as the FRCOG, should also continue to collaborate and explore how to more efficiently assess sites and implement appropriate BMPs. The following is an abbreviated list of recommendations related to these issues; please see the Plan for a full summary of recommendations.

  • Continue to seek funding that will take a pilot town’s preliminary BMP concepts to the next stage of design and then construction. This funding will most certainly involve state Chapter 90 funds, although this source is greatly constrained due to the overwhelming demand of just basic local road maintenance. State Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness funds are also a potential source for both design and construction funding for BMPs.
  • State Representative Natalie Blais has filed legislation to create a Dirt Road Working Group in the State Legislature. The goal of the working group is to “identify and evaluate the safe, efficient, and environmentally sound maintenance and improvement of unpaved dirt and gravel roads." The working group could create ways to streamline regulations and create funding ideas for BMP implementation on unpaved roads. FRCOG and Franklin County towns should support this effort and advocate for changes to state funding and regulations. 
  • Focus on identification of vulnerable dirt roads to preempt areas with issues and identify which types of roads should be prioritized for specific BMPs. More specifically, create a Dirt Roads Stormwater Toolkit that will provide towns with a clear and simple methodology they can use to assess unpaved roads and select appropriate BMPs based on their assessment and classification. FRCOG submitted a grant application for funding this toolkit project - stay tuned!

Questions & Comments

Sustainable Stormwater Management Plan for Franklin County

Acknowledgements

This project was completed with funding from a Massachusetts Executive Office of of Energy and Environmental Affairs Planning Assistance Grant. Match funding provided by FRCOG's 3C Transportation Planning Program.