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Stormwater Group

The Stormwater Group was established in 1998 to encourage and promote practical solutions to stormwater and road run-off management, by coordinating stormwater knowledge and making it available to practitioners.  Its membership comprises local authorities, regional council representatives and the New Zealand Transport Agency.

In 2002 the Group brought together roading and stormwater managers and researchers to establish what the stormwater issues were.  The evidence presented at this conference has since determined the work programme of the Group.  A series of seminars was conducted throughout New Zealand in 2007 and  2008. A special session on road run-off issues was chaired by the Group at the Stormwater 2009 conference.

The Group has acted as the steering group for research into the vehicle emissions factor in road run-off contamination of stormwater and supported seminars to present the findings. It is currently a part of the steering group for field trials of innovative stormwater treatment technologies.

The Group records its appreciation of the roles played by the late Alan Watton as its convenor from its inception to 2006 and by Graeme Tong of Palmerston North City Council as convenor from early 2007 to 2010.

Current members are:

  • Jon Schwass, Napier City Council
  • Ross Nicholson, Horowhenua District Council
  • Craig Redmond, New Zealand Transport Agency
  • Dale Nicholls, New Zealand Transport Agency
  • Balt Gregorius, New Zealand Transport Agency
  • Nicci Wood, Wellington City Council
  • Ted Taylor, Greater Wellington Regional Council
  • Hayden Easton, Auckland Regional Council
  • Wayne Newman, Administrator and convenor
Current Topics

The Group is part of the steering group for current NIWA research evaluating the performance of treatment devices in field trials.  The results of previous research on road run-off have been presented in seminars in Wellington and Christchurch, and to the Stormwater Conference in Rotorua. The research report has now been published and can be accessed at http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/research/reports/395  See our presentations page.

A "Stormwater Risk Assessment Guide for Road Engineers", in the form of a single-page "Environmental Risk Assessment Flowchart for Road Runoff" with an accompanying guidance document, can be downloaded from the bottom of this page. 

The NZTA has published its Stormwater Treatment Standard for State Highway Infrastructure and has run workshops for consultants and interested individuals. The Standard can be found at http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/stormwater-management/stormwater-management.html 

ARC ran a programme of seminars in 2009 on stormwater issues, including presentations on contaminants and treatment and the new ARC 'Proprietary Devices Evaluation Protocol'. The full seminar programme presentations can be found at http://www.arc.govt.nz/environment/water/stormwater/stormwater-seminar-july-2009.cfm Details of the current winter Training Education Programme courses are available below, too.

ARC has recently been looking at filter and silt socks as sediment control and filtration devices. The socks consist of a mesh tube filled with material such as compost or straw which filters run-off. They are effective sediment management tools (especially on small, low gradient sites) and secondary containment structures.

Meetings & Workshops
Resources

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