Stormwater and other hazardous wildlife attractants near airports pose a significant safety risk in our state and around the nation.
- About 75% of all civil aviation air strikes occur near airports.
- Waterfowl, gulls and raptors represent 77% of reported bird strikes causing damage to aircraft in the U.S.
In 2009, WSDOT Aviation, in coordination with WSDOT Environmental Services and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), developed a stormwater design manual to assist in the design, construction and maintenance of stormwater facilities on and near airports. The manual focuses on design modifications to decrease the attractiveness of stormwater facilities to wildlife rather than active wildlife removal measures.
The manual draws heavily on WSDOT’s Highway Runoff Manual and the Eastern and Western Washington Stormwater Management Manuals, produced by the Washington State Department of Ecology. However, the Aviation Stormwater Design Manual (ASDM) is not considered equivalent to those manuals because it does not specify when stormwater controls are required (such as the square feet of impervious surface or landscaped acreage for a project). Instead, the ASDM is considered a supplemental manual. It may be required by a permit (such as the NPDES stormwater permit), by the FAA, or because of limitations to other locally approved and equivalent stormwater manuals that do not address airport-specific safety considerations.
The manual includes design details for all stormwater facility types recommended for an airport environment, even if those BMPs are relatively unchanged from the Highway Runoff Manual or Ecology manuals. This allows the manual to be a standalone reference. Each of the BMPs in the ASDM has been assigned a number beginning with “AR” so that it is clear that the design details came from this manual. As more is learned about stormwater facilities at airports, it is anticipated that design details will be further adapted to better address airport-specific needs.
Manual Objectives:
- Reduce wildlife conflicts near airports to increase safety for people in the air and on the ground.
- Meet all applicable Department of Ecology and federal policy and regulatory requirements.
- Satisfy both water quality and safety requirements through Best Management Practices (BMPs).
- Provide guidance to assist airports, local jurisdictions and state and federal agencies in designing stormwater facilities that comply with Ecology’s stormwater manuals and FAA guidance to detour wildlife conflicts on and near airports.
- Provide predictability for airports, local jurisdictions and state and federal agencies in developing stormwater facilities to address wildlife conflicts.
Final Airport Stormwater Design Manual
Click on the below links to view each chapter of the final draft Airport Stormwater Design Manual:
We want to hear from you. Please e-mail your comments on the Airport Stormwater Design Manual to Nisha Marvel at marveln@wsdot.wa.gov.
Additional Information and Resources
July 16, 2008 Task Force Meeting Summary (pdf 39 kb)
Review Draft Aviation Stormwater Design Manual (pdf 7.7 MB)
Update Memo on Stormwater Guidance Manual (pdf 119 kb)
Airport Stormwater Guidance Manual Briefing Paper (pdf 56 kb)
Airport Stormwater Guidance Manual Technical Memo (pdf 257 kb)
September 26, 2007 Meeting Summary (pdf 31 kb)
December 18, 2006 Meeting Summary (pdf 23 kb)
April 8, 2004 Stormwater Meeting Summary
March 13, 2006 Stormwater Meeting Summary
Presentations
Task Force Meeting: December 18, 2006 pdf 1 mb)
Task Force Meeting: September 26, 2007 (pdf 1 kb)