Change size

Print

Urban stormwater best practice environmental management guidelines

The Urban Stormwater Best Practice Environmental Management Guidelines (BPEMG) are a toolbox designed to meet the needs of people involved in the planning, design and/or management of urban land uses or stormwater systems. The BPEMG can be downloaded from the CSIRO website (PDF file, 265KB).

The BPEM establishes stormwater quality objectives to assist in determining the level of stormwater management necessary to meet the State Environment Protection Policy (SEPP) - Waters of Victoria objectives.  SEPP Waters of Victoria is a statutory policy under section 16 of the Environment Protection Act (1970) which identifies the beneficial uses of Victoria’s waterways (http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/about_us/legislation/sepps.asp).

SEPP (Waters of Victoria) requires measures to be implemented to control the environmental impact of stormwater pollution.  The BPEMG have established best practice performance objectives for urban stormwater to assist in determining the level of stormwater management necessary to meet the SEPP Waters of Victoria requirements.

It is now a statutory requirement under the Sustainable Neighbourhoods Clause 56 - Victoria Planning Provisions (see Clause 56 section) that urban stormwater management systems for all new residential subdivisions are designed and managed to meet the current BPEM objectives.

The objectives for environmental management of stormwater are:  

Suspended solids (SS)        80% retention of the typical urban annual load
Total phosphorus (TP) 45% retention of the typical urban annual load
Total nitrogen (TN) 45% retention of the typical urban annual load
Litter 70% retention o ftypical urban annual load
Flows  Maintain discharges for the 1.5 year ARI at pre-development levels

Source: BPEMG Table 2.1 pg 15.  

THE BPEMG document also helps to improve the quality of urban stormwater entering receiving waters by providing guidance in ten key areas:

  1. Environmental performance objectives and principles.
  2. Stormwater management planning.
  3. Land use planning.
  4. Water sensitive urban design.
  5. Construction site management.
  6. Business surveys.
  7. Education and awareness;
  8. Municipal operations and enforcement.
  9. Structural treatment measures.
  10. Flow management.
The BPEMG document was published by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in 1999.  The guidelines were developed by EPA, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Melbourne Water, Municipal Association of Victoria, local government.  The guidelines are the product of considerable research and technical review of a wide range of urban stormwater management issues and measures.

 

Top