StormCon, the world’s largest stormwater conference and exposition, is taking place August 18–22 in Myrtle Beach, SC. If you’re not signed up, there is still time to take a look at what’s on offer this year. The complete program is available at www.StormCon.com. Here are some highlights.
Presentations will take place Tuesday August 20 through Thursday August 22, in six conference tracks:
- BMP Case Studies covers examples of structural and nonstructural best management practices to achieve water-quality goals.
- Green Infrastructure includes low-impact-development techniques as well as smart growth and other GI practices–increasingly relevant to the evolving stormwater regulations.
- Stormwater Program Management includes such topics as funding, public education and outreach, staffing, and regulatory compliance.
- Water-Quality Monitoring covers water-quality assessment, monitoring and sampling techniques, and modeling practices.
- Advanced Research Topics includes presentations on comparing BMP performance, evaluating different testing protocols, and trends in stormwater research.
- Erosion and Sediment Control covers techniques for construction sites and other settings, including BMP selection, permit compliance, and developing stormwater pollution prevention plans.
In addition to these six tracks, the Coastal Protection Symposium also takes place on Tuesday through Thursday, focusing on infrastructure protection in coastal cities, ports, and industrial complexes.
Exhibit Hall
Nearly 200 vendors will be on hand with the industry’s latest technologies and best management practices. Located steps away from the presentation rooms, the exhibit hall will be open throughout the conference so you can visit in between sessions, and many of the main conference events–the opening reception, luncheons, refreshment breaks, and Cyber Café–take place within the exhibit hall.
Preconference Courses
A range of full-day preconference courses covers many different topics for various levels of expertise. Each will be held on August 19.
Jerald Fifield and Tina R. Wills will continue their Designer and Reviewer Series with “Technical Assessment of Construction Site BMPs,” an advanced-level course for those who develop or review erosion and sediment control plans.
Gordon England and Stuart Stein will again present their popular course “BMP Selection to Improve Your Watershed.”
Jennifer Hildebrand will present “‘What Gets Measured Gets Managed’–How Are You Measuring Environmental Compliance?”
For the second time at StormCon, Mike Harding will lead the course “Fire and Rain: Rapid Assessment and Emergency Mitigation Measures Following Wildfires,” which is unfortunately becoming a highly relevant skill for people in many parts of the country this year.
Certification
As in past years, review courses and exams will be held for several different certifications:
- Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC)
- Certified Professional in Storm Water Quality (CPSWQ)
- Certified Erosion, Sediment, and Storm Water Inspector (CESSWI)
- Certified Inspector of Sediment and Erosion Control (CISEC)
- Certified Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Specialist (CMS4S)
The review course for each of these takes place on Sunday, August 18 (the training modules for CISEC take place on Sunday and continue on Monday morning), and the exam itself–for which you must register ahead of time with the relevant organization–is held on Monday, August 19. Even if you’re not taking an exam this year, you can sign up for the review course; in fact, I’ve heard from several people who’ve taken a review course more than once in preparation for the exam and were glad for the extra training time.
You can find more information on the conference–including the keynote address and an offsite tour, “Stormwater on Wheels: A Mobile Workshop Exploring LID Practices on the Grand Strand”–at www.StormCon.com.
