Software Tools

California Phase II Low Impact Development (LID) Sizing Tool

The California Phase II Low Impact Development (LID) Sizing Tool is a web-based tool designed to assist stormwater practitioners in selecting and sizing LID Best Management Practices (BMPs) that meet sizing requirements in California's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for stormwater discharges from small municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s). Development of the LID Sizing Tool was funded by the California State Water Resources Control Boards (SWRCB) Proposition 84 Stormwater Grant Program (SWGP). The tool was developed by California State University, Sacramento's Office of Water Programs.

Basin Sizer

Basin Sizer is a software program that assists users in sizing stormwater basins anywhere in California. The program calculates water quality volumes (WQVs) and water quality flows (WQFs) using a variety of methods and data from rainfall stations throughout the state. Project locations can be selected easily by zooming and panning across a map.

Hydrologic Analysis Tool

The OWP Hydrologic Analysis Tool (HAT) standardizes calculations for event-based stormwater monitoring. It was created to prepare hydrographs for stormwater-related studies conducted by the Office of Water Programs (OWP) at California State University, Sacramento. Starting with version 2.0, HAT is being made freely available to the public for use with their required NPDES Permit monitoring and stormwater studies.

Struvite Tool

Struvite scale forms in wastewater digestion and post-digestion processes, often fouling equipment and obstructing pipes. Some facilities expend significant maintenance resources removing struvite accumulation and some facilities attempt to control struvite formation. The struvite tool is designed to calculate the struvite precipitation potential for a facility based on water quality parameters input by the user. It also allows the user to vary input parameters to determine "what if" scenarios when conditions are changed to control struvite precipitation. This tool is a must for struvite control planning. It runs within Microsoft Excel and comes with complete operating instructions.

Water Quality Planning Tool

The goal of the WQPT is to provide planners with an easy-to-use web site that has watershed information needed to create and comply with stormwater permits. Users can find a watershed through interactive maps or by entering the post-mile of a project location. For each watershed the following information is displayed:

• Water bodies with TMDLs
• Water bodies on the 303(d) list
• Water quality standards based on the State Ocean Plan and Basin Plans
• Location of Caltrans facilities (highways/freeways, maintenance facilities, park & ride lots, and rest areas)
• Maps and aerial photographs of the watershed

American River Basin Stormwater Resource Plan—Web Map

This web-based GIS map assists in identifying and evaluating stormwater capture and use project opportunities for the American River Basin Stormwater Resource Plan.

The map provides multiple layers of surface, subsurface, environmental, and community characteristics for eastern Sacramento County, western Placer County, and surrounding regions. References for GIS layers are provided in the Help section.

The California Groundwater Risk Index (GRID)

The California Groundwater Risk Index (GRID) is an interactive map that shows disadvantaged communities at risk of exposure to contaminated groundwater. Developed in 2019 to support grant-funded groundwater remediation projects, GRID combines and maps multiple data sources, including California's Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program data and the CalEnviroScreen tool, to identify disadvantaged and severely disadvantaged communities.

Trash Rapid Assessment Data Exchange (TRADE)

The Trash Rapid Assessment Data Exchange (TRADE) facilitates community-based trash monitoring programs to be used for municipal stormwater permit compliance. TRADE components include a mobile app-based data collector, a data ingestion portal, and a dashboard with data visualizations to serve multiple use cases. The website has resources to support engagement between community groups and municipal stormwater permittees, including a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP), training modules, and other resources. TRADE was developed by faculty and students at California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State), as well as staff members at the Office of Water Programs (OWP) at Sacramento State. TRADE was also developed through funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Exchange Network Grant Program.

Passive Chemical Dosing Discharge Calculator

The Passive Chemical Dosing Discharge Calculator assists users in designing environmentally safe erosion and sediment controls that use treatment chemicals at construction and industrial sites. The user defines pre-storm application for erosion control or enhanced treatment via sedimentation, and this planning tool predicts the maximum expected concentration of erosion control treatment chemicals in effluent water based on a mass balance timestep modeling approach. Developed using information gathered from a literature review of existing empirical data and existing best management practices, manufacturer and vendor guidance, and input from a technical advisory committee, the tool demonstrates the benefits of using basins to attenuate spikes in concentration over a larger volume.

Environmental Finance Center (EFC) Tools

The OWP's Environmental Finance Center (EFC) offers multiple tools and resources that support drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater professionals in building technical, managerial, and financial capacity for projects and programs, as well as planning for future needs as regulations, technology, and resources change. Tools and resources cover topics such as asset management, funding and financing, resiliency planning, cesspools and failing septic systems, and lead service line inventories. Additional resources specifically support state agency programs and small and disadvantaged communities.