Select from any of the following current and completed projects to learn more about them.
Stormwater projects
A systematic evaluation of fungal enhanced treatment of stormwater pollutants in biofiltration systems
Principal Investigator: Pickering, Nigel
Year funded: 2025
Project topics: bioretention, contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), filter media, Iron enhanced sand filter (IESF), salting and sweeping
Adaptive level control systems for maximizing stormwater pond functionality
Principal Investigator: Anderson, Cory
Year funded: 2024
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, stormwater ponds
Aeration/mixing as a remediation option for stormwater pond phosphorus release
Principal Investigator: Gulliver, John
Year funded: 2025
Project topics: stormwater ponds
Alternative stormwater sand filter enhancing agents for dissolved phosphorus retention
Principal Investigator: Gulliver, John
Year funded: 2025
Project topics: filter media, Iron enhanced sand filter (IESF)
Analysis of winter hazard and high salt areas
Principal Investigator: Klimbal, Douglas
Year funded: 2025
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, pollution prevention and source reduction, salting and sweeping
Assessing the capacity of and identifying effective resources for homeowners, associations (HOAs) and commercial property owners for proper maintenance of stormwater and green infrastructure practices
Principal Investigator: Hong, Angie
Year funded: 2023
Project topics: policy and social science
Assessment of stormwater best management practices
Principal Investigator: Anderson, James L.
Year funded: 2007
Project topics: bioretention, filter media, modeling, monitoring and mapping, salting and sweeping, stormwater ponds
Assessment of urban stormwater chloride and its impact on surface water trends
Principal Investigator: Janke, Benjamin
Year funded: 2022
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, salting and sweeping
Biofiltration media optimization – Phase II: Multi-year performance, impacts of road salt, and optimized organic ratio
Principal Investigator: Erickson, Andrew
Year funded: 2020
Project topics: filter media, plants and trees, salting and sweeping
Biofiltration Media Optimization: Phase I
Principal Investigator: Erickson, Andrew
Year funded: 2018
Project topics: bioretention, filter media, Iron enhanced sand filter (IESF), plants and trees
Bioretention media for supporting plant growth and limiting nutrient export
Principal Investigator: Erickson, Andrew
Year funded: 2025
Project topics: bioretention, filter media, plants and trees, salting and sweeping
Can earthworms reduce PAH concentrations in pond sediments: A feasibility study
Principal Investigator: Natarajan, Poornima
Year funded: 2025
Project topics: contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), stormwater ponds
Capture of gross solids and sediment by pretreatment practices for bioretention
Principal Investigator: Erickson, Andrew
Year funded: 2017
Project topics: bioretention, pretreatment
Capturing contaminants of emerging concern with biofiltration
Principal Investigator: Erickson, Andrew
Year funded: 2022
Project topics: bioretention, contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), filter media, Iron enhanced sand filter (IESF), stormwater characterization
Characterization of phosphorus release from ponds
Principal Investigator: Gulliver, John
Year funded: 2016
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, stormwater characterization, stormwater ponds
Detecting phosphorus release from stormwater ponds to guide management and design
Principal Investigator: Gulliver, John
Year funded: 2019
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, stormwater ponds
Determining which iron minerals in iron-enhanced sand filters remove phosphorus from stormwater runoff
Principal Investigator: Fisher, Beth
Year funded: 2017
Project topics: filter media, Iron enhanced sand filter (IESF)
Developing a street sweeping credit for stormwater phosphorus source reduction
Principal Investigator: Hobbie, Sarah
Year funded: 2019
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, pollution prevention and source reduction, salting and sweeping
Draft stormwater geospatial data standard: Pilot and proof-of-concept
Principal Investigator: Maas, Geoffrey
Year funded: 2019
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping
Effective impervious and BMP effectiveness at watershed scale
Principal Investigator: Janke, Benjamin
Year funded: 2025
Project topics: bioretention, modeling, monitoring and mapping, plants and trees, pollution prevention and source reduction, pretreatment
Effectiveness of remediation techniques on pond phosphorus release rates
Principal Investigator: Gulliver, John
Year funded: 2023
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, stormwater ponds
Effectiveness of sump manholes for pretreatment particulate removal
Principal Investigator: Chapman, John A.
Year funded: 2019
Project topics: pretreatment
Enhanced degradation of stormwater petrochemicals within the rhizosphere of rain garden bioretention cells
Principal Investigator: Novak, Paige
Year funded: 2008
Project topics: bioretention, contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), plants and trees
Enhancement and validation of a stormwater pond assessment tool
Principal Investigator: Natarajan, Poornima
Year funded: 2023
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, plants and trees, stormwater ponds
Equipping municipalities with climate change data to inform stormwater management
Principal Investigator: Noe, Ryan
Year funded: 2020
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping
Evaluation of media effectiveness for removal of phosphorus and other pollutants in an active, high-volume stormwater filtration BMP
Principal Investigator: McCabe, Andy
Year funded: 2022
Project topics: bioretention, filter media, Iron enhanced sand filter (IESF)
Evaluation of microbial and chemical contaminant removals in different stormwater reuse systems
Principal Investigator: Ishii, Satoshi
Year funded: 2020
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, stormwater characterization, stormwater reuse-
Fate and transport of phosphorus and HABs from stormwater ponds: Understanding risk of internal phosphorus load and harmful algal bloom export from stormwater ponds to downstream waterbodies
Principal Investigator: Lofton, Dendy
Year funded: 2023
Project topics: bacteria, algae, and other biological contaminants, stormwater ponds 
Field evaluation of stormwater best management practices to characterize the comprehensive contaminant removal performance of biochar-augmented filter media
Principal Investigator: Magner, Joe
Year funded: 2020
Project topics: contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), filter media
Identifying sources of contaminants in urban stormwater and evaluation of their removal efficacy across a continuum of urban best management practices
Principal Investigator: Schoenfuss, Heiko
Year funded: 2019
Project topics: bacteria, algae, and other biological contaminants, stormwater characterization, stormwater reuse
Identifying stormwater pond design and management features that sustain long term performance
Principal Investigator: Finlay, Jacques
Year funded: 2025
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, plants and trees, stormwater ponds
Improving snow storage performance
Principal Investigator: Klimbal, Douglas
Year funded: 2025
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, pollution prevention and source reduction, salting and sweeping-
Inspiring community action for stormwater management
Principal Investigator: Davenport, Mae
Year funded: 2019
Project topics: policy and social science 
Iron-enhanced sand filters performance and maintenance meta-analysis
Principal Investigator: Gulliver, John
Year funded: 2022
Project topics: bioretention, filter media, Iron enhanced sand filter (IESF), modeling, monitoring and mapping
Leveraging Minnesota's stormwater data for improved modeling and management
Principal Investigator: Finlay, Jacques
Year funded: 2022
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping
Managing urban pond vegetation to enhance water quality benefits
Principal Investigator: Finlay, Jacques
Year funded: 2023
Project topics: plants and trees, stormwater ponds
Monitoring methods for prioritization and assessment of stormwater practices
Principal Investigator: Wilson, Bruce
Year funded: 2020
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, stormwater characterization
Performance evaluation for a stormwater treatment train incorporating sedimentation and geomedia-augmented biofiltration
Principal Investigator: Ulrich, Bridget
Year funded: 2022
Project topics: bioretention, contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), filter media, Iron enhanced sand filter (IESF), stormwater characterization
Plants for stormwater design, interactive selection tool for stormwater professionals and the public
Principal Investigator: Bly, John
Year funded: 2022
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, plants and trees, policy and social science
Pollutant removal and maintenance assessment of underground filtration systems
Principal Investigator: Shoemaker, Todd
Year funded: 2020
Project topics: filter media, modeling, monitoring and mapping
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in stormwater detention ponds
Principal Investigator: Simcik, Matt
Year funded: 2016
Project topics: contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), modeling, monitoring and mapping, stormwater characterization, stormwater ponds
Pond treatment with spent lime to control phosphorus release from sediments
Principal Investigator: Wilson, Greg
Year funded: 2018
Project topics: stormwater ponds
Stormwater pond forebay design, cost, and effectiveness with comparisons to other pretreatment options
Principal Investigator: Chapman, John A.
Year funded: 2025
Project topics: pretreatment, stormwater ponds
Stormwater reduction and pollutant sourcing from urban trees
Principal Investigator: Feng, Xue
Year funded: 2022
Project topics: bioretention, modeling, monitoring and mapping, plants and trees, pollution prevention and source reduction, stormwater characterization
Stormwater research roadmap and framework for priority needs for the next decade
Principal Investigator: Chapman, John A., Baker, Lawrence A.
Year funded: 2016
Project topics: policy and social science
Temporal dynamics of pathogens and antibiotic resistance in raw and treated stormwater
Principal Investigator: Ishii, Satoshi
Year funded: 2019
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, stormwater characterization, stormwater reuse
Understanding solids loading in Minnesota stormwater
Principal Investigator: Chapman, John A.
Year funded: 2020
Project topics: modeling, monitoring and mapping, pretreatment, stormwater characterization
Urban stormwater pond research literature review
Principal Investigator: Ament, Mike
Year funded: 2021
Project topics: stormwater ponds