Effective storm water management is essential to protecting the health of your residents, preserving your community’s natural resources, and safeguarding local homes, businesses, and infrastructure against the catastrophic damage caused by flooding and erosion. For MS4 permitted communities, and those who anticipate the need for an MS4 permit in the future, developing a storm water management plan is also a necessary step in permit compliance.
Navigating the best path to cleaner, healthier water in your community can be incredibly time consuming (and often overwhelming). To help guide you in your efforts, we’ve compiled a list of a few of the best resources available for communities in every step of the process.
Managing Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE)
Dry-weather flows discharging from storm drainage systems can significantly impact the quality of receiving rivers, streams, and lakes.. Developing a program to locate, test, and eliminate illicit waste and other fluids entering your storm sewer system is an essential step toward improving the health of your community’s waterways.
HELPFUL RESOURCES:
Construction Site Pollution Control and Post- Construction Storm Water Management
Developing and enforcing local guidelines for erosion control on construction sites is necessary to prevent sediment-laden water from discharging into local waterways.
It’s equally important to develop and enforce a post-construction ordinance that mandates storm water BMPs in areas of new and redevelopment to minimize pollutants, control peak flow, maintain infiltration, and protect nearby waterways and wetlands.
HELPFUL RESOURCES:
BMPs for Erosion and Sediment Control (Webinar)
Tips for Storm Water BMP Maintenance (Article)
Recommended State Construction and Post-Construction Technical Standards (DNR Link)
The Bad and the Ugly: What Happens When You Don’t Pay Attention to Erosion Control (Article)
EPA Guidance: Storm water Discharges from Construction Activities (EPA Link)
NASECA Construction Site Erosion Control and Storm water Permit Compliance Training Programs (Web Link)
Green Infrastructure Practices (R/M Services Link)
Pollution Prevention
Municipalities should develop practices to prevent pollutants from municipally-owned transportation infrastructure, maintenance areas, storage yards, sand and salt storage areas, and waste transfer stations from entering the storm sewer system. This should also include the proper maintenance of storm water facilities to ensure they are functioning as designed and approved.
HELPFUL RESOURCES:
EPA Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping Fact Sheet (PDF)
Using Pre-Wetting Salt and Salt Brine (Article)
Fall Leaf Collection to Reduce Phosphorus in Local Waterways (Article)
Improving Storm Water Runoff at Community Dog Parks (Article)
Do Trees Provide Storm Water Control? (Article)
What Makes a Sustainable Community? (Article)
Storm Sewer System Maps
It’s a necessary requirement for all MS4s to maintain a current map that identifies the jurisdictional boundaries of the storm sewer system, outfalls, pipes, ditches, roads, and receiving waters (specific requirements for MS4 permitted communities vary by permit and state). Mapping often requires significant time and community resources, but expert help is available.
HELPFUL RESOURCES:
Storm water drainage and Flooding issues
Flood control and mitigation is a crucial aspect of storm water management. With the help of storm water modeling, updated maps, and new technology, your community can work to limit the devastating impacts of flooding.
HELPFUL RESOURCES:
Public Education, Outreach, and Involvement
pc: adoptyourdrain.com
It’s important to encourage residents and local businesses to take strides to help reduce storm water pollution where and when they can. Fortunately, there are incredible regional resources that provide ample opportunities for public engagement.
REGIONAL RESOURCES FOR PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT:
Sweet Water Freshwater Facilitators (Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin)
Freshcoast Guardians (MMSD Resources)
Funding OPPORTUNITIES
UNPS & STORM WATER PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION GRANT
The Urban Nonpoint Source & Storm Water (UNPS&SW) Management Grant Program offers competitive grants to local governments for the control of pollution from diffuse urban sources that is carried by storm water runoff. Grants from the UNPS&SW Program reimburse costs of planning or construction projects controlling urban nonpoint source and storm water runoff pollution
Municipal Flood Control Grant
This grant is available to all cities, villages, towns, tribes, and metropolitan sewerage districts in the state of Wisconsin. Funds can be used to assist in the acquisition of property, vacant land, structure removal, flood proofing, administrative support, and more.
Historically, things like flood control ponds and other practices that modified the floodplain to similarly remove buildings from the floodplain but maintain the tax base were eligible but never funded by this grant. R/M has led the ACEC Water & Environment Committee in their aim to remove the priority funding order from the statutes and insert language requiring that funding of projects consider cost effectiveness. Once this change is signed into law, funding from this grant will be more widely available.
FUND FOR LAKE MICHIGAN
The Fund for Lake Michigan is an excellent resource for projects that aim to enhance the health of Lake Michigan and its tributaries. Projects that focus on habitat restoration, pollutant reduction, stream restoration, and improvements to coastal areas in Wisconsin are all eligible under this grant.
LEARN MORE
To learn more about how storm water management can help your community thrive, please contact one of our experts today!
We also invite you to join us for our upcoming webinar!
THE MS4 DA VINCI CODE: May 20, 2020, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Topics will include:
Critical current facts, program changes, and pathways to compliance in the MS4 and TMDL world.
DNR insight into the compliance process, including audit oversight and tips/tricks (scheduled).
How to find funding for MS4 & TMDL work.
What may be in store for future MS4 and TMDL program updates.
About the Author
STEVEN C. WURSTER, P.E., CFM, CPSWQ
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND COO, CLIENT TEAM LEADER
Steve thrives in the area of storm water management. His experience as a project manager and project engineer includes municipal water resources master planning, storm water management facilities design and review, NR216 permitting and compliance, storm water utility implementation, environmental permitting and hydrologic, hydraulic, and flood plain modeling. He is also experienced in site grading and erosion control design, utility design, transportation facilities design, development review, construction management and general municipal consulting. Steve has been employed by Ruekert & Mielke, Inc. since 1999.
