LEGAL 



TIDES 



By the late 1980s, attention turned to 

 pollution that enters our waters from more 

 diffuse sources like storm water, snowmelt or 

 atmospheric deposition. In 1987, the CWA 

 was expanded to address nonpoint sources 

 (NPS). These sources remain the focus of 

 today's efforts to protect water quality. 



In 1990 EPA established Phase I of its 

 storm water management program to address 

 runoff from "medium" to "large" municipal 

 storm water systems serving populations of 

 100,000 or greater. It also targets construction 

 activity disturbing five or more acres of land 

 and several categories of industrial activity. 



STATE FLEXIBILITY 



While the Phase II Storm Water Program 

 is a federal mandate, states have the flexibility 

 to adopt rules to address their particular 

 circumstances, says Greg Jennings, a member 

 of the N.C. Environmental Management 

 Commission and assistant director of the 

 North Carolina Water Resources Research 

 Institute (WRRI). 



The state has been operating under a 

 temporary rule since 2002, so local govern- 

 ments and major developers know they will be 

 affected by the permanent rule, Jennings says. 

 Communities and private companies covered 

 under the program must apply for NPDES 

 permits that identify pollution sources and 

 show remedies. 



"Roads, ditches and storm drains that 

 collect storm water are considered potential 

 discharge sources that local municipalities will 

 have to address," Jennings explains. 



Developers of new residential communi- 

 ties and commercial sites must show how they 

 will manage and treat storm water on site. 

 Shopping center parking lots can't drain 

 directly into a watershed. And, erosion must 

 be contained on construction sites to prevent 

 the flow of sediment in its storm water discharge. 



In short, communities and developers 

 will be required to employ best management 

 practices (BMPs) as a systems approach to 

 pollution prevention. 



"This is not new to coastal communities," 

 Jennings adds. The 20 counties covered by the 

 Coastal Area Management Act of 1974 are 



required to develop land-use plans 

 to protect their environmental 

 resources. 



With 350 miles of ocean- 

 front land and 4,000 miles of 

 estuarine shoreline, there is no 

 ignoring the fact that land use is 

 tied to water quality. Plans must 

 show measures to control 

 nonpoint source pollution 

 discharges — especially into 

 sensitive shellfish waters. 



AHEAD OF THE GAME 



Though ahead of the EPA storm water 

 mandate to some degree, cities like 

 Wilmington are especially challenged 

 because of intense downtown development 

 and urban sprawl. Flooding from Hurricanes 

 Bertha and Fran in 1996 underscored the 

 need to deal with storm water. 



With that in mind, the Wilmington City 

 Council adopted an aggressive approach to 

 storm water management in 1997, says David 

 Mayes, director of Wilmington's Storm 

 Water Services. 



After a year, its citizens advisory 

 committee returned to the council with a 

 litany of work that needed to be done — and 

 a recommendation to adopt a utility fee in 

 1998 to do the job. Since impervious surfaces 

 create runoff, utility fees are calculated 

 accordingly. Currently, single family 

 residences are assessed $4.75 per month, 

 while other property types pay $4.75 per 

 2,500 square feet of impervious surface. 



Revenue goes to a special fund and is 

 used exclusively for storm water services that 

 include maintenance to the city's storm 

 drainage system and 

 improvement projects, 

 Mayes says. 



The fund provides 

 a dedicated source of 

 revenue for drainage 

 projects. Among them 

 is a storm water 

 wetland created at Kerr 

 Avenue to treat runoff 

 from the surrounding 



TOP TO BOTTOM: 



• Rooftop gardens are among the newer ideas 

 for controlling storm water runoff in urbanized 

 settings. • Big box stores can provide environ- 

 mentally friendly bioretention areas in parting 

 lots to help filter storm water before it flows into 

 into drainage systems. • This constructed urban 

 wetland at Kerr Avenue in Wilmington drains a 

 150-acre watershed, filtering pollution from 

 storm water arid protecting the nearby tidal 

 creek. • Indivdual homeowners can enhance 

 water quality by planning best management 

 practices into landscape design. 



28 EARLY SUMMER 2003 



