Do you know where the water goes?
What happens to the water that runs off your roof?
What happens to the water that runs off your driveway,
or escapes from garden beds?
Where does the water go when it goes down the drain? |
In response to the 1987 Amendments to the Clean Water
Act (CWA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) developed the National Pollutants Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) storm water program. The initial phase
targeted the medium and large municipal storm water
systems and in December of 1999, Phase II was established
requiring small municipal separate storm sewer systems
(MS4) to create storm water management programs. Compliance with Phase II is required for all municipal
separate storm sewer system located within an Urbanized
Area  . Several miles of Cass County's
storm water system
(Southern Map and Northern Map )fall within this urbanized area, requiring the
county to comply with the federal storm water regulations.
The storm water management program was designed to
address the increased rate and volume of runoff from
the impervious surfaces often found in urbanized areas
and the corresponding concentration of pollutants as
result of the land use changes. These changes impact
an areas hydrology and water quality in a variety of
ways:
- Habitat modification and loss
- Increased flooding
- Decreased aquatic biological diversity
- Increased sedimentation and erosion
Operators of the regulated municipal separate storm
sewer systems (MS4) are required to design programs
to reduce the discharge of pollutants to the "maximum
extent practicable" to protect water quality and
satisfy the appropriate water quality requirements of
the Clean Water Act.
Implementation of the program requires the development
of Best Management Practices (BMP) and the achievement
of measurable goals to satisfy each of the six Minimum Control Measures.
Please refer storm water questions to the Cass County Highway Department at 701.298.2370.
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