Eye on the Environment: New rules in place to reduce pollution from storm runoff
Arne Anselm
Ventura County Star
05/31/2009
The state has adopted new rules for Ventura County that position the
county and its 10 cities on the leading edge of protecting water
quality from stormwater pollution.
A new permit adopted by the Regional Water Quality Control Board on
May 7 details the measures these agencies must take to protect water
quality in local creeks, rivers and the ocean. The cities, county and
Ventura County Watershed Protection District will implement new
requirements to ensure that stormwater pollution is reduced to the
“maximum extent practicable.”
The permit is groundbreaking in both its content and development.
There are stringent requirements that affect not only how the cities
operate, but local businesses, construction sites and new development
as well. Unique in the process of this permit is that some of the
permit language came from a joint proposal by the local agencies and
environmental groups.
Usually adversaries in such proceedings, they came together to reach
common goals and obtain a permit that is reasonable and protective of
water quality.
It is not new for municipal agencies in Ventura County to be
considered leaders in protecting water quality. Before the first permit
was adopted in 1992, the county and cities joined to pool resources and
tackle the problem. The result was the Ventura Countywide Stormwater
Quality Management Program.
That program was nationally recognized as the best municipal effort
of its kind in 2003, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
awarded it a first-place Clean Water Act Recognition Award. The program
continues to see success though annual reductions in illicit
discharges, or illegal use of storm drains to dispose of waste.
Additionally, Ventura County can boast of having the best beach water
quality in Southern California, based on ocean bacteria monitoring done
to protect surfers and swimmers.
The new permit will take this program to the next level.
Improvements in public education about stormwater pollution and how to
prevent it, as well as more inspections of businesses to ensure they
are not polluting, are required. Scientific monitoring of water runoff
from cities will be significantly expanded to help identify problems
and solutions. Inspectors will examine the water in storm drains when
it’s not raining to catch polluters in the act. But the real
revolutionary changes will be when new buildings are constructed.
As cities grow, they cover raw land with asphalt, concrete and
rooftops. Water once able to soak into the ground and replenish
groundwater supplies now runs over streets and sidewalks, picking up
pollutants along its way to creeks, rivers and ultimately the ocean.
The new permit requires development projects to be better designed
to allow water to primarily soak into the ground. This concept is
called low-impact development, and it not only will reduce the amount
of pollutants carried to the ocean but also reduce the peak flows that
can affect stream banks and degrade habitat while increasing the local
groundwater supply.
Cities will begin implementing most of the new conditions right away
but are allowed time to address more complex issues. The permit will
become fully effective in just over a year. Technical guidance for
low-impact development still needs to be developed, along with
workshops and training to help planners, developers and engineers
understand the new regulations.
Obviously, the new permit with its strict requirements will increase
the cost for all agencies. In fact, preliminary estimates indicate a
doubling of costs. While still daunting, these costs are significantly
better than those in early permit drafts.
