Stormwater Utility

The Clean Water Act (CWA) Phase II Stormwater Final Rule is an unfunded federal mandate and is one of the reasons the city has implemented the stormwater utility. Other areas of concern include preventative maintenance, major improvements, emergency repairs, and pollution prevention.

Stormwater picks up a lot of things on its way to area streams and rivers – litter, road salt, lawn and garden chemicals and more. Illegal dumping of used oil, antifreeze or gas into the stormwater system poses a threat to the environment since this system discharges directly to our rivers and streams.

Stormwater pollution is a continuing problem throughout the United States. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the 1996 National Water Quality Inventory indicated that approximately 40 percent of surveyed U.S. surface waters did not meet water quality standards. Polluted stormwater runoff is believed to be one of the leading sources of this contamination.

The City of Newark has developed a Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) to meet the Phase II regulations, which define six (6) Minimum Control Measures that must be addressed as a portion of the SWMP. The intent of these is to reduce pollutants discharged by the City’s drainage system into waters of the United States.

The six Minimum Control Measures as identified by the regulations include:

• Public Education and Outreach
• Public Participation/Involvement
• Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination
• Construction Site Runoff Control
• Post-Construction Runoff Control
• Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping