Florida Storm Water Regulates Pollutants
Florida's surface waters are vitally important to human health, natural resources and the economy – they play a pivotal role in maintaining equilibrium and driving economic activity. Through the City's NPDES stormwater permit program, these waters are safeguarded by controlling pollution.
NPDES stormwater permits are necessary for most industrial and construction activities that discharge pollutants to surface waters, and several have been delegated by the federal government to local governments.
Who Regulates Storm Water?
Florida's storm water can carry pollutants that pollute rivers, lakes and streams from urban development projects, construction activities and industrial operations. To safeguard Florida's water quality, Florida has instituted the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). This program regulates stormwater runoff.
Under NPDES, permits are necessary for any point-source discharges into surface waters from sources like sewage treatment plants or industrial facilities. Permit requirements are administered by Florida DEP's water management districts.
NPDES also features a nonpoint source management program to address pollutants from urban environments, including City of Melbourne streets, parking lots and building rooftops that do not soak into the soil. States such as Florida are required to implement Statewide stormwater management plans to address nonpoint sources of pollution.
Most cities are subject to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems Phase II, and must develop and implement an Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination program to ensure no non-stormwater discharges enter its storm sewer system.
Additionally, the City must develop and implement a program to minimize pollution from construction sites, including mandating that developers maintain the site prior to, during and post-construction using best practices.
Why Do You Need Storm Water Management?
Rain and snow that falls onto impervious surfaces such as streets, driveways and buildings eventually enters the storm water drainage system and flows toward streams and lakes for treatment and is subjected to many substances that pollute our waters, including oil from automobiles; soapy dirty water used during outdoor cleaning activities; litter, dirt or sand from construction sites as well as other pollutants.
Storm water management refers to a range of practices designed to limit pollution entering our surface waters. These measures may include using best management practices during and after construction to prevent erosion and sedimentation that leads to polluted runoff; using techniques like natural groundwater infiltration restoration in order to restore underground water tables and aquifers; decreasing storm drain sizes so as to prevent flooding; or creating wetland treatments which both decrease flood levels while providing habitat for local wildlife.
State legislation mandates the development and implementation of an extensive storm water program in Florida. This program must comply with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) to ensure pollutants do not pollute our lakes, rivers, creeks and streams. Florida's NPDES stormwater program also contains permit requirements for municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s), construction activities and industrial activities.
Structural Controls
Structural controls are engineering solutions created to treat or regulate pollution in storm water systems. For instance, drainage systems may be constructed to divert pollutants away from directly flowing into lakes and rivers – these systems typically belong to local governments, developers or homeowners' associations. Nonstructural controls tend to focus less formally on pollution prevention before it even happens – examples being keeping debris out of ditches and culverts and reporting clogged drains and storm water ponds back to local government authorities.
Large construction activities must obtain an NPDES permit, which requires developing a site-specific storm water pollution prevention plan, installing erosion and sediment control BMPs, conducting inspections and recordingkeeping. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has created a training program and inspector's manual regarding their use, installation and maintenance.
FDEP and water management districts have been hard at work updating Florida's stormwater design criteria programs to reflect new scientific knowledge. One such project involves adding numeric nutrient criteria into Florida's storm water design standards – something which has the potential of significantly increasing costs on many projects and will likely be addressed by legislation during the 2020 Legislative Session; currently existing criteria date back to 1980s data.
Gulf Coast Water Retention Pond Repair
Florida's surface waters are vitally important to human health, natural resources and the economy – they play a pivotal role in maintaining equilibrium and driving economic activity. Through the City's NPDES stormwater permit program, these waters are safeguarded by controlling pollution. NPDES stormwater permits are necessary for most industrial and construction activities that discharge pollutants…