Stormwater Utility Program
The Abilene City Council voted on August 28, 2003 to create a Stormwater Utility Division to assist the City in complying with state and federal regulations regarding water quality protection, and to assure consistent attention to mitigate flooding problems. The newly focused efforts include instituting methods to clean and maintain creeks, which will serve to protect the quality of runoff, as well as reduce the impact of the associated volumes. Water in West Texas is a valuable resource that must be protected from pollutants at all costs.
Designated employees and equipment from the city’s Streets and Drainage Services Division were transferred to the Stormwater Utility Division. Functions and positions -- such as creek maintenance, street sweeping and cleanup -- that prevent pollution to our water supply will be dedicated to stormwater issues and projects. Also included is the development of a capital reserve to work towards long term, potentially large-scale projects that will address flood and stormwater runoff issues.
The City of Abilene was issued an NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) Storm Water Discharge Permit for its municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) in September of 1998. In response to the issuance of the permit, the City has implemented numerous Best Management Practices (BMP's) in City Departments to help minimize stormwater pollution. These BMP's include responsible ways for dealing with chemicals and other materials which may have a negative impact on water quality as well as training of City employees in how they can perform their daily tasks in a way that will minimize the potential for polluting our local waterways.
The City of Abilene recently renewed the NPDES permit with a TPDES (Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which has acquired regulating authority from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
