Stormwater management actions under regulatory pressure: a case study of southeast Wisconsin

Abstract

In the United States, new legislation has given regulatory authorities greater oversight of municipal stormwater management programs. However, estimating the impact of greater oversight on municipal actions is difficult due to the uncertainty in current compliance efforts and their associated costs. This paper seeks to fill this gap through a case study of NPDES stormwater runoff permit reports from municipalities in Southeast Wisconsin. Specifically, this study evaluates the reported actions and expenditures against socioeconomic variables to identify the relationships between cost, socioeconomics, and the best management practices (BMPs) used for compliance. Results indicate that there are distinct differences between municipalities with and without financial and personnel resources, clear high- and low-cost BMPs, and large variation in the practices municipalities implement to meet regulatory requirements. Furthermore, results suggest that regulators should take a flexible and pragmatic approach that considers individual municipal constraints and limitations when exercising greater regulatory authority.

Keywords:

• best management practices
• case study
• regulations
• stormwater
• water quality

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Marquette University Regular Research Grant program for funding this work. The authors would also like to thank Kevin Hautzinger who contributed to developing the database, as well as Bryan Hartsook at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for providing the permit reports.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The US Federal government included municipalities with populations greater than 100,000 underneath the regulatory umbrella of the NPDES program in 1990 (Phase I). This was later modified to also include smaller municipalities in 1999 (Phase II).

2 The Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, giving the United States Environmental Protection Agency authority to set water quality standards, implement pollution control programs, and regulate pollutant discharges.