Employee Stormwater Training

STORMWATER AND YOU

Stormwater Vocabulary

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  • MS4

    MS4s are defined as a conveyance or system of conveyances owned by a state, city, town, or other public entity that discharges to waters of the United States and is designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater. Regulated conveyance systems include roads with drains, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, storm drains, piping, channels, ditches, tunnels, and conduits. Stormwater remains untreated, unlike sanitation.

  • Swale

    A low or hollow place, especially a marshy depression between ridges.

  • Drainage Easement

    A legal right to use a parcel of land for a specific purpose. In this case, orderly flow of water. They are essential for controlling stormwater runoff and often contain engineered best management practices.

  • Culvert

    A tunnel carrying a stream or open drain under a road or railroad.

  • Gravity Main

    A pipe that transports stormwater by gravity.

  • Impervious Surface

    Impervious surfaces are mainly artificial structures—such as pavements that are covered by water-resistant materials such as asphalt, concrete, brick, stone—and rooftops.

  • ERU

    The ERU method (also known as the Equivalent Service Unit (ESU) method) is used by more than 80 percent of all stormwater utilities. It bills an amount proportional to the impervious area on a parcel, regardless of the parcel's total area.

  • PPP

    The City of Greenwood, through the Department of Stormwater Management, has created the Public Private Partnership Program. The Program offers assistance to residential and non-residential Greenwood Stormwater customers in order to stimulate investment and utilization of Stormwater best management practices that reduce a parcel's contribution of stormwater to the City's storm sewer and surrounding waterways. The Partnership Program will provide incentives to financially assist property owners who desire to build green stormwater infrastructure to manage private property runoff.

  • Eutrophication

    Excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen.

  • First Flush

    First flush is the initial surface runoff of a rainstorm. During this phase, water pollution entering storm drains in areas with high proportions of impervious surfaces is typically more concentrated compared to the remainder of the storm.

  • Outfall

    The outlet of a body of water (such as a river or lake)

  • Sinkhole

    A cavity in the ground caused by water erosion and providing a route for surface water to disappear underground.

How well do you know your property?

Plat Map

A plat map, also known as a “plat,” shows you how a tract of land is divided into lots in your county. It is drawn to scale and records the land’s size, boundary locations, nearby streets, flood zones, and any easements or rights of way.

Easements (highlighted in red) are owned and maintained by the property owner. However, easements grant utility companies the right to construct and maintain facilities (or infrastructure) located within the designated areas.

Example: A water pipe busts within the easement, Indiana American Water has the right to access the easement to repair their line.

DO:
  • Mow the grass and maintain the easement as you would the rest of your yard. 
  • Pick up pet waste in an easement as it can flow down the storm drain and into the MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System).
DON’T:
  • Dispose of limbs, brush, grass clippings, leaves or other materials in the easement or stormwater drains. If the easement is intended to carry a significant amount of water, debris can clog pipes and inlets further downstream and possibly cause flooding.
  • Fill, obstruct, block, materially alter or leave debris or trash in the drainage easement.
Plat Map Example

Infrastructure

Driveway culverts are specific ownership of the benefiting property owner and are allowed within the ROW (right-of-way). Maintenance and repair are the sole responsibility of the benefiting property owner.

How we can help: The Stormwater Utility can assist in the removal of obstructions by means of jetting the culvert with high pressure water from the Vactor.

Backyard Drains 

What happens if they are not maintained? 
  • Property flooding
  • Mosquitos (attracted by standing water)
  • Damaged landscaping
  • Unhappy neighbors
How do I maintain?
  • Clean up trash
  • Divert grass clippings
  • Rake up leaves
  • Remove sticks
  • Clear vegetation manually

Infrastructure Cont.

Ponds reduce the risk of flooding and erosion damage from excess storm water runoff in local communities.

Healthy Pond Attributes
  • Aeration
  • Erosion control along banks
    • Rip rap
    • Native Plants
    • Some sort of hard armor

A creek is a watercourse that is a naturally occurring swale or depression or engineered channel that carries fresh or estuarine water either seasonally or year around.

Healthy Creek Attributes
  • Erosion Control
  • Cleared pathways

Contours

Are you aware of the high and low points in your yard?

Do you have constant wet spots?

Search your address here and turn on ‘contours’ in the legend. You will be able to see the grade in your yard and how much water is coming in to this spot.

TIPS:
Work with the natural landscape to create minimal impact on water flow.
Caveat Emptor : Buyer Beware
Public utilities should not being doing work on private property so be aware of wet spots BEFORE buying a home!

How can you go green?

Lawn Care

Fertilizer

If applied improperly or in excess, fertilizer can be washed off your property and end up in lakes and streams. This causes algae to grow, which uses up oxygen that fish need to survive. So if you fertilize, please follow directions and use sparingly.

Pesticides

Pesticides should be limited where possible, but when necessary, use them responsibly. Always read and follow the pesticide label instructions before applying, such as with insecticides or herbicides, to reduce the risk of exposing humans or non-target animals. Take care to protect the environment, which includes the proper use of pesticides to prevent contamination of water resources. 

TIP: Deter pests sustainably with scarecrows.

Green Infrastructure

Native Plants

Plants with a purpose!

Native plants are those that occur naturally in a region in which they evolved. They are the ecological basis upon which life depends, including birds and people. Without them and the insects that co-evolved with them, local birds cannot survive.

Because native plants are adapted to local environmental conditions, they require far less water, saving time, money, and perhaps the most valuable natural resource, water.

Trees

When is the best time to plant a tree? Yesterday! Trees release water through evapotranspiration, store rainfall, promote infiltration, reduce pollutants & flood risk.

Pavers

Pervious pavers, also known as porous concrete, porous pavement, gap-graded concrete, or enhanced porosity concrete, are comprised of concrete bricks, separated by joints, or gaps, filled with small stones or sand, which are laid over a bed of aggregate stones. Water is able to infiltrate through the joints in the pavers, and is stored in void space underneath the paver surface, where it is then filtered back into the soil.

Proper Trash Disposal

Cover trash

Objects fly out of trash trucks and end up in local water bodies.

Reduce Plastic

Humans produce over 300 million tons of plastic waste every year, with only 9% of it being recycled and about 19% incinerated to generate energy. They break down into micro plastics that pollute our ecosystems and pose a risk to marine life as well as human health.

Tox Box

The Tox Box is a Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) collection program for Johnson County residents only. You must schedule an appointment (one per household per week). Drive-ups without an appointment are not permitted.

https://jcrd.org/tox-box

Auto Maintenance

Leaks

Auto fluids like oil do not dissolve in water. They last a long time and stick to everything from sand to bird feathers. Oil and other petroleum products are toxic to people, wildlife and plants. One pint of oil can make a slick larger than a football field. Oil that leaks from our cars onto roads and driveways is washed into storm drains, and then usually flows directly into a lake or stream.

Car Washing

If you are going to wash your car at home, wash it on the lawn or gravel rather than on the driveway. The ground will filter the dirt and soap out of the water, and so protect our waterways.

When to call stormwater

Repair damaged pipes, drains, outfalls

Unblock debris from pipes

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