National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
NPDES Phase II Program
The Storm Water Management Section coordinates compliance with the EPA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System regulations to satisfy the Clean Water Act requirements. The goal of this program is to “preserve, protect, and improve the Nation’s water resources from polluted
storm water runoff”. Under this program the County was
required to develop a storm water management program (SWMP)
specifies Best Management Practices (BMPs)
to address the following six control measures/programs:
- Public Involvement/Participation
- Public Education and Outreach
- Illicit Connection/Discharge Detection and Elimination
- Construction Site Discharge Control
- New Development/Redevelopment Storm Water
Management
- Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping for Municipal
Operations
The County of Santa Cruz, led by the Storm Water Management unit
and Environmental Health Services watershed staff, submitted the proposed
SWMP and application for a Phase II permit to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) in
October 2008. The County applied under the statewide General Permit for the discharge of Storm Water Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/stormwater/).
Construction Storm Water Permits: Included
in the State's Phase II program is a requirement for all construction
projects that disturb 1 acre or more must obtain a construction storm
water permit from the SWRCB, go to
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/stormwater/construction.shtml for permit
requirements.
Following a number of meetings with the public
and various interested stakeholders, this county-wide program will be fully implemented by the end of the five year permit term and is designed to protect storm water quality in the County to the maximum extent practicable.
Storm Water Management Program
The Santa Cruz County Storm Water Management Program was adopted by the County of Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors in 2003
in order to:
- Prevent storm water pollution
- Protect and enhance water quality in creeks and wetlands
- Preserve beneficial uses of local waterways
- Comply with new State and Federal regulations
The County of Santa Cruz joined with the City of Capitola to develop a regional Storm Water Management Plan. Other cities in our area carry out their own individual programs. The County’s Storm Water program provides for the coordination and consistency of approaches between the individual participants and documents their efforts in annual reports.
Numerous County departments are involved in developing and implementing the Santa Cruz County Storm Water Program. (See organizational chart in the Storm Water Management Plan)
The program is designed around six different Minimum Control Measures (MCM) that together provide a comprehensive plan for reducing urban runoff pollution. The MCMs
include Public Involvement and Participation,
Public Education and Outreach, Illicit
Connection/Discharge Detection and Elimination,
Construction Site Discharge Control, New Development/Redevelopment
Storm Water Management, and Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations.
The Santa Cruz County Storm Water Management Plan is administered by the Santa Cruz County Department of Public Works in cooperation with the Environmental Health and Planning Departments. A Citizen's Advisory Panel,
appointed by the Board of Supervisors, will provide review and advice.
For further information on the program
please contact:
Santa Cruz County Storm Water Pollution Prevention Program
dpwweb@co.santa-cruz.ca.us
701 Santa Cruz , #410
Santa Cruz , CA 95060
831-454-2160
Storm Water Map Application
Most urban storm water runoff in Santa Cruz County eventually flows to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS). The County of Santa Cruz and Cities of Capitola, Watsonville, and Santa Cruz have long recognized the importance of maintaining shore water quality in the Sanctuary to protect the significant natural resources that provide important habitats for aquatic life, opportunities for public recreation and enjoyment, and commercial operations and ventures.
The Santa Cruz County Public Works Department
and Environmental Health Services, in cooperation with the City of Capitola developed a storm water management and pollution prevention plan as part of a combined response to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit requirements. The NPDES general permit requirements included public outreach and education to help raise public awareness about storm water runoff and foster public participation to help reduce the amount of polluted runoff that enters the storm water conveyance system.
As part of this public outreach the County of
Santa Cruz Public Works Department and Environmental Health Services in collaboration with the county
GIS group has created a website (http://npdesgis.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/).
The website opens displaying the county watersheds and the stream and
river networks as they flow to the MBNMS. The watershed is a
bounded area where all water that falls within its boundaries flows
through the artificial and natural water conveyance network to a
single exit point. As an example, the San Lorenzo river mouth is
the exit point in the MBNMS that drains all of the San Lorenzo valley
along with the many other small valleys, creeks, and streams within
the San Lorenzo watershed.
This complex system of ditches, creeks, streams and ultimately the river is the natural water conveyance network
(1). Within the
county maintained roads, the
Public Works
Department is in charge of managing the development of the artificial water conveyance network. This network is made up of collection structures (drainage points), drainage ditches, and drain lines (pipes and culverts). Collection structures are features such as inlets, catch basins, and culvert inlets; these structures are the entry point into the subsurface network. To reach these collection structures, stormwater usually begins on roofs, driveways, and streets and is routed through an above ground network of curb gutters, valley gutters, and earth ditches. Upon entering a collection structure, the water is routed through a collection of pipes and culverts
until it discharges or outfalls adjacent to the natural water conveyance network.
One of the Geographic Information System (GIS) features of the website is called H 2FLOW, this enables the user to enter their home address and have the path stormwater takes via the artificial and natural water networks graphically represented on the screen. This trace connects their home via ditches, collection structures, and pipes to the nearest creek, stream, or river illustrating the path the water takes to ultimately reach the MBNMS. To make the connection between the natural and artificial water conveyance networks in GIS it was necessary to create an artificial link, a structure that connects an outfall or the end of a pipe to the GIS creek or stream. These GIS features are called “network ditches” and help create the continuous conveyance network that allows the program to trace from an address location to the MBNMS.
(1.) A network is any interconnected, continuous group or system
LINKS
The Public Works Department of the County of Santa Cruz assumes no liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly as a result of errors, omissions or discrepancies in use of information found at this website.
