Education

Storm water program history.

In 1972, amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, commonly referred to as the Clean Water Act, estblished limitations for discharges from point sources. Point sources are those entities that were known to discharge water directly to water bodies of the United States. A wastewater treatment plant is an example of a point source discharge.

In 1987, as part of the Clean Water Act reauthorization, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was required to develop a comprehensive program for regulating municipal and industrial storm water discharges.

In 1990, the EPA issued the Phase I storm water regulations. This would impact cities with a population of greater than 100,000. The regulation would also affect storm water discharges from industrial activity and certain construction activities.

In 1999, EPA published the Phase II storm water regulations. McPherson, along with several other cities in Kansas were required to comply with this phase of the regulations.

Quality vs. Quantity

The regulations are intended to focus on water quality, which involves implementing ways to kep pollutants from entering the storm water, and ways to remove pollutants that do enter the storm water. When dealing with improving the quality of storm water runoff, quantity, or how to get the water from point A to point B, will also have to be addressed. This means dealing with drainage issues.

Where does the storm water go?

In certain areas of the city, some may say the water stands in my back yard. This is a consequence of the area being so flat (the area was known at one time as McPherson flats). However, the majority of the time, storm water runoff is carried away through the street gutter adn storm sewer system. Almost 24 miles of piping is undergound with the sole purpose of moving away the rain water that drains from areas where water can't soak into the ground due to streets, parking lots, driveways, etc. The water is taken to the nearest drainage way, whether it be a ditch, creek, or one of the city lakes. Unlike wastewater, storm water is not treated prior to discharge into a waterway.

How do you improve the quality of rainwater?

Rainwater is fine until it hits the ground. The water then picks up a multitude of pollutants: fertilizer, pesticides, oils, pet waste, mud, and the list can go on and on. Because the water is not treated, and end up in area water bodies, water quality can deteriorate.

What can we do as a community?

Good old common sense will go a long way. For example:

There are so many outdoor activities we do that have the potential to effect storm water quality, but we tend to overlook them because we've always done these activities a certain way for as long as we can remember.

A major component of the storm water quality program is to consider how our daily activities affect storm water quality and to modify our activities to improve the quality of water in our lakes and streams.

Future of storm water.

To comply with the EPA storm water regulations, the City of McPherson intends to involve the community in the decision making process. Rules have to be set, changes have to be made, and lifestyles will ultimately change as well. Asking for input from the community along with way will create a program that people can live with and be proud of.