Clean Water  -  Lake County's Lifeline

Lake County Stormwater Management Department  

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Environmental Protection Agency studies have identified stormwater runoff as one of the main threats to protecting our lakes and rivers from pollution.

What is stormwater runoff?

Stormwater runoff occurs when precipitation from rain or snowmelt flows over the ground.  Impervious surfaces like driveways, sidewalks, and streets prevent stormwater from naturally soaking into the ground.

Why is stormwater runoff a problem?

Stormwater can pick up debris, chemicals, dirt, and other pollutants and flow into a storm sewer system or directly to a lake, stream, river, wetland, or coastal water.  Anything that enters a storm sewer system is discharged untreated into the waterbodies we use for swimming, fishing, and providing drinking water.

Effects of pollution in Lake County

Polluted stormwater runoff can have many adverse effects on plants, fish, animals, and people.

• Sediment can cloud the water and make it difficult or impossible for aquatic plants to grow.  Sediment also can destroy aquatic habitants.
• Excess nutrients can cause algae blooms. When algae dies, it sinks to the bottom and decomposes in a process that removes oxygen from the water.  Fish and other aquatic organisms can't exiwst in water with low dissolved oxygen levels.
• Bacteria and other pathogens can wash into swimming areas and create health hazards, often making beach closures necessary.
• Debris - plastic bags, six-pack rings, bottles, and cigarette butts - washed into waterbodies can choke, suffocate, or disable aquatic life like ducks, fish, turtles, and birds.
• Household hazardous wastes like insecticides, pesticides, paint, solvents, used motor oil, and other auto fluids can poison aquatic life.  Animals and people can become sick or die from eating diseased fish and shell-fish or from ingesting polluted water.
• Polluted stormwater often affects drinking water sources.   This, in turn, can affect human health and increase drinking water treatment costs.

What is the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Storm Water Program?

Mandated by Congress under the Clean Water Act, the NPDES Storm- Water Program is a comprehensive two-phased national program for addressing the urbanized sources of storm water discharges that adversely affect the quality of our nation’s waters.  Phase I of the regulations was initiated in the early 1990’s for municipal separate storm water systems serving over 100,000 in population.  The NPDES Phase II Program extends this program to all remaining urbanized communities.  The program uses the NPDES permitting process to require the implementation of controls designed to prevent harmful pollutants from being washed by storm water runoff into local water bodies.

What is an urbanized area?

An urbanized area, as defined by the Census Bureau, is a land area comprising one or more central places and the adjacent densely settled surrounding area (urban fringe) that together have a residential population of at least 50,000 and an overall population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile.

What is an NPDES permit?

The CWA prohibits anyone from discharging “pollutants” from a “point source” into “waters of the United States” unless they have an NPDES permit.  The permit contains limits on what can be discharged, monitoring and reporting requirements, and other provisions to ensure that the discharge does not hurt water quality or people’s health.

Some examples of exceptions to this are:

*Waterline flushing                    *footing drains

*lawn watering                          *discharges or flows from fire fighting activities.

How was the Storm Water Management Department developed for our County?

In July of 2003, the County passed a resolution adding Drainage Management to the Lake County Utility Department.  In August, the County adopted user fees for the County Regional Drainage District.  The Drainage District is a cooperative effort between the County and your local government to address the USEPA (United States EPA) Phase II – Stormwater Management mandate which includes Six (6) Minimum Control Measures which must be followed.