Admin Order 58-12-14 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

SECTION 4 water Quality Eualuatiou While a very general characterization of water quality in this basin is described in Section 2.6, this section includes discussion of water quality in more detail. Section 4.1 starts off by providing detailed information related to regulatory drivers associated with water quality in the basin. Section 4.2 provides a description and results of the processes that were used to evaluate water quality with respect to both surface and groundwater discharges. And, finally, Section 4.3 describes the capital project alternatives and development standards that were considered and selected to address the identified water quality issues. 4.1 Regulatory Drivers Related to Water Quality Two federal acts, the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), regulate the discharge of urban stormwater runoff. The CWA regulates discharges of urban stormwater to surface waters, and the SDWA regulates the discharges of urban stormwater to the subsurface or groundwaters. This section describes each of these regulatory drivers with respect to stormwater management in the River Road Santa Clara basin. 4.1.1 Stormwater Discharges to Surface Waters In the early 1990s, the Federal Clean Water Act required municipalities with populations greater than 100,000 to apply for and obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ( NPDES) permit for their stormwater discharges. In Oregon, this program was delegated to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Asa result, DEQ directed jurisdictions in six Oregon urban areas to apply for and obtain a Phase I municipal NPDES stormwater permit. The City of Eugene was one of the jurisdictions required to obtain a Phase I permit. In December 1999, EPA adopted rules to implement "Phase II" of the stormwater program. Phase II expanded the stormwater permitting program to include smaller communities located in U.S. census - defined urban areas. Lane County was included as one of the smaller jurisdictions required to obtain a Phase II MS4 NPDES permit. The City of Eugene obtained its first Phase I permit in November, 1994; and Lane County received its Phase 11 permit in January, 2007. In the River Road Santa Clara Stormwater Basin, Lane County's Phase II MS4 NPDES permit covers the areas inside the UGB not covered by the City of Eugene's Phase I NPDES permit. The municipal NPDES stormwater permits initially required municipalities to perform a review of their stormwater systems including mapping, outfall inventories, and for the Phase I communities, monitoring of stormwater quality. Based on the results of this review, jurisdictions were then required to develop a Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP). The SWMPs were required to include specific categories of Best Management Practices (BMPs) that should be implemented to reduce the discharge of pollutants to the "maximum extent practicable ". Categories of BMPs included those that addressed public education, public involvement, elimination of illicit discharges, construction site erosion controls, post - construction development standards, and operations and maintenance practices. In addition, the Phase I permits require municipalities to look for opportunities to retrofit their existing systems to address water quality. The development of this basin plan represents one of the City's BMPs that is identified and listed in their required SWMP. The basin plan also represents a BMP in Lane County's SWMP. 0:\25695978 Eugene RR -SC Final Basin P1an\Master P1anTINAL 2- 2010\Master_Plan 3- 11- 10_FINAL_ Word _Version.doc 4-1