On WCPN’s Sound of Ideas this morning, Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, coordinator of the Northeast Ohio Sewer District’s new regional stormwater program, squared off with local attorney Sheldon Berns whose clients are suing over the new fee imposed on property owners—$4.75 a year per 3,000 square feet of impervious surface. David Beach, director of GreenCityBlueLake Institute was also a guest, and offered his take: The new stormwater program begins to treat a problem that’s on a watershed (read: stretches for miles and crosses many municipal boundaries) scale.

Slowing stormwater is a science and an art, but it is also political. Thankfully, it has clear economic, social and environmental benefits to help cut through the fog of Berns' logic. As Beach pointed out, many techniques have emerged in regions with stormwater programs to form a whole ‘green infrastructure’ industry. Is the fee a red herring, or do owners of commercial properties really not see how they can easily retrofit their parking lots with bioswales (see picture above) to take advantage of the stormwater program’s credits? Beach and Dreyfuss-Wells tried to allay the fears of Berns and others by pointing out the multiple benefits other regions have gained – jobs, innovation (see this model of green infrastructure in Lansing, Michigan or the Menomonee River Valley in Milwaukee) clean rivers and lakes, and less flooding. As one WCPN caller noted, “$4.75 seems like a low price to pay for all of that.”

Depending how you look at it, cities have an opportunity now to encourage their residents to engage in backyard stewardship, the type that feeds into a collective good. Reduce your impervious surfaces, and help keep Lake Erie and your drinking water clean (thus reducing your/our ecological footprint). How will cities respond—will they be leaders like South Euclid, Euclid and Cleveland who have changed old rules and allowed downspout disconnect, rain barrels, and rain gardens?

"Most communities do not permit citizens to disconnect their downspout from the storm sewer system, as the volume of water could cause flooding issues," Friends of the Euclid Creek write here. "But, communities are recognizing the value of disconnecting downspouts to allow people to utilize rain barrel systems for lawn irrigation and water conservation. Both Euclid and South Euclid require that the rain barrel be designed to flow back into the storm sewer system once full by installing a downspout diverter or by modifying the downspout. These ordinances are pivotal to managing storm water runoff issues in the Euclid Creek communities."

Right now, too many cities tell people ‘no’, and that has to change.

On a personal note, I’m disappointed with the decision to not include gravel driveways as a pervious surface for credit (full disclosure: we had a gravel drive installed last year). Perhaps the Sewer District is following precedent from other stormwater programs, but I need to see more evidence that a well-designed gravel drive is less pervious than a (more expensive) permeable paver system? I understand that many existing gravel drives were not engineered like ours, with layers of sub-base, to avoid compacting, but the District should follow one of the goals of its program: Flexibility. "The program approach (is) flexible enough to meet the needs of a varied constituency," the district writes in its promotional materials. How that translates into help for smaller property owners can and will be part of the answer.

"We will offer credits for stormwater control measures – not just downspout disconnects but good stormwater basins, rain gardens, bioswales, and other great ideas - that control a parcel’s runoff and mitigate its impacts on flooding, erosion, and water quality," Drefuss-Wells writes here. 

The District, in my opinion, has some work to do defining and promoting the standards for ‘green infrastructure’ improvements. Still, it's fair to assume, as Drefuss-Wells continues, "NEORSD supports municipalities in allowing (downspout disconnection) and we will encourage disconnects by offering credits under the regional stormwater management program. We don’t control local ordinances, however, so please remember it is each community’s decision to allow this practice."  

We should give the new stormwater program a chance. It will have to walk the line between being flexible enough to allow for innovation and a well-designed solution and meeting the goals of improving water quality and reducing quantity. Perhaps one outcome is the District will begin to supply communities with technical data that can lead to policy change, and to help individuals get credit for participating in greening their community.

For more information about the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District Stormwater Program, go here.