This site is sponsored by the Tippecanoe County Partnership for Water Quality, which seeks to partner with local, state, and federal government and other stakeholders to provide quality of life and protection of health, environment, and economy that our citizens desire and deserve as we serve as stewards of natural resources, system infrastructure, and public funds while solving stormwater and water quality issues. The Partnership consists of the following entities:
As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. Phase II of NPDES, published in the Federal Register on December 8, 1999, requires NPDES permit coverage for stormwater discharges from regulated small municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s).
NPDES Phase II requires regulated communities to develop a plan to address 6 major program elements regarding stormwater quality, referred to as Minimum Control Measures (MCMs). They are:
In Indiana, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) is the permitting authority. In response to the federal regulations, IDEM developed Rule 13, which details permitting requirements within the state of Indiana. Under the Rule 13 Program, Tippecanoe County, Lafayette, West Lafayette, Battle Ground, Dayton, Purdue, and Ivy Tech of Lafayette are required to implement controls designed to prevent harmful stormwater pollutants from being washed into local water bodies, and have chosen to do so as a cooperative team.
Over the course of the last three years, the Tippecanoe Team has been working with a steering committee of community stakeholder to fulfill the requirements of the Stormwater Phase II Program. In November of 2003, the team submitted its Stormwater Quality Management Plan (SWQMP) Part A: Notice of Intent (NOI) and Initial Application to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. The team's NOI and Initial Application included a list of waters that will receive stormwater discharges, and an estimated cost associated with fulfilling the requirements of Stormwater Phase II.
In May of 2004, the team submitted its SWQMP Part B: Baseline Stream Characterization. The SWQMP Part B report provides baseline water quality data on all rivers, streams, and ditches, within the regulated MS4 area, that receive discharges of stormwater, identifies sensitive areas, and designates certain watersheds as priorities. The information and conclusions included in the Part B report were used to develop an implementation plan for improving stormwater quality. The plan, formally known as the SWQMP Part C report, was submitted to the State in February of 2005. Part C describes a plan of action for developing and implementing programs to address the 6 MCM listed above.
Each MCM is addressed individually, by chapter, in the Implementation Plan. Each chapter covers the specific Best Management Practices (BMPs) chosen by the team to address the subject MCM. For each BMP, Measurable Goals are identified and will be used to measure the success of the program.
In general, the Implementation Plan commits the team to develop and administer the following Best Management Practices:
Rule 13 requires that the team develop a “regulatory mechanism” to locally enforce the requirements of Rule 13 and Rule 5. For the county, cities, and towns, this took take the form of ordinances. For Purdue, it involves contract language and changes to handbooks and policy statements. Rule 13 calls for an ordinance to address illegal dumping, pollution originating from active construction sites, and requirements for long-term stormwater pollution control measures on all new development and redevelopment sites.
Rather than developing three new ordinances, the team developed a Comprehensive Stormwater Ordinance that covers all three issues listed above as well as stormwater quantity issues. The Ordinance covers prohibited discharges and connections, stormwater quantity management, stormwater pollution prevention for construction sites, stormwater quality management for post-construction, permit requirements and procedures, and enforcement measures.
Technical standards associated with various requirements in the ordinance are covered in a companion technical. The technical standards include stormwater drainage calculation methods and requirements retracted from the previous stormwater ordinance, and also covers all the new technical requirements of addressing stormwater quality. The technical standards document covers methodology for determination of pre- and post development runoff quantities, methodology for determination of detention storage volumes, storm sewer design standards and specifications, open channel design standards and specifications, stormwater detention design standards, miscellaneous design standards, stormwater quality BMPs, methodology for determination of stormwater quality volume, methodology for determination of stormwater quality design hydrograph, and erosion and sediment control design standards.
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