Mud Creek Watershed Restoration Plan - Henderson County Center

stormwater requirements for pollution prevention and post-construction stormwatermanagement.Local governments in the Mud Creek watershed should educate businesses and citizensabout stormwater management issues and actions they can take to reduce these impacts.Contractors and Developers: Require licensed contractors/developers to attend workshopsabout environmental/conservation site design. These workshops could focus on “Elements ofGood Design” (e.g., roof runoff routed to yard, setback from stream, porous driveways,narrower streets). Local governments could also provide a BMP design manual, specific tothe mountains, stressing the preference for non-structural BMPs such as forested setbacksand vegetated swales, minimization of impervious surfaces, and site design for topographicconstraints. The local governments should obtain assistance from the NC State UniversitySchool of Design, NCSU Biological and Agricultural Engineering, or the Center forWatershed Protection in designing requirements, providing classes and developing the BMPmanual. Grant funds may be available through the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, theEPA 319 Program, or through a 205(j) Grant to develop these materials. The program couldalso be subsidized through fees collected from workshop participants. Local governmentscould work through a regional organization such as the Land of Sky Regional Council toadminister this program across a multi-county area. As an incentive, local governmentscould expedite building permits for workshop participants or building permit applicantsincorporating good design principles into their development plans. These workshops wouldalso help local governments meet Phase II stormwater requirements for publiceducation/outreach.Citizens: Distribute brochures developed by the State for Phase II compliance regardingthings landowners and buyers can do to limit impervious surfaces, manage stormwater andminimize water quality toxicity via landscape application of chemicals. Local governmentscan provide brochures to local realtors, real estate attorneys, bank loan departments, andhealth departments for general public distribution. Local governments can also attach thebrochure to local building-related permit applications, home loan applications, closingmaterials and septic tank permit applications. Local governments can get Phase IIcompliance credit for public education/outreach for distributing these brochures.3.1.3 Strategies to reduce impacts of stormwater runoff from existing developmentLocal governments in the Mud Creek watershed and surrounding watersheds shouldconsider establishing a stormwater utility to fund improvements to existing stormwatercollection system. The federal Phase II Stormwater Regulation is an unfunded mandate foraffected local governments. In addition, there is a need for increased funding to improvestormwater drainage infrastructure and stormwater management programs at the local level.Many local governments across the state (Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Cumberland County)have established stormwater utilities to manage and fund their local stormwater programs.Stormwater utilities typically charge user fees based on the amount of impervious surfacecontained on a given property since impervious surface area has an effect on the volume ofstormwater runoff created by that property. The assessed value of the property used in theproperty tax calculations is not necessarily a good indicator of the contribution of runoff.Stormwater user fees represent a more equitable means of generating revenue for stormwaterSection 3: Recommendations Page 32