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Here you will find information for
businesses and the general public, as well as
technical resources for stormwater permittees.
Questions and comments relating to a specific
city or county can be made by contacting the
stormwater staff listed in the
GCSA Partner Communities webpage or
by contacting INCOG’s stormwater coordinator by
email
or phone (918) 579-9450.
STORMWATER
101:
Stormwater is not just fallen
raindrops - rainfall carries with it loose material
and chemicals that can cause pollution in surface
water. Pollutants in stormwater runoff are often
transported to storm sewer systems and ultimately
discharged directly into local rivers and streams
without treatment. Common pollutants in stormwater
runoff include trash, solvents, petroleum products,
heavy metals, pesticides, fertilizers, bacteria, and
sediment and chemicals from construction sites.
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA's) stormwater program now regulates
discharges from many Municipal Separate Storm Water
Systems (MS4s). Phase I of the regulations addresses
large cities (Tulsa
and
Oklahoma City) and 11
categories of "industrial activities". Phase II
addresses many other cities in
Oklahoma. The Oklahoma
Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is the
permitting authority in
Oklahoma.
Also included in EPA’s stormwater coverage is
any construction activity that has 1 acre or more of
disturbance.
Many city and county members of
the Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG),
including additional cities in
Oklahoma, have created the
Green Country Stormwater Alliance (GCSA) to
collectively address stormwater pollution
regionally. INCOG coordinates the GCSA activities,
which include a variety of public education
programs, technical assistance, and employee
training. This website is dedicated to assistance
for citizens and businesses within the GCSA, as well
as for providing resources for GCSA municipalities
themselves.
IMPORTANT
INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC
The following are several
important programs about stormwater pollution and
urban water quality protection. Visit the
Educational Materials page for documents
and the
Internet Resources page for additional website
links.
Using Rainwater to Grow Livable
Communities
Sustainable Stormwater Best
Management Practices (BMPs)
Stormwater
best management practices
(BMPs)
are gaining recognition as effective, flexible, and
environmentally sound ways for controlling the
quantity and improving the quality of stormwater
runoff, while also adding amenity to a wide variety
of development projects. This website (http://www.werf.org/livablecommunities/)
is designed to encourage and facilitate the
integration of stormwater BMPs into development
projects in your area by providing
tools and resources for effective communication and
implementation as well as
in-depth case studies that examine BMP
integration in several cities across the United
States.
Putting Down
Roots
The Oklahoma City Planning
Department has prepared "Putting Down Roots," a
116-page guide to choosing and taking care of trees
for central Oklahoma landscapes. This guide features
full-color photos and information about more than 50
trees appropriate for Oklahoma
landscapes
You can read or download the book in Adobe Acrobat
format (150MB) here.
303(d) List -
Impairment and TMDLs
The
303(d) List of impaired waterbodies is updated
biannually in Oklahoma.
The 303(d) list is now referred to as “Category 5”
in the State’s
Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report.
The 2008report has been approved by EPA.
Visit
the
Water Quality in NE Oklahoma
page for a map of impaired streams in the Tulsa
area. Visit the
ODEQ website
for more information about
stream impairment in Oklahoma.
All impaired streams that remain on the Category 5
list must have a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
study. The TMDL will set load limits on all point
source dischargers and significant non-point sources
so that water quality standards will be met. There
are many streams in the
Tulsa
area that will have a TMDL performed over the next
10 years.
The
2010 list is being peer reviewed and should be
approved in late 2010 or early 2011. The 2010 list
is being prepared by ODEQ and is available online at
this
ODEQ website.
OKR04 5-Year
Renewal Cycle Has Begun
The ODEQ has
begun the process of renewing, with modifications,
the State’s Stormwater General Permit for Small MS4s
(OKR04).
This is the permit under
which all GCSA members are permitted.
The renewal of OKR04
will be finalized in 2010.
It will likely include
additional requirements for Low Impact Development
(LID) and addressing 303(d) impaired waterbodies.
This will likely involve
increased monitoring requirements by permittees.
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