Stormwater management is incredibly important to the health and safety of a city. An excess or gathering of water drainage can lead to detrimental flooding, stagnant water pollution, and costly cleanups that can all be prevented. In 2003, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health implemented a stormwater assistance and management system that aims to prevent these damaging side effects of poor stormwater drainage. The Phase II Stormwater Assistance Program is made up of six control measures.
Two of these measures are public education and public involvement. At the end of the day, it is up to the population to take a stand against a public nuisance. These two facets of the program are meant to teach the county about the concerns and problems of poor storm drainage and the unpleasant effects it can have on their personal lives. Once the public education measure helps people understand the negative impacts of poor stormwater drainage, the public involvement measure helps get them motivated about fixing these issues.
The next three measures (Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination, Construction Site Runoff Control, and Post-Construction Site Runoff Control) have been set in place as ways to stop current problems and prevent future ones. They allow for the city to monitor sites that are particularly susceptible to pollution and make sure that their runoff is controlled and managed.
The public can often be unaware of the impact poor stormwater drainage has on their community. Often times, the people who are most directly responsible for runoff aren’t even aware of the problems that they are causing. That is why it is so important to learn about how these issues can affect personal life and how they can be stopped. Thanks to the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, seminars are available for both children and adults to attend, and volunteer stream monitoring and cleanups can be scheduled through Phase II of the Stormwater Assistance Program.