Working Together

Cleaning up stormwater pollution is a difficult task because there is no single source, no single solution and, no single responsible party. We all contribute to the problem and we all have a role to play in the solution!

Stormwater management regulations, commonly known as Stormwater Phase II, are helping to correct water quality problems caused by stormwater and to protect our valuable environmental resources by requiring that regulated cities, towns, villages and counties control stormwater discharges from their municipal storm sewer systems. Across the state, all construction activities that disturb one or more acres of soil must also employ best management practices to control stormwater runoff under the Stormwater Phase II program.

In the Syracuse Urban Area (SUA), there are 32 cities, towns, villages and counties that are subject to Stormwater Phase II regulations. Twenty-nine of those municipalities are working with the Central New York Regional Planning & Development Board to comply with stormwater regulations and improve water quality in a cost effective and coordinated manner.

Under the leadership of the CNY RPDB, these 29 municipalities are jointly implementing a wide range of projects and programs that reduce stormwater pollution including public education and training for municipal employees and elected officials. In the past, regulated communities in the SUA, worked together to establish common standards for mapping stormwater outfalls, developed common procedures for inspecting construction sites and partnered to secure grants that are providing funding for municipal staff training and other required program components such as GIS outfall mapping. These efforts and others have reduced duplicative efforts and increased compliance cost sharing opportunities. In other words, intermunicipal cooperation and coordination has improved the effectiveness and efficiency of stormwater management efforts in the SUA.