FLOOD03407

• County: Statewide
• Community: State of Colorado
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: Stormwater Management in the United States - A Study of Intsitutionl Problems, Solutions and Impacts
• Date: 9/1/1980
• Prepared By: Office of Water Research and Technology
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

planning commissions, lack of authority often impedes implementation of their plans.
The failure of some states to enact legislation enabling local governments to join
together in establishing special agencies to solve common problems, and the lack
of state support and assistance, are factors which limit progress in metropolitan
areas.

The failure to budget sufficient funds for areawide planning and design, con-
struction, operation and maintenance of stormwater control facilities and programs
to meet present and future needs is an obvious limitation to the satisfactory and
timely solution 'of physical problems impacting metropolitan areas. A basic impedi-
ment to meaningful progress, however, is an indifference toward the potential con-
sequences of adverse stormwater impacts exhibited by many leaders in business, in-
dustry and land development, as well as by elected officials and the general public.
They have not been convinced of the necessity of investing the large sums of money
needed for providing and operating the major programs and facilities needed.

Problems of "Authority" and "Organization"

Usually, responsibility for stormwater management in urban areas descends upon
the local government having jurisdiction. Most often, this is a municipality. In
the case of urban counties, overall responsibilities for planning, coordination and
major facilities and programs often is undertaken by the county. However, no matter
how deeply a county becomes involved, the principal responsibility and authority
for surface drainage collection facilities lies with the incorporated municipalities,
where such exist. Overall management of publicly-owned facilities ordinarily is
handled by the municipal public works department. Facility design functions are
usually provided by, or supervised by, the municipality's engineer who, in many
instances, is a key staff member or division head in the public works department.

The basic problem relating to the authority of public agencies for managing
stormwater in a specific locality is that it is spread among, and shared by many
local agencies. This fragmentation and overlapping of authority results in a dilu-
tion of powers and a limitation of the potential effectiveness of stormwater manage-
ment programs. This is particularly evident in metropolitan areas where each of
the local governments typically chooses to exercise its authority as a municipal
corporation, independently of the other governments and local agencies. Such auton-
omous action by local governments is legal, except where special districts have
been established with extensive authority.

"Staffing" is a major problem faced by most small municipal and county govern-
ments, and this limits the potential productivity and effectiveness of the engineer-
ing or public works department. Developing a departmental capability for water re-
sources planning and hydrologic and hydraulic analysis and design requires the annual
availability of sufficient funds in the operating budget to attract and hold pro-
fessionals having the qualifications required.

Water resources curricula at some universities have become more popular in
recent years. However, there are not enough experienced graduates available now,
nationwide, to meet the needs of both municipalities and engineering firms. Usually,
young graduates, as well as engineers seeking new positions, are attracted by engi-
neering firms because of the higher salaries and greater opportunities for challeng-
ing assignments and professional advancement. Consequently, the public agencies
have great difficulty in hiring the professionals needed.

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