FLOOD10222

• County: El Paso
• Community: Colorado Springs
• Basin: Arkansas
• Title: The City of Colorado/Springs/El Paso County Drainage Criteria Manual
• Date: 11/1/1986
• Prepared By: Colorado Springs
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

1.0 DRAINAGE POlICY

1.1 General Statement

The provision of adequate drainage is necessary to preserve and promote the
general health, welfare and economic well-being of the community. Drainage is
a regional feature that affects all governmental jurisdictions. The
characteristics of drainage make it necessary to formulate a program that
balances both pUblic and private interests. Master drainage planning must be
integrated on a regional level and coordinated with state and national
agencies, where applicable.

When planning drainage facilities, certain underlying principles provide
direction for the effort. These principles are made operational through a set
of policy statements. The application of drainage policy is facilitated by
technical criteria and data. When considered in a comprehensive manner and on
a regional level with both public and private involvement, drainage facilities
can be provided in a manner that will minimize flood losses and disruption,
will enhance the general health and welfare of the region, and will help assure
optimum economic and social benefits.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide policy guidelines for storm water
management in the El Paso County/Colorado Spri ngs Metropolitan area. Drainage
policy is a statement by the people expressing their values and priorities of
storm water management within thei r urban envi ronment. The po 1 i cy statements
form the basis of a comprehensive storm water management program including the
planning, financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of
drainage facilities.

The following policy statements are presented in a sequence which reflects the
logical progression of storm water management from planning through
implementation. The policy statements are supported by detailed drainage
criteria and design standards which are set forth in Sections II and III of
this manual. The effectiveness of the drainage policy and criteria established
in the manual will depend largely upon cooperation among the local governments,
private interests, and other governmental resource agencies. Their
participation in the development of these policies, criteria and design
standards is the first step towards a successful storm water management
program.

1.2 Drainage Planning Policies

Drainage is a service subsystem for the general urban development in a region.
Therefore, the planning of drainage facilities should be in general conformance
with a comprehensive plan, including land-use designations. The resulting
comprehensive land-use plan should include consideration of all major elements
necessary for proper development of the area and resolution or compromise of
conflicting problems among its elements.

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