Stormwater Committee Pushes for Better Stormwater Management and Citizen Education

The town’s Stormwater Advisory Committee held a public forum in early March with Fred Civian, Mass. storm water coordinator, Mass. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The committee is planning more outreach, such as presentations at the farmers market and public library, in the next few months. Rob St. Germain, a committee member, explained the push for better stormwater management and the plan to reach more residents on reducing pollution.
“The reason that stormwater management is suddenly getting greater attention is because we have underfunded, and not fully met, compliance requirements, and the 2003 permit has been superseded by the 2016 permit, which we must now apply for and meet the requirements of,” St. German explained.
“The objectives of stormwater management are reduction of pollution, protection of ground water, streams and rivers, and ultimately retention of more stormwater,” St. Germain said. “The new regulations dictate a higher level of compliance—more street cleaning, higher levels of catch basin inspection and cleaning, monitoring of outfalls (culverts and other structures that flow into streams) higher levels of pollution control, more public education and awareness, and of course, more planning and reporting.
“A portion of Ashland’s stormwater flows to the Charles River Watershed. The stormwater from this part of town will need to be tested, identified and mitigated for additional elements like phosphorous. This is because Charles River has more stringent water quality restrictions due to the current higher pollution levels.
“The Stormwater Advisory Committee was formed by the Board of Selectmen (BOS) to advise the board and town on the best way to fund MS4 (Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer System) compliance. Compliance includes some things that the town Department of Public Works (DPW) was already doing, such as street and catch basin cleaning. Other compliance requirements include GIS mapping, public education and awareness, pollution identification and abatement, and lots of tracking and reporting.
“Our mission was expanded in January by the BOS to include implementation strategies, timing, risk assessment, rate structures. We have also been assisting our two ex officio (staff) members with public education and awareness. In addition, we have been asked to facilitate presenting our recommended solution by presenting to various committees and to town meeting.”
For more information, email swac@ashlandmass.com.