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. x ■ CINCINNATI sought to correct such problems as this barricaded street inlet with its new stormwater program. Establishing a stormwater Management Utility Cincinnati's success story uses the "people" strategy. THOMAS A. STITT, P.E., P.S. City Stormwater Engineer Department of Public Works, Division of Stormwater Management Utility, Cincinnati, Ohio N many municipalities, developing a stormwater management pro- gram is one of a dozen items on the public works director's "to do" list. However, stormwater management usually remains a low priority unless a major flood or several severe storms actually damage property or threaten lives. Stormwater management includes a tota program o routine an reme- aial aintenance, master planning, capital needs, regulation, enforce- ment, and financial management. After more than three years of strategic planning, the city of Cincin- nati recently established the Division of Stormwater Management Utility within the Department of Public Works. The department convinced the city council and the public that there should be a comprehensive ap- proach to Cincinnati's stormwater needs. Community development in Cin- cinnati has spanned almost 200 years. (The city will celebrate its bicenten- nial in 1988.) Approximately 90 per- cent of the city is more than 50 years old, and about one third of the city's storm drainage system was built more than 100 years ago. Cincinnati has ap- proximately 30,000 inlets, 50 miles of water courses, more than 250 miles of storm sewers, 50 miles of channels and creeks, and 550 miles of ditches to maintain. In addition, the city has a combined system of sanitary and storm sewers with many stormwater drainage pipes emptying into the sani- tary sewers. Mounting Complaints Because of a lack of city funds and personnel, no new storm drainage systems were constructed a ter 196 . Because of budget restraints vily ,no new maintenance or capital stormwater improvements were undertaken. y�l 79 t11e problem stormwater management was evi- dent; the number of resident com- plaints in the city's file had greatly in- creased. The city called on Woolpert Consultants, a Cincinnati multidiscip- linary consulting firm, to study the complaint file, the city's drainage sys- tem, and to recommend improve- ments. The consultants concluded that more than $53 million in capital improvements were required to Rre per y repair, maintain, an man- tagoestrmw er sys em. Awareness —stormwater problems increased further in 1982, when two 100 -year storms dramatically demon- strated the deficiencies of the drain- age system. Many residents called and sent letters requesting an e- man ing t at repairs be ma e o e- �rainage system to prevent extensive flooding an property ama e m Me future. Despite the storms, immediate at- tention to other budgetary considera- tions dropped stormwater manage- ment to near the bottom of the list of city projects. Completing projects that affected the majority of citizens seemed the goal; in other words, it was more expedient to fill a pothole than clean an inlet. Cincinnati, however, was already searching for an equitable way to manage stormwater. The city man- ager formed a committee to study al- ternative methods for funding capital stormwater projects. The committee concluded that establishing a user charge, a concept discussed in the American Public Works Association Report No. 49, Urban Stormwater Management, had potential for meet- ing Cincinnati's needs. Storm drainage user charges are based on each property's runoff con- tribution to the system, benefits en- joyed, and service received. It was recommended that the city council es- tablish some form of a user charge for stormwater and the city manager di- rected the public works department to come up with a program within six months. The department initially contacted several cities that had stormwater agencies, although not necessarily in t i, orm of a utility, for information on those cities' experiences. After this preliminary research, the city sol- icitor examined the ease 1 i y o es- tablishing such a uti it y. ega y, es- tablishing a new utility in Cincinnati was possible; a section in Ohio's con- stitution permits corporations to es- tablish a utility for public purposes. Because there are many methods for establishing stormwater management programs in municipalities, it is im- 126 PUBLIC WORKS for September, 1986