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Stormwater Utilities

Stormwater utilities are a way for communities to collect user fees to fund a range of stormwater management activities such as catchbasin cleaning, street sweeping, and stormwater infrastructure upgrades required by the Clean Water Act Phase II. User fees are generally proportional to the amount of runoff generated by a parcel. There are many different types of stormwater utilities, ranging from taxes to user fees. A common stormwater utility strategy used in the Northeast incorporates a dedicated enterprise fund, similar to those used to manage water and sewer utilities. An enterprise fund is based on a flat fee per unit of impervious area.

Resources

• User-Fee-Funded Stormwater Utilities: Water Environment Federation (1994).
• “The Stormwater Utility: Will it Work for Your Community?” from Stormwater Magazine: www.forester.net/sw_0011_utility.html
• “How to Create A Stormwater Utility”: From the towns of Chicopee and S. Hadley, Mass. by a 319 Grant: www.pvpc.org/web-content/docs/landuse/storm_util.pdf
• N.H. Department of Environmental Services, Watershed Assistance Bureau, (603) 271-7889 or bmcmillan@des.state.nh.us