STORMWATER PROGRAM
Construction and Development Storm Water Requirements
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP)
The City of Paso Robles requires a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and SWPPP Checklist be submitted to the Community Development Department for every project which is greater than or equal to one acre (including projects less than one acre that are part of a larger plan of development or sale that would disturb more than one acre.
Download and Print the SWPPP
Checklist
Construction
Site Storm Water Quality Requirements
This is an informational handout for meeting the
requirements of the State’s General Construction Permit and
preparing a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan.
Storm Water Management Requirements on Developer and Single Family Grading Permits
The purpose of these requirements is to provide guidelines for addressing storm water management on developer and single-family grading permits and other construction activities with potential to pollute storm water. These guidelines apply to all types of soil disturbance projects that are regulated by the City Grading ordinance. In addition to these measures, projects that are over one acre in disturbed area have responsibilities directly to the State Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Construction Best Management Practices
Post-Construction Innovative
Stormwater Projects Tracking List
This is a list of innovative projects in the City which are
designed to protect/improve water quality. Please call 227-1654
for more information on these projects.
Low Impact Development (LID)
What is LID?
Low Impact Development (LID) is an innovative storm water management approach with a basic principle that is modeled after nature: manage rainfall at the source using uniformly distributed decentralized micro-scale controls. LID's goal is to mimic a site's predevelopment hydrology by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff close to its source.
Hydromodification
What is Hydromodification?
US
EPA (1993) defines hydromodification as the
“alteration of the hydrologic characteristics of
coastal and non-coastal waters, which in turn could
cause degradation of water resources”.
Hydromodification results in the disturbance of the natural plumbing of communities. Examples of hydromodification include indirect, increased runoff from impervious surfaces that increases channel erosion and floodplain dimensions, straightening, stream relocations, construction along streams, narrow bridge spans that pinch or redirects stream flow into stream banks and increases velocities, construction and operation of dams and impoundments, and channelization and maintenance to remove in-stream blockages.
Development, construction, erosion and land use changes that do not attempt to replicate natural functions on-site, will always impact and change the hydrology, shape and function of landforms in and adjacent to stream channels and other water bodies.
Image Caption: Relationship between impervious surface area, surface runoff, infiltration and evapotranspiration (Source: Stream Corridor Restoration: Principles, Processes, and Practices, FISWG 1998)
Links for more information on Hydromodification.
State Water Resources Control Board: Hydromodification, Stream Channel Modification
California Stormwater Quality Association
www.CASQA.org
"Through the development of stormwater management policies and regulations, CASQA is taking positive steps that will lead to cleaner streams, rivers, bays, beaches and ocean waters for everyone to enjoy throughout California. As a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, public benefit corporation, our membership is comprised mostly of government agencies, businesses, organizations and individuals responsible for or interested in stormwater management programs. Read more about what we do, how we do it, and how you could be involved here."
Stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP) Handbooks
Caltrans water pollution control manuals provide direction on how to prepare a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and Water Pollution Control Program (WPCP). Electronic templatesof these documents have been prepared to assist construction contractors in their preparation of these documents. Caltrans has also developed and obtained the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) approval of numerous Best Management Practices (BMP) for preventing water pollution. For more information, or to download the CalTrans manuals, visit www.dot.ca.gov - Stormwater and Water Pollution Control.
The California Stormwater Best Management Practice Handbooks
have provided excellent guidance to the stormwater community
since their publication by the Stormwater Quality Task Force
(SWQTF) in 1993. These Handbooks reflect the current practices,
standards, and significant amount of knowledge gained since the
early 90s about the effectiveness of BMPs. For additional
information, please visit
www.cabmphandbooks.com.
