Bert Rapp
City of Fillmore, Public Works Director

The L.A. Regional Water Quality Control Board (the Board) is about to issue a storm water permit to the cities in Ventura County that is going to hit us like an out-of-control train. Out of control because the permit will increase the annual cost of storm water treatment from about $50 to $900 per home. This will affect every home and business in Ventura County.
The storm water permit should adhere to the Federal Clean Water Act which includes methods of tackling storm water pollution: Best Management Practices (BMP’s) and a concept of Maximum Extent Practicable (MEP). BMP’s include good housekeeping practices and installed treatment devices. The Maximum Extent Practicable concept was introduced because even when you correctly use Best Management Practices (BMP’s), they don’t consistently remove pollutants. This is because weather and rain events are highly variable and affect the performance of treatment devices.
So, instead of following the Clean Water Act, the Board is proposing Municipal Action Levels (numeric limits) not applicable to Ventura County, to limit the concentrations of pollutants coming out the end of storm drains. Even though BMP’s cannot consistently remove all of these pollutants cities must meet those concentrations 80% of the time or face Mandatory Minimum Penalties of $3,000 per exceedence.
Cities will have two years to implement BMP’s for cleaning their storm water. After that cities will be fined by the State. No excuses, no waivers, you violate - you pay (SB 709 signed into law by Democratic Governor Grey Davis). For the City of Fillmore this could mean $231,000 per day and bankruptcy.
To try to comply with the Board’s new approach to controlling storm water treatment, Fillmore would have to convert at least 22 miles of the public parkway in residential neighborhoods to bio-retention areas ($18,000,000), install storm water treatment wetlands at the end of storm drains ($14,000,000), and require each existing home and business to retrofit and install onsite storm water treatment ($3,000 per home, Total $12,000,000; $5,000 to $100,000 per business, Total $10,000,000). The City installations and maintenance would cost residents $900 per year or $75 per month this would be in addition to their cost to install and maintain their own onsite storm water treatment devices.
The Ventura County Cities would be the first in the State and first in the Nation to have to meet numeric limits and retrofit existing communities with storm water treatment. In 2007 the State Water Quality Control Board convened a Blue Ribbon Panel of scientists, engineers and academic experts to consider the numeric limit approach the Board is proposing. This panel determined: “It is not feasible at this time to set enforceable numeric effluent criteria for municipal BMP’s and in particular urban discharges…”
The L.A. Board has chosen to ignore the conclusions of the State Board Blue Ribbon Panel and EPA standard practice in the Federal Clean Water Act and is insisting upon placing this unrealistic approach and excessive limits in the permit. To add insult to injury, cities currently do not have any access to or methods for raising the funds to implement the desire of the Board. So there is a Grand Canyon of a divide between the requirements of the draft permit and our ability to implement them.
The cost to retrofit the existing community is so great that the Fillmore City Council is asking the Board to remove these requirements from the draft Ventura County Permit and consider them at a State wide level. If the State decides existing communities should be retrofitted with storm water treatment then the State should establish a financial mechanism to implement it.
If you would like to learn more about this issue the Fillmore City Council is holding a special workshop Monday July 7th at 7:00 P.M. at the Memorial Building, 211 2nd Street, Fillmore.
The L.A. Regional Water Quality Control Board is also holding a special workshop on the draft permit Thursday July 10th in the Board of Supervisors meeting room, 800 S. Victoria Ave. Ventura from 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. All interested stakeholders should attend this meeting and express their views.
Link: http//www.waterboards.ca.gov/losangeles/
water_issues/programs/stormwater/municipal/
ventura_ms4/08_0429/
draft_Tentative_Ventura_County_MS4_Permit.pdf