Maintaining Your Neighborhood Stormwater Facilities
Neighborhood
stormwater facilities play a key role in preventing flooding,
pollution and erosion. The phrase "stormwater facility" refers
to any landscaped or structural feature that slows, filters, or
infiltrates runoff from your property after a rainfall.
Stormwater facilities come in many shapes and forms -- from
simple swales to more complicated stormwater ponds.
The ponds,
ditches and depressions that you see every day may actually be
neighborhood stormwater facilities. Without them, polluted
stormwater runoff can rush into rivers and streams, or enter
drinking water aquifers. Stormwater facilities also help prevent
neighborhood flooding -- a huge benefit in the stormy Pacific
Northwest.
Annual Stormwater Facility
Maintenance Inspections
Thurston
County requires property owners to inspect and maintain
stormwater facilities on their private property, including
facilities located on commonly owned land within a housing
development. The term "stormwater facility" refers to any
structure that conveys or stores stormwater runoff. Examples
include catch basins, swales and stormwater ponds.
Annual
Maintenance Inspections
Each year,
Thurston County inspects private and commercial stormwater
facilities to make sure they are functioning properly, and
provides property owners with a report on the findings. Within
30 days of receiving the report, property owners are required to
return a "maintenance log" stating that they either corrected
the deficiencies, or plan to correct them in the future.
Property
owners who need technical assistance or simply need more time,
should call Cathe Linn at(360) 867-2095 or e-mail
linnca@co.thurston.wa.us. You may also request technical
assistance by clicking here.
Together, we can work toward ensuring that both private and
public stormwater facilities function properly to help prevent
flooding in neighborhoods and protect nearby streams from
polluted runoff.
