County-Wide Stormwater Ordinance Adopted by County Board

September 06, 2001
Susan Jones, 267-0118

Ordinance sets standards for quality and quantity of water run-off from sites under construction; offers long-term protection for Dane County lakes and streams. At its August 2 meeting, the Dane County Board adopted a new stormwater management ordinance, designed to improve the quality and limit the quantity of stormwater run-off. The ordinance, which will go into effect after a 12-month phase in period, will apply countywide and will give landowners and builders in towns, villages and cities across the County a consistent set of standards to meet. The ordinance also recognizes that each site and project are unique and provides landowners and builders the flexibility to choose the practices that are most cost-effective and efficient for their particular project. The newly-adopted ordinance is the product of over two years and hundreds of hours of meetings with technical experts, local municipalities, builders, citizens, environmental groups and other stakeholders. "Citizens should be proud of their County Board for adopting this ordinance and taking a big step toward better protecting our lakes and streams from the pollutants that stormwater carries," noted Shary Bisgard, Chair of the Dane County Lakes and Watershed Commission which developed the ordinance. "The Commission is very gratified that we managed, through careful consultation and an open and accessible process, to create an ordinance that spells out a reasonable and effective set of standards. This ordinance will help ensure we are protecting our waters from run-off in the long term and it levels the playing field because it will be in effect county-wide." "This ordinance moves us ahead in ensuring that growth and development occurs in a way that protects our lakes and streams," said Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk. "County staff and the Lakes and Watershed Commission did a great job in working with many interest groups and coming up with a fine product consistent with my Design Dane! action plan." # # #