City official discusses stormwater issues
Recently there has been some controversy and confusion surrounding stormwater issues in Moses Lake. Since the amendment of the Clean Water Act in 1987, stormwater has gained attention as one of the leading pollutants of surface water bodies in the United States. The EPA, under the federally mandates National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), issued a municipal stormwater permit to Moses Lake in February of 2007. This permit was not based on amount of rainfall, but on the fact that Moses Lake is listed as an “impaired Water of the State” and as a “Water of Statewide Significance.”
The permit requires performance standards in six key areas, with an implementation timeline stretching from 2007 to 2012, when the next permit cycle will begin. Adoption of these standards is mandatory and carries stiff fines for noncompliance: up to $37,500 per day per violation. Although the city did not wish to embark upon this project, we are required by law to participate. Other jurisdictions have made legal challenges to being included in the permit, and those challenges have not been successful.
This permit and its mandates have been handed down to the jurisdictions and largely unfunded. Since February 2007, we have been meeting the basic requirements of the permit as they become due with the help of small, temporary start-up grants from the state. For the past two years, most of our permit-related activities have been funded by these start-up grants. We have met and will continue to meet key area deadlines as they become due. Permanent funding for these permit-related activities becomes a critical issue as we move closer to the end of this permit term and more of these component items become due.
The formation of a stormwater utility is a process that the city has looked long and hard at since the permit was issued. In order to meet the permit requirements and avoid the penalties of noncompliance, this program requires funding that does not currently exist. We have worked at it diligently and deliberately to determine a method that would distribute costs in a fair manner and to examine what has worked for other cities. City staff investigated many other cities and their programs, and several different methods of setting rates, before presenting some options to city council.
We have been compared to other Eastern Washington cities such as Pullman, but it should be noted that these cities have substantially different situations than Moses Lake. Pullman began with their rates reduced so that they could phase in the final rate, with step increases from $3, $5, and $7 over three years. They also receive a sizeable monthly contribution from WSU. In addition, WSU covers its own costs for stormwater management.
Moses Lake’s current proposed base right is comparable to (and lower than) many other cities in Eastern Washington. It will not raise any other utility charges, and is not anticipated to change except for inflation. The contribution from individual households is small – around $4 per month – but the potential effect that it makes on water quality is large.
It is worth remembering that this city was built on and around the lake, and without this asset, a great many businesses would suffer. Our tourism and marketing plan are based around the quality of our lake. Despite the challenges of being included in a federally mandated program with no funding, the City of Moses Lake remains committed to protecting our greatest asset, and we will take the necessary measures to ensure that it remains as valuable tomorrow as it is today.