[ Cuyahoga County Engineer's Seal ]

The Cuyahoga County Engineer's Office

CUYAHOGA COUNTY ENGINEER’S STORM WATER PROGRAM

Phase I of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) storm water program was promulgated in 1990 under the Clean Water Act. Phase I relies on National Pollution discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit coverage to address storm water runoff from 1.) "medium" and "large" Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) generally serving populations of 100,000 or greater, 2.) construction activity disturbing five (5) acres of land or greater and 3.) several categories of industrial activity.

The Storm Water Phase II Final Rule is the next step in EPA’s effort to preserve, protect and improve the nation’s water resources from polluted storm water runoff. The Phase II program expands the Phase I program by requiring additional operators of MS4s in urbanized areas, through the use of NPDES permits, to implement programs and practices to control polluted storm water runoff.

The Final Rule "automatically" covers operators of small MS4s located in "urbanized areas" as delineated by the Bureau of Census. A small MS4 is any MS4 not already covered by Phase I of the NPDES storm water program.

The Cuyahoga County Engineer’s Office is considered a small MS4.

The Cuyahoga County Storm Water Management Program consists of the County Engineers' Storm water Management Program and a separate Storm Water Management Program prepared by the Cuyahoga County Sanitary Engineers for activities that fall under the jurisdiction of the Board of Cuyahoga County Commissioners.

The Cuyahoga County Storm Water Management Program was submitted to the Ohio EPA in March, 2003 and we were notified on March 28, 2003 that Cuyahoga County was approved. (Ohio EPA Facility Permit Number *3GQ10003 *AG) for coverage under Ohio EPA NPDES General Permit OHQ 100000.

On December 15, 2003 the OEPA notified Cuyahoga County of several deficiencies in our SWMP.

We have since revised our SWMP to correct the deficiencies noted by the OEPA

To view a PDF of the Revised Storm Water Management Program click here.

To view the Cuyahoga County Sanitary Engineers' SWMP covering the activities that fall under the jurisdiction of the County Commissioners click here.( Coming Soon)

To view a copy of the OEPA comments concerning our original SWMP see Appendix A of the 2003 Annual Report.

To view changes to the Cuyahoga County Engineers' SWMP based upon the OEPA comments please see section 2 of the County Engineers 2003 Annual Report as well as Appendix B and Appendix C.

"As required by the Cuyahoga County Engineer's NPDES Phase II Storm Water permit, the County Engineer's Office has produced an ANNUAL REPORT documenting our activities in 2007. A PDF file of this document is available below.

2007 Annual Report

2007 Appendix A Table 1

2007 Appendix A Table 2

2007 Appendix A Table 3

2007 Appendix A Table 4

2007 Appendix A Table 5

2007 Appendix B CCEO Summary

2006 Annual Report

2006 Appendix A Table 1

2006 Appendix A Table 2

2006 Appendix A Table 3

2006 Appendix A Table 4

2007 Appendix A Table 5

2006 Appendix B CCEO Summary

2005 Annual Report

2005 Appendix A Table 1

2005 Appendix A Table 2

2005 Appendix A Table 3

2005 Appendix A Table 4

2005 Appendix A Table 5

2005 Appendix B CCEO Summary

2004 Annual Report

2004 Appendix A Table 1

2004 Appendix A Table 2

2004 Appendix A Table 3

2004 Appendix A Table 4

2004 Appendix A Table 5

2004 Appendix B CCEO Summary

2003 Appendix D Table 1

2003 Appendix D Table 2

2003 Appendix D Table 3

2003 Appendix D Table 4

2003 Appendix D Table 5

Comments on these documents should be made by Emailing the Engineers office at: County@cuyctyengineers.org

Other Related Sites

EPA

Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District

WHAT IS A WATERSHED

A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. John Wesley Powell, scientist geographer, put it best when he said that a watershed is:

"that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become part of a community."

Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross-county, state, and national boundaries. No matter where you are, you're in a watershed!

East Siders: Streams on the eastside of Cleveland include: Doan Brook, Dugway Brook, Nine Mile Creek, Euclid Creek, and the Chagrin River.

Central County: Many creeks flow into the Cuyahoga River, which flows into Lake Erie. Some of those creeks include Pond Brook, Mill Creek, Wolf Creek, Tinkers Creek, Chippewa Creek, West Creek, Stickney Creek, and Big Creek.

West Siders: On the west side many creeks flow into the east and west branches of the Rocky River, including Plum Creek, Mill Stream, Baldwin Creek, and Abrams Creek. Spencer Creek and Porter Creek flow directly into Lake Erie.

Here’s How You Can Protect Your Watershed—And the water you need to live

Please put paper wrappers, bottles, cans and other trash in the garbage—not in the street

Keep grass clippings, paper and other wastes out of storm drains

Reduce toxic substances and home and on the lawn; call for great alternatives!

Report illegal dumping in the City of Cleveland! Call 216-664-DUMP

Visit a nearby stream and learn about its origins, destination and its unique qualities

Become an Earth Team volunteer and help with community clean up days

This page has been accessed Hit Counter times since February 13, 2003
and was last updated on Friday, April 04, 2008.