Stormwater Utility Feasibility Report City of Newark, Delaware
Date
2009-08-19
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Abstract
The City of Newark owns, operates, and maintains a complex stormwater drainage system in the Upper Christina River and White Clay Creek watersheds including over:
• 60 miles of storm sewers (Figure 1),
• 200 miles of roadway curb and gutter,
• 3000 stormwater inlets or catch basins,
• 34 stormwater detention ponds,
• 500 acres of floodplain along 10 stream miles within the City.
The City of Newark proposes to adopt a stormwater utility as a dedicated and sustainable funding source to finance administration, operation, and maintenance of stormwater, water quality, watershed, and floodplain programs largely required by State and Federal laws and regulations such as:
• Delaware Stormwater and Sediment Regulations,
• Delaware Source Water Protection Law of 2001,
• Federal Clean Water Act, NPDES MS4 Part 2 Permit and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL),
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Insurance Program,
• Federal Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996.
The goals of the Newark stormwater management program are to:
• Prevent and reduce flood damage from flood events (Table 1),
• Prevent and solve stormwater drainage problems,
• Improve water quality in the White Clay Creek and Upper Christina River watersheds (Figure 3),
• Decrease pollutant loads entering the City’s drinking water streams and wellhead areas,
• Reduce soil erosion and sediment problems.