The Board of Supervisors of Springfield Township finds that:
A. Inadequate management of accelerated stormwater runoff resulting from development and redevelopment throughout a watershed increases flood flows and velocities, contributes to erosion and sedimentation, overtaxes the carrying capacity of existing streams and storm sewers, greatly increases the cost of public facilities to convey and manage stormwater, undermines floodplain management and flood reduction efforts in upstream and downstream communities, reduces groundwater recharge, damages private property, and threatens public health and safety.
B. Inadequate planning and management of stormwater runoff resulting from land development and redevelopment throughout a watershed can also harm surface water resources by changing the natural hydrologic patterns, accelerating stream flows (which increase scour and erosion of streambeds and streambanks thereby elevating sedimentation), destroying aquatic habitat and elevating aquatic pollutant concentrations and loadings such as sediments, nutrients, heavy metals and pathogens. Groundwater resources and water supply are also impacted through loss of recharge due to increased impervious surface and modification of groundcover.
C. Stormwater is an important water resource that provides groundwater recharge for water supplies and supports the base flow of streams.
D. The use of green infrastructure and low impact development (LID) are intended to address the root cause of water quality impairment by using systems and practices which use or mimic natural processes to: 1) infiltrate and recharge, 2) evapotranspire, and/or 3) harvest and use precipitation near where it falls to earth. Green infrastructure practices and LID contribute to the restoration or maintenance of pre-development hydrology.
E. A comprehensive program of stormwater management (SWM), including reasonable regulation of development and other activities causing loss of natural infiltration, is fundamental to the public health, safety, welfare, and the protection of the people of the Township and all the people of the Commonwealth, their resources, and the environment.
F. Public education on the control of pollution from stormwater is an essential component in successfully addressing stormwater effects.
G. Federal and state regulations require certain municipalities such as Springfield Township to implement a program of stormwater controls. These municipalities are required to obtain a federal permit for stormwater discharges from their separate storm sewer systems under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).
(Ord. 186, passed 9-12-2017)