For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
BOARD. The Board of Directors of the Department of Stormwater Management.
COMBINED SEWER. Pipe or conduit primarily used to convey sanitary sewage and secondarily intended to convey stormwater.
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY. A lot or parcel of real estate encompassing State Land Use Code 3, 4 and 8, including but not limited to: commercial, industrial and retail.
COUNTY. Territory within the corporate boundaries of Warrick County that is not located in a municipality or is excluded under MS4 - NPDES Permitting Program 327 IAC 15-13.
CUSTOMER or USER. A property owner benefitting from the stormwater system.
DEPARTMENT. The Department of Stormwater Management.
DETENTION. The temporary storage of storm runoff in a basin, pond or other structural or non-structural device to control the peak discharge rates by holding the stormwater for a lengthened period of time, which also provides for the gravity-settling of pollutants.
DEVELOPED. The condition of real property altered from its natural state by the addition to, or construction on such property of impervious surfaces or physical improvements such that the hydrology of the property, or a portion thereof, is affected.
DITCH, LEGAL. Any drainage system under the jurisdiction of the County Drainage Board.
DITCH, OPEN. A relatively deep drainage channel that may have a continuous water flow. Open ditches are outlets for both surface, subsurface or storm sewer drainage systems.
DRAIN. Relative to stormwater drainage, any sewer, tile, ditch, stream or other stormwater runoff conveyance channel or conduit.
DRAINAGE EASEMENT. The land required for the installation of stormwater sewers or drainage ditches, or required along a natural stream or water course for preserving the channel and providing for the flow of water therein to safeguard the public against flood damage.
DRAINAGE FACILITIES. All ditches, channels, conduits, retention-detention systems, tiles, drainage swales, sewers, and other natural or artificial means of draining stormwater from land.
DRAINAGE REQUIREMENTS.
(1) Minimum drainage standards as established by county ordinance;
(2) Obligations and requirements relating to drainage established under the County Subdivision Control Ordinance;
(3) Requirements contained in the County Zoning Ordinance, including floodway zoning requirements;
(4) Obligations and requirements relating to drainage established under the County Drainage Board; and
(5) Conditions relating to drainage attached to a grant of variance by the Board of Zoning Appeals.
DRAINAGE, SUBSURFACE. A system of pipes, tile, conduit or tubing installed beneath the ground used to collect underground water from individual parcels, lots, building footings or pavements.
DRAINAGE, SURFACE. A system by which the stormwater runoff is conducted to an outlet. This would include the proper grading of parking lots, streets, driveways and yards so that storm runoff is removed without ponding, and flows to a drainage swale, open ditch, or a storm sewer.
DRAINAGE, SWALE. A natural or constructed waterway, usually broad and shallow, covered with erosion-resistant grasses, used to conduct surface water from a field, diversion, or other site feature.
DRAINAGE, SYSTEM. Any combination of surface and/or subsurface drainage components fulfilling all applicable drainage requirements.
EASEMENT. A grant by the property owner of the use of a strip of land by the public, a corporation or other legal entity for specified purposes.
ENGINEER. The Warrick County Engineer.
EQUIVALENT RESIDENTIAL UNIT or ERU. An amount equal to the average amount of impervious area found on a typical single-family residential parcel, which is 3,100 square feet. Therefore, one ERU equals 3,100 square feet of impervious area.
IMPERVIOUS AREA. The area within developed land that prevents or significantly impedes the infiltration of stormwater into the soil. Included in this definition are areas that have been paved and/or covered with buildings and materials, including but not limited to, concrete, asphalt, rooftop and blacktop, such that the infiltration of water into the soil is prevented. Excluded from this definition are undisturbed land, lawns and fields.
INFILTRATION. A complex process of allowing runoff to penetrate the ground surface and flow through the upper soil surface.
LAND ALTERATION. Any action taken relative to land that either: (1) changes the contour; (2) increases the runoff rate; (3) changes the elevation; (4) decreases the rate of which water is absorbed; (5) changes the drainage pattern; (6) creates or changes a drainage facility; (7) involves construction, enlargement or location of any building on a permanent foundation; or (8) creates an impoundment. LAND ALTERATION includes (by way of example and not of limitation) terracing, grading, excavating, constructing earthwork, draining, installing drainage tile, filling and paving.
MAINTENANCE. Cleaning out of, spraying, removing obstructions from, and making minor repairs in a drainage facility so that it will perform the function for which it was designed and constructed.
NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM or NPDES. The EPA program initiated to reduce and eliminate pollutants reaching water bodies of all types.
NPDES PERMIT. The stormwater management permit required of municipalities and certain industries by the EPA pursuant to Section 402 of the Clean Water Act.
OTHER PROPERTY. All properties not encompassed within the definitions of residential property or commercial property, including but not limited to, governmental, institutional, schools and churches.
PEAK DISCHARGE. The maximum rate of flow of water passing a given point during or after a rainfall event, sometimes called “peak flow”.
PRIVATE STORMWATER FACILITIES. Various stormwater and drainage works not under the control or ownership of the county, the state, or the federal government, which may include inlets,
conduits, pipes, pumping stations, manholes, structures, channels, outlets, retention or detention basins, other structural components and equipment designed to transport, move or regulate stormwater.
PROPERTY OWNER. The individual, partnership, corporation or other legal entity holding the deed or record title to real property.
PUBLIC DRAINAGE SYSTEM. Various storm water and drainage works under the control and/or ownership of the county, the state, or the federal government, which may include inlets, conduits, pipes, pumping stations, manholes, structures, channels, outlets, retention or detention basins, other structural components and equipment designed to transport, move or regulate stormwater
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY. A lot or parcel of real estate encompassing State Land Use Codes 101 and 500 through 599, on which a building or house trailer is situated that contains a group of rooms forming an inhabitable dwelling unit, with facilities used or intended to be used primarily for living, sleeping, cooking and eating.
RETENTION. The holding of stormwater runoff in a constructed basin or pond or in a natural body of water with a controlled release rate.
RIGHT-OF-WAY. Any highway, street, avenue, boulevard, road, lane or alley, including the entire right-of-way for public use thereof, and all surface and subsurface improvements thereon, including without limitation, sidewalks, curbs, shoulders, utility lines and mains.
STATE LAND USE CODES. The classification system used by Indiana counties for purposes of classification of the assessment of real property.
STORM SEWER. A sewer designed or intended to convey only stormwater, surface runoff, street wash waters and drainage, and not intended for sanitary sewage and industrial wastes. A storm sewer begins at the grating or opening where water enters the
sewer, through the sewer and any other conduits to the outlet structure, where water enters a channel, natural watercourse or combined sewer.
STORMWATER CONVEYANCES. Publicly-owned facilities by which stormwater is collected and/or conveyed, including but not limited to: any roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, gutters, curbs, inlets, piped storm drains, pumping facilities, retention and detention basins, natural and human-made or altered drainage channels, reservoirs, and other drainage structures.
STORMWATER SERVICE CHARGE. A charge imposed on users of the stormwater system.
STORMWATER SYSTEM. All constructed facilities, including separate storm sewers and conveyances, combined sewers, structures and natural watercourses owned by or under the jurisdiction of the county, the state, or the federal government used for collecting and conducting stormwater to, through and from drainage areas to the point of final outlet, including but not limited to, any and all of the following: inlets, conduits and appurtenant features, creeks, channels, catch basins, ditches, streams, culverts, retention or detention basins and pumping stations.
(SWM Ord. 2007-01, passed 8-29-07; Am. SWM Ord. 2008-1, passed 4-9-08)