The City of Williamsport finds that:
(a) Inadequate management of accelerated runoff of storm water resulting from development throughout a watershed increases runoff volumes, flows and velocities, contributes to erosion and sedimentation, overtaxes the carrying capacity of streams and storm sewers, greatly increases the cost of public facilities to carry and control storm water, undermines floodplain management and flood control efforts in downstream communities, reduces groundwater recharge, threatens public health and safety and increases non-point source pollution of water resources;
(b) A comprehensive program of storm water management (SWM), including reasonable regulation of development and activities causing accelerated runoff, is fundamental to the public health, safety and welfare and the protection of people of the Commonwealth, their resources and the environment;
(c) Storm water 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 predevelopment hydrology;
(e) Federal and state regulations require certain municipalities to implement a program of storm water controls. These municipalities are required to obtain a permit for storm water discharges from their separate storm sewer systems under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program.
(Ord. 6211, approved 4-15-2012; Ord. 6481, approved 3-14-2024)