Storm Water Management Services and Fees 
  (updated Nov. 17, 2004)

In order to protect and improve the quality of the water in our wells, creeks, and rivers the federal government has established a more stringent storm water program.

Over the last several years area cities and Jackson County have cooperated in a study to determine the best and most efficient way to improve water quality.   The study also addressed how to best  meet these new Federal requirements.  This group determined that to coordinate a storm water program would be the least costly way to deal with government mandated rules on the management and quantity of storm water, while all of the agencies would continue to work together on improving community awareness of the causes of poor water quality.

The next step was to determine who would do the rest of the work. The committee had lots of help in making these decisions. This help ranged from input through several public meetings, assistance from the Council of Governments, and from nationally recognized consultants.  It was agreed that RVS would handle management  for the agencies of Phoenix, Talent, Central Point, and  Jackson County, while each separate city would handle the quantity of storm water.  It was felt that tasks such as cleaning storm drainage systems could best be done while cleaning the streets, etc.

In looking at funding alternatives, a modest service charge ranked high because of its fairness to all and because of its dependability.  To implement this charge, RVS is adjusting monthly rates to cover the storm water management portion of federal regulation compliance. This costs  $1 per month for each single family home and $1 per month per 3,000 square feet of impervious surface for all others (multi-family housing, commercial, mobile home parks, schools, etc.).

RVS also collects  $1.50 for the cities of Phoenix and Talent.  It is included with RVS management bill for a total of $2.50. These charges are billed with the RVS sewer bill, so the City of Talent no longer charges a separate storm water fee on their water bill.

The combined storm and sanitary sewer bill in those two cities is $16.40 per month.  While we know that no one likes to pay more, we hope that you agree-- protecting our water is worth it.

     What is Storm Water?

Storm water is the rain and snow which falls to the ground and flows into our streams and rivers.  In a typical urban environment this water can flow across rooftops, lawns, driveways, streets, gutters, ditches and storm drain pipes and finally into a stream.  Along the way the water will pick up a variety of pollutants including oil, grease, yard chemicals, fertilizers, pet waste, and plain old dirt and debris.  All of this is dumped into the streams with no treatment.  The result is streams that are not suitable for swimming, drinking, or fishing.

Under the Federal Clean Water Act local municipalities are responsible for the quality of the water discharged from their storm drains.  The current phase of the law (known as Phase 2 NPDES) affects cities and urbanized areas with a population of more than 10,000.

Rogue Valley Sewer Services has teamed up with Jackson County and the cities of Talent, Phoenix, and Central Point to develop a storm water management plan to help improve the quality of the water discharged onto the streams.  Over the next few years we will be reaching out to the community to help people understand how the storm water system works and how their actions can affect water quality.  We will also be establishing more effective standards for land development projects and will undertake infrastructure improvements designed to improve water quality.