Funding Stormwater Programs

On Thursday, September 3, 2015, the Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition (CMRSWC) hosted a workshop on funding stormwater management programs at the MassDEP Central Regional Office (8 New Bond Street, Worcester)

This workshop featured Keith Readling from Raftelis Financial Consultants, a national leader in this type of planning, who shared his experience helping towns across the country start this often-difficult discussion. 

Mr. Readling’s presentation and discussion began at 9:00 AM (after a CMRSWC member update) and included four facilitated breakout sessions during lunch. A question-and-answer period wrapped up the day, with the workshop ending by 1:00 PM

Other stormwater collaboratives and watershed groups in Massachusetts (informally called the Massachusetts Statewide Stormwater Coalition) were invited to participate in this workshop (see the attendance sheets, below). For more on the Massachusetts Statewide Stormwater Coalition, please visit this page on the CMRSWC site.

Background on Mr. Readling

From the CMRWC's September 3, 2015 Workshop


Stormwater Funding Resources

Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)

The MAPC and project partners has developed an excellent Stormwater Utility/Funding Starter Kit to help municipalities take control of local water quality issues via a long-term funding source for stormwater management.

New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC)

NEIWPCC hosted a workshop on stormwater program funding in March 2015. Visit their website to view presentations from this workshop.

National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA)

NACWA released “Navigating Litigation Floodwaters: Legal Considerations for Funding Municipal Stormwater Programs” in 2014.  

This document "provides analysis on the types of legal issues impacting stormwater funding programs. The purpose of the white paper is to help equip stormwater utilities with critical knowledge and tools to prepare utilities that are creating, implementing or defending a stormwater program, utility or fee."

United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)- Region 1

USEPA released "Evaluation of the Role of Public Outreach and Stakeholder Engagement in Stormwater Funding Decisions in New England: Lessons from Communities" in June 2013.

This report report "describes lessons about the role and design of public outreach and stakeholder engagement strategies related to community stormwater funding decisions. The evaluation is based on the experiences of eleven small and medium-sized communities, primarily - but not exclusively - in New England. The evaluation has two complementary goals: first, to evaluate whether and how public outreach and stakeholder engagement efforts (including the use of consensus-building protocols) influenced the adoption of stormwater funding mechanisms; and second, to draw on the communities’ experiences to identify lessons for other MS4 communities considering stormwater program funding solutions."