Gloucester County
Stormwater Management

Thanks for visiting the Gloucester County Improvement Authority’s website for its Stormwater Management Program. It is our hope that you find this website a useful resource. As the site is regularly updated, we encourage you to visit this site often to see the progress that is being made toward informed, cooperative and cost effective management of our environment. We also welcome your feedback on any aspect of the program.

This program stems from permit requirements from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The permit requirements apply to all the individual municipalities throughout our state. It seemed to me requiring individual towns to address an issue that was more regional in nature was not the best course of action from either a financial perspective or a planning one. With DEP Commissioner’s endorsement, the County will address a number of permit requirements to help alleviate the financial burden on individual towns, while providing for more coordinated efforts that will better manage our watersheds.

The ultimate goal of the program is a countywide standard for stormwater and regional coordination. This is the only outcome that really makes sense. By having the County take the lead on this issue there is an obvious savings through economies of scale with such issues as: capital purchases of such items as street sweepers, and salt storage sheds, public outreach, and training for municipal officials.

I also know that through this approach, the end product will be something that our municipalities can actually use above and beyond just meeting the minimum DEP requirements. The last thing that needs to be created is a just another plan collecting dust on a shelf. What the county is providing is a process more than an end product. At the end of the day, the Municipal Stormwater Plans are to be a living documents that get updated and changed accordingly at the local level as circumstances change. It is through the County’s involvement that folks at the local level will be empowered with more information and resources to make better informed decisions. The County is also better able to coordinate with the ongoing regional efforts of the Federation of Gloucester County Watersheds, Rowan University and Soil Conservation Districts. The County will be able to be the critical link that connects municipal plans attached to broader regional plans.

Together, with the talented team of experts that have been tapped to take part in this historic initiative, I feel confident that GCIA will be successful in its mission to control costs and work toward better management of our natural resources. Thanks again for visiting our site.

Sincerely,

Stephen M. Sweeney
Freeholder Director