WithersRavenel’s Stormwater Team can answer your questions about the MS4 permitting process, prepare a stormwater management plan and associated documents, and provide pre-audit preparation as well as post-audit assistance. In addition, our Funding and Asset Management Team can map your MS4 and prepare a financial analysis to predict the operational, maintenance, and capital expenditures, as well as necessary revenues to sustain a stormwater fund.
A municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) is a system of structures that convey stormwater runoff into local water bodies. An MS4 may consist of roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, manmade channels, storm drains, or any combination of these, so long as it designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater.
In communities with MS4s, stormwater discharges directly into water bodies. To prevent pollutants that can be picked up by runoff from reaching water bodies, the Federal and State governments require some MS4 operators to obtain National Pollutant discharge Elimination Service (NPDES) permits. These permits are meant to improve water quality for large (Phase I) and small (Phase II) communities through implementation local stormwater programs.