Stormwater Management 

Stormwater runoff occurs when precipitation from rain or snowmelt flows over the land surface toward our waterways. It can cause flooding, erosion, and wash away important habitat for wildlife that live in the stream. When runoff flows over paved surfaces it picks up and carries with it many different pollutants such as:

• Bacteria
• Metals
• Nitrogen
• Oil and grease
• Pesticides
• Phosphorus
• Sediment
• Trash

These pollutants cause stormwater runoff to be the number one cause of stream impairment in urban areas.

Management Plan

A Stormwater Management Plan (SMP) (PDF) has been created by the Town of Rocky Hill for the purpose of establishing, implementing and enforcing a program to reduce the discharge of pollutants from roadways and other facilities to the maximum extent practicable, to protect and improve water quality and to satisfy the appropriate requirements of the Clean Water Act of 1972 (as amended in 1987) and the Connecticut DEEP General Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) (PDF).

The Town currently has many practices and programs in place relating to stormwater management and pollution prevention. This plan will coordinate and incorporate these programs, policies, guidelines and practices into the SMP document by reference.

The plan outlines a program of best management practices (BMPs) and measurable goals for the following six minimum control measures.

• Public education and outreach
• Public involvement/participation
• Illicit discharge detection and elimination
• Construction site stormwater runoff control
• Post-construction stormwater management
• Pollution prevention/good housekeeping

For each minimum control measure, the Town will define appropriate BMPs, designate a job title responsible for each BMP, define a time frame for implementation for each BMP, and define measurable goals for each BMP.