The Clean Water Act was enacted in 1972 to prevent water pollution through a series of regulatory programs. The regulations originally focused on point sources of pollution such as wastewater treatment plants and industrial discharges. However, in recent years new regulations have been established to control pollution from non-point sources. Non-point sources of water are widely varied, and can become polluted when water from storm events or other runoff come in contact with pollution sources. Polluted surface waters may eventually find their way into washes, rivers, or even groundwater.

The U of A has developed a Storm Water Management Plan (SWMP) to comply with these regulations, and to ensure that campus activities are not a source of pollution for surface water that flows through the campus.

The U of A main and AHSC campus is classified as a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. The regulatory requirements for MS4s are established in the Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System General Permit for Discharge from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4s) to Waters of the United States. The U of A's SWMP is written to comply with these requirements. View the SWMP full plan (PDF format – excluding Appendix B) and Appendix B (PDF format).

The U of A's SWMP describes university operations, identifies potential sources of storm water pollution, and adopts Best Management Practices (BMPs) or pollution control measures to reduce the discharge of pollutants in storm water run-off. Implementation of the BMPs identified in the SWMP greatly reduces the potential for pollutants to enter storm water from campus operations.

The U of A campus has many areas of grass and vegetation, but more than 67 percent of the campus is covered by buildings, parking lots, sidewalks and streets that do not soak up rainfall, and therefore create runoff when it rains. Stormwater runoff from the U of A campus flows on these surfaces until it drains into city streets and drainage systems that surround and flow through the campus. The City of Tucson is also designated as an MS4, and has developed a SWMP for runoff from city streets and operations.

Training

The U of A has had a Storm Water Management Plan (SWMP) in place since 2003. As part of that plan there is a training component. This can be found at 5.6.4 Training for University of Arizona Employees BMP.

A web-based approach will be utilized to ensure that targeted university employees receive the proper training and information about the SWMP as it relates to everyday job responsibilities. Container handling, turf and open space maintenance, fleet and building maintenance, new construction and land disturbances, and storm water system maintenance will be considered.

For more information or to report illicit discharges that may affect storm water quality visit the links below and/or contact:

Facilities Management
Mark Marikos
marikosm@fm.arizona.edu
520-621-5390

Risk Management & Safety
Lloyd Wundrock
lloydw@email.arizona.edu
520-621-1790