Harbors Are You Ready? While the origin and cure to this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic remain an enigma, City and County of Honolulu (CCH) Department of Facility Maintenance (DFM) has started its expedition to form a Storm Water Utility as a more reliable funding mechanism for Oahu Island’s storm water management, the upkeep annual cost of which is about 91.6 million dollars with 24% from State Highway and 76% from CCH’s Property Taxes.
By: Joy Zhang funding available exclusively for storm water management purposes. Since the 1990s, over 2,000 United States and Canadian cities have adopted a storm water utility. A draft Storm Water Rates is tabulated below. What challenges lead to all of this?
What is a Storm Water Utility exactly? In DFM’s proposal, it is a Storm Water Fee to be charged to all Property Owners, taxable and nontaxable, (including, but not limited to all land owners, federal/state governments, and churches). Impervious area would be the basis for fees. In other words, the more impervious area you own, the more you pay. Meanwhile, all property owners in a Storm Water Utility are eligible for credits or rebates through implementation of certain storm water management measures (such as, re-direct downspouts to a rain garden, capture and use roof runoff, etc.), which could be deducted from the storm water fee you have to pay. In summary, Storm Water Utility can provide municipalities with dedicated, fee-based
Following its natural way, millions of gallons of rain water falls on our island almost every day. When rain water is absorbed into the soil, it is filtered and ultimately replenishes local aquifers, or it flows into streams and the ocean. However, when heavy rain hits the ground, soil saturated by water creates excess moisture that runs across the surface and into storm conveyance system and road ditches. This rain water often carries debris, litter, chemicals, bacteria, eroded soil, and other pollutants and flows into nearby streams, wetlands, and the ocean. Modern urbanization and an increasing of impervious surfaces prevent precipitation from naturally percolating back into the soil, robbing our island’s groundwater supply of replenishment. In addition, this excess runoff can create localized drainage flooding issues.
PAGE 9
See STORMWATER on page 10
