What is Stormwater Management?
The City of Richmond has obtained a Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) General Permit for Municipal Separate Storm Sewers (MS4) from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. This permit is a federal mandate by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The purpose of this mandate is to improve the water quality of stormwater runoff.

Why do we have to clean up the stormwater?

Rainwater collected in the separate storm sewer does not get treated at the wastewater treatment plant. This rainwater empties directly into our streams and the James River, carrying pollutants from streets and lawns.

How will we comply with the VPDES permit?

The VPDES General Permit has six minimum control measures:
1. Public Education and Outreach
2. Public Involvement/Participation
3. Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination
4. Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Control
5. Post-construction Stormwater Management
6. Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations

The City of Richmond has five years to develop and implement a program to comply with these six measures. The Department of Public Utilities (DPU) manages the separate storm sewer and the VPDES permit. DPU created a stakeholders group comprised of representatives from City departments who interact with stormwater. The stakeholders group developed a stormwater management plan to comply with the VPDES permit, which can be viewed by clicking the link below. A copy of the stormwater management plan is here.

Richmond Stormwater Management Plan*

The City of Richmond has a Combined Sewer System (CSS) in the older, central part of the city. A CSS carries stormwater and wastewater to the wastewater treatment plant prior to discharging it into the river. The remaining portions of the city are served by a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4). The MS4 carries stormwater runoff away from streets and neighborhoods directly to streams and the James River. This runoff is not treated before it empties into the water bodies. Any trash or pollutants on the streets or lawns travel with the stormwater runoff into our streams and rivers.

Return to the Stormwater Management main page.

If you have questions, please call our Customer Care Center at 644-3000

*Note: In order to view and print these documents, your computer must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader utility installed; if this software is not installed on your system, you can download it for free from Adobe.