MS4 Permit Requirements

The MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System) Permit issued to the City of Waukee requires that the city develop and maintain the following six minimum measures. 

 1) Provide Public Education and Outreach

  • The City was required to develop informational brochures to provide information related to stormwater impacts on water quality and measures that can be implemented to reduce water quality degradation from stormwater. View the information in one easy-to-read, combined brochure here.
  • Provide a telephone hotline number for reporting stormwater concerns. During regular business hours Monday-Friday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., call the Public Works office at 515-978-7920. The Emergency On-Call number for all other times is 515-249-1212.
  • Provide a Stormwater Web Page. Create a REPORT A CONCERN form or link button on ISWEP webpage. Select the icon to report a stormwater concern through ISWEP.
2015 Report a Stormwater Concern
  • Provide Construction Site BMP (Best Management Practice) workshops to educate developers, builders, contractors, consultants, business people and residents about stormwater impacts on water quality.

 2) Public Involvement and Participation

  • Form a Storm Water Advisory Committee to hold meetings to participate in decision making, holding public hearings and working with volunteer groups.

 3) Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination

  • Develop an Illicit Discharge and Elimination Program to identify and eliminate all illicit discharges. The program must include annual dry weather inspection of dry weather outfalls which discharge to water bodies, procedures to identify the sources of the dry weather flows and procedures for disconnecting illicit connections.
  • Develop and adopt an Illicit Discharge Prohibition Ordinance that prohibits anything other than stormwater from being discharged to receiving waters. View the ordinance as adopted here – Illicit Discharge to Storm Sewer System.

 4) Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Control

 5) Post-construction Stormwater Management 

  • Develop a Post-construction Site Runoff Control Policy Ordinance which addresses the control of runoff from building activities after construction has been completed. – Post Construction Stormwater Management (PDF)
  • Develop a Post-construction Stormwater Management Program for sites covered by an NPDES stormwater permit.Requiring procedures and acceptance criteria for review of post-construction runoff controls.
  • Requiring inspection and required maintenance of municipally owned storm water control devices and structures.
  • Requiring development of a watershed assessment program and comprehensive land use plan which outlines measures to be implemented to reduce flooding, reduce erosion in ditches and streams, improve water quality and reduce degradation of habitat for fish and wildlife.
  • The City meets a requirement to provide a BMP Design Manual for post-construction runoff controls by referencing SUDAS Design Manual and the IDNR Stormwater Management Manual in the Waukee Standard Specifications.

 6) Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping 

  •  Develop a program for inspecting, maintaining and cleaning the public stormwater drainage system, including street sweeping. This includes the inspection of all above ground components of the MS4 at a minimum once per permit cycle.
  • Develop a pesticide and fertilizer management program to reduce pollutant discharge associated with storage, application and disposal of pesticides and fertilizers from municipal operations.
  • Develop a program for training municipal employees regarding practices to reduce pollutants in stormwater.
  • Develop and implement Best Management Practices at City facilities to reduce pollutants in stormwater from these facilities.

 Additional Requirements above the Six Minimum Control Measures

  • Prepare an Annual Report due by February 28th for IDNR Field Office #5 summarizing activities undertaken during the past calendar year to maintain compliance with the MS4 permit.
  • On construction projects owned or operated by the City develop a construction site inspection program that requires inspections at a minimum every 7 calendar days by municipal staff.
  • The City utilizes GIS mapping to fulfill the requirement to maintain a current storm sewer and drainage map reflecting all public drainage outlets.
  • All salt storage shall be in a structure impervious to precipitation and any spillage due to handling activities in an area subject to runoff shall be immediately removed.