Updating your community’s stormwater management strategy is easy to set on the back burner in the never-ending day to day operations. It’s easy to keep going through the basic upkeep without ever making real changes to your management strategy, but we are quickly reaching a point where what’s been enough won’t work for our communities anymore. The increasing intensity of storms and the age of our infrastructure is pushing stormwater from a public works issue into a community resiliency challenge.
Updating your community’s approach on stormwater management can seem like an enormous task. Balancing information gathering with public outreach, policy realignment, and state regulations can quickly overwhelm even a fully staffed department.
At Capital Strategic Solutions, we have the know-how and experience to help you balance this complicated task.
Here are some quick tips to break this task into manageable steps.
Asset Management & Data gathering
Knowing your system and making a point to gather information will help prioritize high risk, medium risk, and low risk stormwater areas. Oftentimes people understand their system very well, but don’t have the information on paper to back up their firsthand knowledge. Making sure your asset management is up to date, and your team is gathering data whenever possible will support management strategies and strengthen the support behind your decision making.
Use Solutions of Every Size
It can be tempting to wait for the perfect grant or program that will cover the majority of your complicated stormwater infrastructure needs. But the current fiscal landscape means it’s unlikely large and comprehensive funding opportunities will be available in the coming years. In the meantime, it’s essential to aim for small and medium-sized solutions wherever you can. This can mean small land acquisitions in problem areas, or targeted green infrastructure and landscaping. Whatever you can manage, enough small and medium solutions can eventually evolve into blanket coverage of your community.
Bring the Public into the Process
The best time to bring your community members into the process is well before the next storm or flood event. Something as simple as hosting a flood report survey on your website, or a stormwater hotspot map can give your community members an outlet for their concerns or educate them on the infrastructure needs.
It’s easy to keep existing management strategies in place, but updating your long-term strategy into a proactive approach will prepare your community for the challenges ahead.
It can be daunting to make large policy shifts for an evolving issue, that’s why Capital Strategic Solutions is here to help. Whether it’s a second set of eyes on a drafted plan, or extra hands for community outreach or data gathering, we have the public works experience to tackle any stormwater issue. Assistance of any kind can ensure that you are making the essential updates to your stormwater management.
About Capital Strategic Solutions
CSS is a certified woman-owned, disadvantaged business enterprise of municipal experts delivering creative, cost-effective solutions that maximize success and minimize risk. With deep local government expertise, we craft tailored strategies to meet each community’s unique needs.
Our capabilities span public administration, municipal finance, human resources, policy development, emergency management, public safety, public works, water operations, interim municipal services, public relations, community engagement, project management, grant writing, and onsite support. We partner with clients to define clear goals, overcome challenges, and implement human-centered plans that drive performance and transform communities.