Who Pays for Stormwater Management?
Several of MBPs regional programs have been working to educate municipal officials and staff about options to finance stormwater programs at the community level. While existing fee assessments bring in funds to pay for drinking water and sewer infrastructure, stormwater systems have not typically benefitted from this sort of recurring income, although annual municipal stormwater management costs can be significant. Several communities in Massachusetts are taking steps to address this, either through the formation of a stormwater utility or some other form of stormwater fee assessment. With funds from the Massachusetts Environment Trust, the Association to Preserve Cape Cod and other partners held a workshop on January 13th that was attended by almost 50 participants. A two-part workshop series was held in April on the North Shore focusing first on stormwater regulations and then on financing mechanisms. The North Shore events were sponsored by Salem Sound Coastwatch, Eight Towns & the
