Over the past few years, stormwater management has been an urgent issue for residents in certain areas of town, though for others not living in flood-prone areas it may not be given much of a thought.For many, this pressing concern is only top of mind when massive rainfall and weather events like last summer’s tropical storms Henri and Ida resulted in extensive flooding (melting snow also causes stormwater runoff). Such storms used to be few and far between, “thousand year storms” as they have been referred to. But as our climate continues to change, these storms, and the flooding that comes with them, will continue to occur with increasing regularity. Stormwater runoff also leads to pollution caused by carrying bacteria and chemicals into nearby waterways; it is directly contributing to contaminants in our drinking water.There are undoubtedly residents in town who did not buy homes in flood zones but now carry that risk as flooding has become more common. Many more will follow in the next few years. For this reason, we need to listen to these residents who are complaining of flooding issues right now, not just because the township has a duty to help all of their residents when they can, but because this is a problem that will only grow worse and affect more of the community.We know there is only so much the township can be expected to do to mitigate this situation. But there is a solution that the state of New Jersey has afforded municipalities. Though, to our knowledge, not a single one has taken the state up on it.The Clean Stormwater and Flood Reduction Act (NJ S1073) was signed into law in March 2019. The law offers towns a chance to manage storm runoff by setting up a stormwater utility, which could impose fees on property owners utilizing impervious surfaces such as parking lots. The fees gathered could be used to fund improvements to control storm runoff and the flooding it causes.As stated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, “a stormwater utility is currently the only mechanism that would be able to dedicate these funds directly to stormwater management, thus allowing a utility to properly operate, maintain, repair, and improve their storm sewer system as necessary.” The act also states that established utility fees must be based on a “fair and equitable approximation of the proportionate contribution of stormwater runoff from ...
