Track: Water Distribution, Wastewater, Sewer
Development of Planning Tools for Storm Water Management in Charlotte County, Florida
Charles R. WalterDennis B. Murphy
Charlotte County is a scenic Gulf Coast community situated at the northern end of Charlotte Harbor in southwest Florida. The County is particularly susceptible to flooding because 85 percent of the residents live at elevations below 14 feet NGVD and annual rainfall is 50-70 inches in June through August. Storm water management objectives were developed through the Master Storm Water Management Planning process that incorporated citizens' concerns, engineering limitations, and fiscal responsibility. This approach necessitated a performance-based method of selecting storm water management objectives. The performance of the storm water management system is tied to flooding level of service (LOS), biological indicators, and life cycle analysis. Development of an inventory of Charlotte County's storm water management facilities was the first objective. Inventories are basic elements of the storm water management systems to hydrologically model the system and to set up maintenance management bjectives. An inventory management and life cycle data format is used to record and forecast storm water maintenance for routine activities. Water quality was empirically measured and modeled based on land uses generated by our GIS coverages. Unfortunately, the frequency of rainfall events also allows flooding LOS objectives to be empirically evaluated. The GIS platform is used to monitor and direct maintenance activities based on performance. The process to establish fiscally responsible capital and maintenance objectives in the Master Storm Water Management Plan was completed. The integration of the engineering and environmental objectives into a management tool was accomplished by analyzing existing expenditures and generating replacement schedules based on performance data. Taxing districts were delineated based on watershed boundaries, land uses, water quality, and flood management objects. Municipal Service Benefit Units (MSBUs) fund the storm water utility. The MSBUs are geographically based assessment districts that collect fees for storm water management. The ArcInfo GIS platform has been an important tool to integrate watershed management objectives into the socioeconomic divisions in the community.
Charles R. Walter
Charlotte City Storm Water Authority
7000 Florida Street
Punta Gorda, FL 33950-5798
USA
Telephone: 941-575-3603
Fax:
E-mail: ccpwstrm@cyberstreet.com