San Diego Regional Municipal Stormwater Permit

The San Diego Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation worked in coalition with the San Diego Bay Council to support the passage of the San Diego region’s 2007 Municipal Stormwater Permit. This permit spells out the stormwater control requirements applicable to all of the region’s cities, the County of San Diego, the San Diego Unified Port District, and the San Diego Regional Airport Authority. Building on prior litigation victories defending earlier iterations of the stormwater permit, Surfrider and its partners were successful in strengthening various controls on construction, industrial, municipal, commercial, and residential urban runoff discharges. Of particular interest to Surfrider, the new permit contains a requirement that local jurisdictions develop comprehensive regulations for Low Impact Development (LID) and runoff-sensitive site design standards. Such provisions will ensure that the problems of increased impervious surface cover and unsustainable changes to watershed hydrology will not continue. With most new development now required to accommodate historic water infiltration and flow regimes, Surfrider can turn its attention to enforcement of runoff standards and mechanisms to require retrofitting of existing development.