Welcome to the Town of Granite Falls stormwater information page. This program is administered and managed by the Western Piedmont Council of Governments (WPCOG). The purpose of this program is to satisfy an EPA permit the Town is required to follow which is enforced by the NC Department of Environmental Quality. This permit regulates discharges of stormwater runoff from municipal storm sewer systems – these systems are separate from your traditional sanitary sewer systems (storm drains vs. toilets, sinks, showers, etc.) and must be managed differently according to the Clean Water Act.

Stormwater, and anything else that goes down a storm drain, does not get treated by water treatment plants. This is due to an issue of scale, just one inch of rainfall on a 1-acre parking lot can generate over 27,000 gallons of runoff. The runoff from that parking lot, pollutants and all, goes into the storm drain, which eventually ends up in our rivers, streams, or lakes. The very same water bodies that we get our drinking water from.

This program is designed to regulate flow/treatment of stormwater runoff and regulating expanding impervious surface since they eventually impact our states water bodies, and in turn our drinking water. This is done by carefully designing drainage structures that are able to control and treat stormwater runoff. These structures are called Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs, previously known as BMP’s), and they are designed to treat stormwater runoff for various pollutants and either slowly release the treated water back into our streams, or allow it to infiltrate back into the ground.

 

An illicit discharge is when any substance other than stormwater is put into the stormwater system. An illicit connection is any connection of wastewater into the stormwater system. An example of this might be a connection from a bathroom or a washing machine that is dumping into a storm drain/sewer/ditch. An accidental spill or leak of an unsafe substance is also an illicit discharge.

 

 

Examples of illicit discharges:

• paint spills
• soapy wash water
• fuel spills
• sewage overflows
• grease dumping
• sediment runoff from construction

• dumping yard waste (such as grass clippings) down a storm drain

 

One of the most important things you can do as a citizen is to report any stormwater pollution you see. We have an Online Reporting Tool available for use. Additionally reports can also be sent to stormwater@wpcog.org, or leave a voicemail at 828.485.4222 (for fastest response times please use reporting tool or email). Photographic evidence of the discharge is crucial for us to be able to take any enforcement actions, so if any photos can be taken during the discharge please provide them to the stormwater admin at the above email.

 

As a permit requirement, each municipality must provide the opportunity for citizens to have input on the stormwater program, and we are looking for input from our concerned citizens. To do this we have created a survey! If you would like to suggest a stream cleanup location or give your input on the program as a whole please fill out a survey.