The Clean Water Act of 1972 established regulations to limit the amount of polluted water discharged into state and federal waters.  Drainage projects completed throughout St. Cloud have decreased the risk of flooding, but may have increased the amount of pollutants discharged into East Lake Tohopekaliga, Lake Tohopekaliga and Lake Runnymede.

In an effort to reduce the amount of pollutants that enter our lakes and to meet unfunded state and federal mandates, the City of St. Cloud has added a stormwater utility fee to the OUC utility bill for all properties located within the City Limits.  The stormwater utility fee went into affect October 1, 2007.  Monies collected from this fee help the City meet the unfunded state and federal mandates, improve the maintenance of the publicly maintained stormwater system, improve stormwater quality prior to discharging into the lakes, and provide more public education that promotes cleaner stormwater. 

Ordinance 2007-49 established the foundation for the Stormwater Utility while Resolution 2007-118R established the monthly fee.  A residential household (single family home, town home, apartment, etc.) pays $6.35 per month. 

A commercial property (business, hospital, church and publicly owned facility such as school and city/county/state/federal property) pays a fee based on their Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) rate.  An ERU rate for the city is calculated to be 2,664 square feet of impervious surface and is defined as the average amount of impervious surface per residential household. 

For additional information about the Stormwater Utility please go to our Frequently Asked Questions website or contact the Public Works Department at 407-957-7283.

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