Urbana Public Works Community Day & Stormwater Programs

Boneyard Creek Community Day & City Stormwater Programs

The 15th annual Boneyard Creek Community Day is coming up on Saturday April 9th. It is a clean-up event held at multiple sites across Champaign-Urbana, and it has not occurred since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Urbana is hosting a site downtown at the Boneyard Creek Crossing, near the intersection of Race and Griggs Streets. For more information about the event, go to: http://www.boneyardcreek.org/ or email kdobosz@urbanaillinois.us for questions about the Urbana clean-up site.

Why do we do the Boneyard Creek Community Day?

The Boneyard Creek Community Day is not only a great way to beautify our community and promote appreciation and stewardship for our local urban streams, but also a way in which the City complies with its NPDES MS4 permit from the IL EPA. NPDES stands for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System which is an EPA program to reduce pollution from waterways. MS4 stands for Municipal Separated Storm Sewer System and it refers to a storm sewer system which is separated from a sanitary sewer system; this means that rainwater runoff flows into a pipe system underground that discharges directly into water bodies rather than going to a wastewater treatment plant. The MS4 permit contains “best management practices” or BMPs which prevent pollution and ensure that minimum clean water standards are met for our waterways. The Boneyard Creek Community Day fits in the BMP category of Public Participation & Involvement. 

What else is the City doing to comply with its MS4 permit?

Other activities performed by the City that prevent stormwater pollution include, but are not limited to:

• Enforcement of an Erosion & Sediment Control Permit program which prevents soil erosion and runoff pollution from construction sites (https://urbanaillinois.us/Erosion_Control)
• Enforcement of illegal discharge and illegal dumping ordinances
• Review of Stormwater Management Plans for construction permit applications for development and redevelopment projects
• Street sweeping to remove leaves and debris from entering the storm sewer system
• Cleaning and inspections of storm sewers to detect defects and prevent pipe failures
• Development of a Stormwater Asset Management Plan to guide long-term planning and budgeting for stormwater-related work

For more information on the permit, BMPs, and history of stormwater regulations, go to: https://www.urbanaillinois.us/stormwater. 

How does the City fund stormwater-related work needed to comply with the MS4 permit?

A stormwater utility fee was set up in 2012 to fund stormwater-related projects in the City of Urbana. The fee is currently $5.60 per single family residence per month; for other property types, the fee is proportional to the amount of impervious surface (i.e., pavements, rooftops, etc) on the property. For more information on the stormwater utility fee, go to: https://www.urbanaillinois.us/Stormwater_Utility_Fee 

How do I learn more?

Links to information on the City website have been provided. In addition, the Stormwater Engineering Technician and the Assistant City Engineer will be on-site at the Boneyard Creek Community Day (in blue tie-dyed tee shirts) to answer any questions related to the stormwater management in the City of Urbana.