Stormwater Department

Welcome to the Village of Clemmons Stormwater Department. The Stormwater Department provides professional, comprehensive stormwater management for village residents and businesses. The program's two major elements are water quality protection through the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Phase II Permit Water Quality Act and Clemmons' Stormwater Quality Ordinance. The Village is required to operate a stormwater program under a permit issued by EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).

What is Stormwater Runoff?

Stormwater runoff is the rain or melted snow that runs off all natural and developed surfaces.  Streets, rooftops, driveways, parking lots, sidewalks and other impervious surfaces do not permit the land to absorb stormwater and so runoff is increased dramatically from these areas. Stormwater collects pollutants from these hard surfaces and carries them to our streams, lakes and the Yadkin River, impacting the quality of these bodies of water and those downstream. 

What is an impervious surface?

 Any surface that does not readily absorb water and impedes the natural infiltration of water into the soil, when compared to the natural undeveloped soil characteristics. Common examples include roofs, driveways, parking areas, sidewalks, patios, tennis courts, concrete or asphalt streets, crushed stone and gravel driveways. 

The Total Maximum Daily Load 

The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program is a Federal program authorized under the Clean Water Act to address waters that do not meet water quality standards. Muddy Creek is considered impaired for its uses. To achieve a reduction in Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) and turbidity (sediment). Clemmons has developed a plan which outlines steps to take in public education and outreach, monitoring, assessment, and reporting.

How Is Total Maximum Daily Load Calculated?

A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards. The TMDL is then used to establish limits on sources of the pollutant which are classified as either point sources or non-point sources. A point source is a pollutant that comes from a single, identifiable source such as a factory. 

Non-point source pollution comes from many different sources and is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them in lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and even underground sources of drinking water.

The TMDL load allocation is calculated for all non-point sources that are contributing to the pollution. Depending on the sources identified in the TMDL, the load allocation may apply to septic tanks, fertilizer runoff from agricultural and residential areas, bacteria or sediment runoff from new construction sites. 

Effectiveness 

The TMDL does not have authority in most cases to force a reduction of pollutants from non-point sources. TMDLs are usually only effective at addressing non-point sources when enough interest is present from the community, local government and water quality advocacy groups to carry out the implementation plan.