Rising storm-drain costs not worrying Newport

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- The city’s $36,000-a-year price tag for administering

a storm-drain permit will jump to $224,000 next year, a cost city

officials say is well worth the benefit of improved water quality.

But the nonmonetary costs to business owners and residents will come

as the biggest shock.

“Basically, it means that any water you use to wash your sidewalk,

your walls, your car is supposed to stay out of the storm drains,”

Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said of the permit.

The new rules went into effect in January when the county renewed a

permit with the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Board that allows Orange

County cities to operate their storm drains.

In trying to get people to comply with the new rules, officials will

emphasize education over enforcement. The bulk of the responsibility will

be focused toward business owners because, as Councilwoman Norma Glover

has pointed out repeatedly, trying to force individuals to change their

behavior is usually a futile proposition.

Instead, city officials will launch a public education campaign and

also work with businesses to show them ways to comply with the new rules.

Officials also are considering whether to help businesses pay the

heftier costs of cleaning their sidewalks now that they can’t let any of

the water end up in the storm drain.

The matter will appear before council members Tuesday when they vote

on whether to approve a $224,000 deal with the county to administer the

rules.

The renewal of the permit last year was controversial, with leaders of

inland cities saying the restrictions were too tough and coastal city

leaders arguing for even tougher rules.

Newport Beach was the sole city in Orange County to offer solid

support of the rules. Other cities that worried they would be too costly

to enforce complained that the rules require increased street sweeping

and cleaning of storm-drain catch basins.