Did you know that in Saginaw County, we are
part of a fresh water system that accounts
for 20% of the worlds fresh water?
Some of our daily activities can adversely
affect this fresh water resource that
millions
use for drinking water, providing food, and
recreational activities. We have a responsibility
to protect this valuable resource. Prior to
the Clean Water Act of 1972 (CWA) there was
no national system to evaluate the quality
of storm water being discharged into our streams,
rivers, and lakes. The CWA prohibits the discharge
of any pollutant into waters of the United
States from a point source unless a National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
permit authorizes the discharge. On March
10, 2003 Phase II of the NPDES permitting
system and its accompanying rules and regulations
related to municipalities, construction and
industrial sites discharging storm water came
into effect. The affected municipalities in
the Saginaw Urbanized Area formed the Saginaw
Area Storm Water Authority in an effort to
meet the state and federal storm water regulations.
It is the vision of this Authority to address
water quality issues related to storm water,
and educate the general public on:
