Storm Water Quality

SD1 partners with more than 30 cities and counties in Northern Kentucky to effectively and efficiently address storm water pollution issues and meet federal Clean Water Act regulations. 

Our storm water quality management program focuses on addressing storm water runoff pollution because anything that enters the public storm system ultimately ends up in streams and lakes that our community relies on for drinking water or recreation.

Minimum Control Measures

Federal storm water regulations require individual cities and counties in Northern Kentucky to comply with six types of activities, called “minimum control measures” (MCMs). These activities include:

• Public outreach and education (MCM1)
• Public participation (MCM2)
• Illicit discharge detection and elimination (MCM3)
• Construction site storm water runoff control (MCM4)
• Post-construction storm water management in new development and redevelopment (MCM5)
• Pollution prevention and good housekeeping for municipal operators (MCM6)

Rather than manage each of these individually, our Co-Permittee partners rely on SD1 to manage these regulations on their behalf, with help from local city and county leadership. Each entity’s roles and responsibilities are further defined in the Northern Kentucky Storm Water Management Plan, which outlines how our region will comply with storm water regulations.