Storms bring stormwater to the forefront

Alicia Petska / News Virginian
Published: August 27, 2007

Trafford McRae drove around, checking runoff fences and silt traps, stopping to explain a point of law or the purpose of a piece of equipment.

"There were some good things and some bad things," McRae said. "No colossal problems, but definitely some things that may take a couple of days to clean up and get fixed."

As city officials debate how to pay for the stormwater management division created earlier this year,

The stormwater management division created by the city earlier this year is "just sort of in a holding pattern," city Public Works Director Brian McReynolds said.

Council has yet to decide how to pay for the division or how much money to invest in it.

"We're still short-staffed, in a nutshell," said city engineer Kim Cameron, whose department oversees the stormwater agency.

Public Works has held off hiring workers needed to make the new division fully functional. A maintenance crew set to be transferred to full-time stormwater work is working instead on state-funded street projects. A second inspection post approved by council won't be advertised until officials have determined where the money will come from to pay for the salary.

The stormwater division currently consists of an administrator, plan reviewer and inspector. The latter two positions were added to satisfy complaints from the state.

Charged with enforcing erosion regulations at the city's more than 100 construction sites, McRae spent Monday shuttling from development to development to ensure Saturday's rains hadn't washed an avalanche of dirt into streets and rivers.

"We had a large amount of rain in a short amount of time, which is difficult to control," McRae said.

Almost 2.6 inches of rain fell in Waynesboro on Saturday, when a series of intense storms felled trees, knocked down utility lines and cut power to more than 9,000 Shenandoah Valley customers.

McRae's hiring allowed the city to get serious about erosion enforcement, an area where lax attention in the past drew criticism from state overseers.

His work, officials say, is only one part of the complex approach needed to begin addressing the city's stormwater problems, highlighted by a tour of the city's stormwater system, which included drainage ditches and water detention ponds overgrown with thick bushes and trees.

The foliage prevents water from flowing to its intended spot, sending it into yards and homes instead.

"If we're really going to solve [the city's stormwater problem], or to begin to solve it, we have to address all the aspects," McReynolds said,

More staff, regular maintenance and major renovations to city systems are needed, he said.

"One of these will help, but we really need to be addressing them all," McReynolds said.

City Council will discuss stormwater at a Sept. 4 work session.