Over the past several years, the Land-of-Sky Regional Council has been assisting their member governments address new stormwater quality requirements of the Clean Water Act's Phase II Stormwater Program.

Bob Brown, a volunteer Civil Engineering technician with WRP, began assisting the Town of Biltmore Forest with the implementation of these permitting requirements. Mr. Brown worked with Terry Crouch, Public Works Director with the Town of Biltmore Forest, to complete all of year one activities, including the development of a Stormwater Management Plan.

The Stormwater Management Plan is divided in six major areas: 1) Public Education and Outreach, 2) Public Involvement and Participation, 3) Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination, 4) Construction Site Runoff Controls, 5) Post-Construction Site Runoff Controls, and 6) Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations.

As part of the public outreach, a flyer entitled "What is Stormwater and Why Do I Care?" was mailed to every resident of the Town of Biltmore Forest in the spring. The flyer presented an overview of the new Stormwater Phase II mandated program requiring municipalities to take certain steps to remove pollutants from stormwater, and to maintain a record of the stormwater program for official review. The town also held public meetings in June 2006 and 2008 to seek public comment and involvement in the effort.

An Illicit Discharge Detection Program has been initiated to reduce stormwater contamination. The town has identified and mapped stormwater discharge outfalls along the five major creeks for quarterly inspection.

The town currently complies with the requirements for Construction Site Runoff Controls and has ordinances requiring the prompt and thorough removal of construction waste. Post-Construction Site Runoff Controlsare long-term measures to control, prevent, or minimize the built environment's impact on water quality. A highly recommended method of doing this is to bring stormwater to collection points in grassed ditches. Biltmore Forest's miles of well-maintained ditches are a solution already in place.

Also in 2008, WRP staff provided public works staffing training update in meeting elements of the town's Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping Program. The elements include an improvement plan and self-inspection program.

WRP staff has been offering technical assistance to other municipalities with their Stormwater Phase II implementations including Clyde and Waynesville.