Stormwater Quality Management plans are required in the city of Houston and Harris County for properties over an acre. And while there are some caveats, this is the rule rather than the exception. And as these government agencies periodically review and amend their ordinance, these requirements only get more challenging and complicated. As a civil engineering firm, it is incumbent upon you to know the rules and regulations and come up with creative solutions to satisfy the stormwater quality requirements in a cost-effective way that won’t burden the owner with extensive future maintenance or repair costs. But I ask you: How often do you (I’m talking to civil engineers here) look at the stormwater quality systems you’ve designed after 2,5 or 10 years to ascertain whether or not the design was sustainable and the maintenance burden light? Having been in this industry for nearly 20 years, I can tell you the answer; rarely or never. I’m not beating up on civil engineers here. The reality is that this is a big ask. Who has time to visit an old detention pond just to see if the design was functional?
The reality of stormwater quality for most civil engineers is that it is a necessary evil, a box to check. While the P.E. is usually involved in the choice of systems, it is often the E.I.T. or interns relegated to document preparation. So let’s dig a little deeper into the typical process for an E.I.T. or interns.
To become familiar with the stormwater quality, the E.I.T., a resourceful person, usually turns to the internet for guidance. But we can find any answer we want on the internet, and this road can (and often does) lead to confusion rather than clarity. So a little more digging may find a sample SWQMP from Harris County. This gives you a basis, but unfortunately, it doesn’t give you enough information to fill out forms and fill in the blanks correctly. You’ll need some understanding and experience to avoid the “gotchas” that result in rejection from regulators. So, our E.I.T has spent several hours online trying to solidify a rudimentary understanding of stormwater quality and hasn’t produced anything. Now let’s assume that at this point, they have figured out the required documents and have filled them out and sent them to the owner for signature. While waiting for documents, they put together a stormwater quality management plan and drawings. After several reminders to the owner and several more, the documents finally arrive. Now our E.I.T. realizes that one of the docs needs to be “wet” signed, so the process of e-mails and phone calls to get the owner to send the original doc ensues. Once this is returned it’s time to submit. If the property is in Harris County or the city of Houston, a special trip downtown will be necessary to record the owner’s affidavit. Another ½ day wasted.
Finally, everything is ready for submittal. Typical lead times for Houston and Harris County are 2-3 weeks. But remember that this isn’t a typical function of civil engineers, so expecting approvals on the first submittal is unrealistic. When asked, most E.I.T.s (being honest) tell us that it usually takes 3 or 4 submittals to get approval. We add 2-3 weeks per submittal, giving us a total of 6-12 weeks for the submittal plus 1-2 weeks to develop the narrative. From start to finish, we’re looking at 7-14 weeks and 20-40 hours invested in the process. Worst of all, the subsequent SWQMP narrative will most likely be assigned to someone else who will have to go through this process all over again.
Engineers charge billable hours, but can you send your client a bill for hours spent on these narratives and the required permitting process? Of course not. I suspect that this exercise of calculating the actual cost is not something often explored because the reality isn’t pretty. But aside from the countless amount of time invested, we haven’t considered the time that could be spent doing real engineering work. Work that propels our E.I.T. s toward their P.E. Is this busy work a good idea?
Of course, we want to take this burden off your hands because that’s our business. But suppose time management is a concern for you (and these days, there just isn’t enough time or manpower to properly serve our customers), and you’re honest about the time this process takes. In that case, it makes total sense to contract this scope out, especially to someone who has built several hundred SWQMPs and has intimate relationships with the regulatory community. Our knowledge, experience, and contacts allow us to streamline the process to 2-3 total weeks, usually with no revisions. I say “usually” because a drawing revision is usually required when our SWQMP gets rejected. But we will provide guidance on how to show stormwater quality on the drawing to avoid confusion, reducing any chance of rejection on the first submittal. Additionally, we can help you package and price SWQ appropriately so that you can subcontract this scope and still make a healthy profit.
If you’re not convinced, I’ll go one further. We’re so confident you will see the value in this service that we will provide your first SWQMP free of charge. This way, you can do the math for yourself and decide whether this makes sense without any risk or future obligation. So call us today. The process is simple and only requires that you fill out a 1 page RFI. Additionally, being well versed in all available stormwater quality treatment systems, we can provide a cost analysis, including upfront, installation, and maintenance costs for whichever system(s) you want to explore.
We also offer lunch and learn opportunities (we’ll provide lunch) so that your team can better understand stormwater quality requirements in Texas and your local jurisdictions. We’re here to take the burden of stormwater off your plate, so feel free to call with any questions or set up a Lunch & Learn. We’re always available for you.