The University has taken steps to prevent pollutants from entering stormwater flows which would impact water leaving the campus and entering the larger Tucson stormwater system.
The University of Arizona (UA) has developed a Storm Water Management Plan (SWMP) to comply with current storm water regulations and to ensure that campus activities are not a source of pollution for surface water that flows through campus. The University campus has areas of grass, trees and other vegetation, but much of campus is covered by buildings, parking lots, sidewalks and streets that are impervious to rainfall. This situation creates runoff, especially during Tucson's summer monsoon season. Waters from storm events and other runoff can become contaminated if they come in contact with pollution sources. Polluted surface waters may eventually find their way into washes, rivers or even groundwater. The University of Arizona's SWMP is written to comply with State of Arizona regulations in regard to storm water, and describes university operations, identifies potential sources of storm water pollution and adopts Best Management Practices or pollution control measures to reduce the discharge of pollutants in storm water run-off. Implementation of these practices identified in the SWMP greatly reduces the potential for pollutants to enter storm water from campus operations. To date, the SWMP has contributed to the following accomplishments:
Read the plan at: risk.arizona.edu/environmentalcompliance/stormwatermanagement.shtml
Plans are prepared for construction projects with a site area of 1 acre or greater which detail ways in which stormwater will be contained and routed around the site during construction to prevent sediment and other pollutants from entering the stormwater system.
© 2008 Arizona Board of Regents
