Gwinnett County's Stormwater Utility: 6 Years Down

Gwinnett County, located to the North East of Metro Atlanta, experienced exponential development and growth during the 80's and 90's, and now has a population approaching 850,000. In 2003 the County recognized the need to establish a stable funding source to support the management of the County's watersheds and drainage infrastructure. The County ultimately decided on a stormwater utility which raises annual revenues of approximately $30M to manage the county's 1,300 miles of storm sewer, 15 flood control dams and watershed restoration program.Implementation of the utility involved the development of management structures, policies, an ordinance, a rate resolution and a billing system.Over the past six years the utility has matured in response to various incidents, regulatory changes, the economic slowdown, and through a process of continuous improvement driven by various studies to better understand the needs of our customers, the watershed and the County's drainage infrastructure.