Tulsa Stormwater Management Plan, Page 3
Stormwater Quality
Stormwater quality is of growing concern in municipal drainage management. Tulsa has geared up to meet new federal requirements for stormwater discharge NPDES permits (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits). Tulsa's most serious problem with runoff quality was found to be sediment, which is being addressed through vigorous regulation of erosion from construction projects.
The city is also emphasizing street sweeping, environmental monitoring, and stormwater laboratory services as part of its stormwater quality program.
Maintenance and Operations
City leaders clearly saw the need for better maintenance when the 1984 flood swamped debris-choked creeks and channels, clogged and collapsed sewers, and neglected pump stations. The resulting public and private costs were enormous.
The flood triggered a search for stable, continual maintenance funding. The answer came in 1986, when city fathers approved a drainage utility fee. Now maintenance is an essential element of Tulsa's program.
The contrast is telling:
In 1980, the city spent about $400,000 on stormwater maintenance.
By comparison, in 1993, the city was able to spend about $6 million on stormwater maintenance.
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The difference was the stormwater utility fee.
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The maintenance program's first goal is to keep systems operating at full capacity.
The system includes hundreds of miles of surface channels and floodplains, thousands of miles of underground sewers, public detention basins, pump stations, roadside ditches, bridges, and the curbs and inlets along the street system.
The list of duties continues to expand, extending through turf control and tree planting, debris removal, emergency response during storms, and management of maintenance trails along drainageways.
Emergency Management
Capricious climate makes Tulsa vulnerable to weather emergencies, particularly tornadoes, violent thunderstorms, and floods.
Overall responsibility during emergencies lies with the city-county Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency; but in flood management, TAEMA shares its lead with Tulsa's Public Works Department.
Tulsa's emergency management goal is to reduce hazard and damage before, during and after storms.
Forecasting and warning
Flash floods require the earliest possible warnings. Tulsa's system works in cooperation with the National Weather Service, news media, TAEMA, and the City of Tulsa. A computerized ALERT system includes 39 rain, 19 stream, and seven detention gauges that report changes as they happen. The system is based on detailed basin inventories and includes a hydrologic program that develops stream and flood forecasts, to be released for appropriate action before flooding occurs.
Response
Emergency response is triggered by the possibility of severe weather anywhere in the community. Response teams are guided by detailed plans and protocols – and their extensive field experience during emergencies. The plans also identify critical facilities with hazardous materials, vulnerable occupants, and essential community functions.
Recovery and mitigation
Traditionally, recovery meant rebuilding as fast as possible. But recurring disasters have taught Tulsans that rebuilding in kind can mean reinvesting in disaster. Tulsa today emphasizes mitigation projects, which seek to make the response to each disaster reduce future losses. For example, hundreds of flooded homes have been relocated to dry sites. In addition, the city is updating its flood-hazard mitigation plans, to include actions to be taken before, during, and after a flood.
Public Awareness
The city pushes public information and involvement to keep citizens aware that floods frequent Tulsa, requiring prudent preparation.
Diverse information pieces include flood maps, brochures, news releases, fact sheets, reports, slide shows, videos, direct mailings, displays, speeches and presentations, roadway signs, and individual contacts – anything and everything possible to get out the word.
For example, the city mails periodic notices to floodplain occupants, warning them of hazards, offering them flood preparedness tips, and urging them to buy flood insurance.
Tulsa's stormwater ordinances include requirements that full information about flood hazards must be provided by property sellers to prospective buyers, and by landlords to tenants.