Maintenance and Retrofit of Stormwater Management Measures Maintenance of Stormwater Management Measures

Research and experience have demonstrated that regular and thorough maintenance is necessary for stormwater management measures to perform effectively and reliably. They have also demonstrated that failure to perform such maintenance can lead to diminished performance, deterioration, and failure, in addition to a range of health and safety problems including mosquito breeding, vermin, and the potential for drowning. The potential for such problems to develop is accentuated by many of the very features and characteristics that allow stormwater management measures to do their job, including standing or slowing moving water, dense vegetation, forebays, trash racks, dams, and the need to continually function in all types of weather. As implied by their name, stormwater management measures are also expected to become the repositories for sediment, nutrients, trash, debris, and other pollutants targeted by the NJDEP Stormwater Management Rules. For this reason, stormwater management measures share maintenance requirements with more mundane items as vacuum cleaner bags, car motor filters, and floor mats, all of which require regular inspection and cleaning, sediment and debris removal, and periodic replacement. In recognition of these needs and potential problems, the NJDEP Stormwater Management Rules require that a maintenance plan be developed for all stormwater management measures incorporated into the design of a major development. This maintenance plan must contain specific preventative and corrective maintenance tasks, schedules, cost estimates, and the name, address, and telephone number of the person or persons responsible for the measures ’ maintenance. In accordance with the Rules, this section of Chapter 8 has been developed to provide guidelines for the development of such maintenance plans. Specific maintenance guidance for structural stormwater management measures is presented in Chapter 9: Structural Stormwater Management Measures. Additiona