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 The model ordinance is a template containing the minimum
requirements for an effective ordinance and best practices for
maximum stormwater protection, according to Sally McConkey, head of
the Coordinated Hazard Assessment and Mapping Program at the ISWS,
Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois. It is intended
to be used as a stand-alone document to assist any community wishing
to revise its ordinance requirements for stormwater management, or
it could be used as a guide to add stormwater provisions to existing
subdivision ordinances, building codes, or zoning ordinances.
 “The stormwater model ordinance is one tool a community can use to
manage stormwater and reduce flood damages,” McConkey said.
“Adopting provisions of the ordinance can also earn Community Rating
System points for participating communities which can lower flood
insurance rates.”
In the past century, nearly all flood claims involving private and
federal flood insurance were located in urban areas, and about 90
percent of those claims were located outside of floodplains,
according to the Report for the Illinois Urban Flooding Awareness
Act. (http://www.isws.illinois.
edu/hilites/more.asp?id=ufaa&fr=hi) With extreme
precipitation events increasing by as much as 40 percent, local
ordinances will become particularly important in the future as
communities mitigate stormwater runoff damage to new development and
redevelopment.
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The ISWS and IDNR encourage communities to adopt strategies provided in the
ordinance as best practices to mitigate flooding from stormwater runoff. One
strategy is to provide incentives to developers and property owners to decrease
impervious areas and preserve natural areas to allow for evaporation,
infiltration, and stormwater storage.
The model ordinance is now available for local officials at
http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/Water Resources/Documents/IL_Model_
Stormwater_Ordinance.pdf
[Lisa A. Sheppard]
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