Stormwater Management Program

This one is for you, Athens, Georgia Stormwater Management Program (link).

Update 9/30/24

Update: My post garnered some attention and someone from AccGov contacted me. They let me know that the septic tank issue has been forwarded to the GA Dept. of Public Health’s Environmental Health Division.

Not Stormwater’s Problem

So it turns out that it’s not even the Stormwater Management Program’s issue to begin with. The polluted water flowing into the creek behind our house is what I immediately focused on, which prompted my post in the first place. However once I spoke with some neighbors, I reported the issue to Code Enforcement at AccGov. They promptly emailed me to confirm that they would look into the issue. Someone came out the next day. A few weeks has passed since. Cue my surprise when I saw someone contacted me here, on my blog. My blog primarily focuses on other things. So this is a completely different post, one where I enthusiastically did some investigative reporting on a hyper-local issue.

So thank you, AccGov employee for taking the time to contact me, someone who is only a low-stakes neighbor, regarding the septic tank issue. I hope that it gets handled soon. The neighbors can smell the sewage when they flush, and the soap when they do laundry or shower… basically, we can smell it all. And I just can’t help but worry about all the things seeping into the ground and the waterways from the open septic tank. It’s a gross, environmentally troubling, issue to have in the neighborhood.

What is the Stormwater Management Program?

Created in 2004 by the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission, the Stormwater Management Program maintains county compliance with the Clean Water Act. The purpose of the program is to address the pollutants and toxins that flow directly into the water. Before its creation, stormwater management was funded by property taxes. However, over a third of Athens-Clarke County is owned by the University of Georgia, an organization that does not pay property tax. According to the ACCGov website

A utility fee is considered to be more equitable than property tax because owners of tax-exempt properties, such as churches, non-profit organizations, and the University of Georgia pay into the fund.

For the record, I’m strongly in agreement. I am 100% fine paying this fee and I’m 100% on board with the rate increase they announced earlier this year. I want the water in my area to be monitored and cleaned, and I think every citizen of the county should be aware of the pollutants that could be flowing into the water. And it does, indeed, flow.

ACC Stormwater Program Rate Increase

The Stormwater Management Program instituted a rate increase in July 2024, the first of its kind since the creation of the program in 2005. They promise that with the rate increase comes an increased level of service. So here is my personal request to see that increased service in my immediate locality.

Increased Services from The ACC Stormwater Management Program

I reported pollution and flooding concerns on August 4th, 2024, and haven’t seen any mitigation to the issues I reported. Those issues are relatively minor, less minor when it rains and we have standing water on our streets because the ditches that flow into the storm drains are blocked with leaves, trash, and debris.

Update: On Wednesday, September 5th there were crews on my road to address the debris in the ditches and to clear culverts. I appreciate that, Stormwater Management!

A Bigger Stormwater Runoff Problem

Yesterday I met a new neighbor and we had an interesting conversation about their rental property. Information revealed to me is far more problematic than some leaves in the ditches. Something that I think the Stormwater Management Program will want to do something about much faster than dealing with some leaves blocking a storm runoff ditch.

Rental Property with Septic Issues

My neighbor’s rental has an open hole to their septic tank in their front yard. Every time they shower, flush the toilet, or god forbid it rains, that septic tank overflows and seeps into their yard. Said sewage then flows down the neighboring driveway, across the street, into the stormwater drains and then straight into the watershed creek that runs behind the houses on my side of the street.

Driveways and roads are some of those impervious structures the Stormwater Management Program takes note of, and I’m sure they would want to know about an open septic tank seeping into the Middle Oconee. Code Enforcement would also be very interested in investigating this, I’m sure.

UPDATE: I hope that, at the same time as Stormwater crews were on site to mitigate the ditches and culverts, someone from Code Enforcement was there to investigate the septic tank issue in the yard across from my house!

At the Mercy of a Well-Known Landlord

My neighbors are renters. They are at the mercy of their landlord. Surprisingly, they told me the person who owns the house they are renting is a well-known former Athens mayor. As landlord, she told the renters that the inspector said it was totally okay to have an open hole to their septic tank fully chilling in their front yard. No one has come to fix it. And the landlord doesn’t plan to fix it, from what the neighbor said.

If I were paying close to $2000 a month in rent and I had an open hole to a septic tank seeping sewage into my yard I would be beyond pissed. I cannot fathom how a house inspector said it was okay for that to be going on. I can’t imagine that they didn’t tell the owner that this problem needed to be immediately and actively mitigated. It’s been like that for a while, so in my opinion, it should have been fixed months ago.

Soon To-Be Listed Property

The house next to them, the one that has the sewage leaking onto their driveway and down into the street that drains into the Middle Oconee River tributary? It’s been renovated and is nearly finished, by the looks of it. So the owner of that house will be trying to rent or sell that one soon, too. I don’t believe that raw sewage seeping down the driveway is going to be a real selling point to potential renters or buyers.

Rent in Athens, Georgia is very, very expensive. And I would never agree to the rent required if I knew there was septic tank sludge running down my driveway from the neighbor’s open septic tank hole that was totally okay according to the landlord.

Stormwater on My Street

Water runoff on my street is a big deal. Let me tell you why. A creek runs behind my house, and it flows directly into the Middle Oconee River. I think the open septic tank in my neighbor’s yard is exactly the sort of problem the Stormwater Management Program was created for. If not them, then the water department, my district commissioner, someone needs to know that this is happening and that the sewage is running directly into the Middle Oconee River.

The Upper Oconee Watershed

The Oconee River is a major river system in Georgia. The Upper Oconee Watershed Network, a 501(c)3 organization that advocates and monitors the watershed offers this information about the river:

The Oconee River system is one of Georgia’s 14 Major River Basins. The Upper Oconee River Watershed begins near Gainesville, Georgia and ends at Lake Sinclair near Milledgeville. The headwaters of the North Oconee are located just south of Lula, GA. The Middle Oconee begins Northeast of Braselton. The Upper Oconee Watershed drains all or part of the following counties: Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Greene, Gwinnett, Hall, Hancock, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Madison, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Putnam, and Winston. The Middle and North Oconee Rivers converge just South of Athens to form the Oconee River which meets the Ocmulgee River to form the Altamaha River and eventually flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Conners et al

Conners et al. (2001) conducted a survey that measured, among other things, the levels of Fecal Coliform present in the Oconee at several locations along the river in 2001, including Ben Burton Park, where the stream from my house converges into the Middle Oconee River.

Old Data

These data were collected in 2001. According to the 2000 census 166,079 people lived in Athens-Clarke County at that time. The 2020 census reported a population of 215,479 in Athens-Clarke County. That means in the 20 year period from 2000 census to the 2020 census the population increased 49,400 people. If a similar study were conducted today, what fecal loads would they report?

Stormwater Management Program, Ball is In Your Court

I sure hope someone at the ACCGov Stormwater Management Program sees this post. What’s more, I’m definitely posting it to social media too. Indeed, this is your purpose, your raison d’être. Because of this, I implore you to figure out who is in charge of mitigating this toxic septic issue on my street. Please contact me to learn the addresses involved, or better yet check your email because I already emailed you.

I mostly blog about other things like gaming, post book reviews, etc. Since I don’t often post about local issues I hope my readers will understand that this is important.