Stormwater

Unlike the sewer system, which carries wastewater from your home to treatment plants, the storm drain system in Chino releases untreated water into flood control channels, creeks, and rivers. Anything that gets thrown, swept or poured into the street, gutter or a catch basin will lead into our local waterways. This includes:

  • Paints
  • Fertilizers
  • Pesticides
  • Motor Oil
  • Pet Waste
  • Trash
  • Sewage
  • Pool Filter Media
  • Construction Waste
  • Sediment
  • Degreasers and Chemicals

Stormwater pollution from urban runoff is a public health risk and an environmental threat to the quality of our local waterways. To report illegal dumping into the City of Chino's streets or storm drains and to report clogged storm drains, please call the Chino Police Department at 909-334-3000 during business hours and 909-628-1234 all other hours.

National Pollution Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES)

On January 10, 2010 the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board (SARWQCB) adopted Order Number R8-2010-0036. This order renewed the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Storm Water Permit for San Bernardino County.

Water Quality Management Plans (WQMP)

The WQMP is intended to provide information related to the project's generation and mitigation of water quality pollutants and assessment of hydrological impacts. The WQMP contains project information related to site characteristics, expected pollutants, and hydrology impacts. It describes the incorporation of Low Impact Development (LID) Preventative measures as well as LID Mitigative Measures listed here in order of priority:

  1. Infiltration Best Management Practices (BMPs)
  2. BMPs that harvest and use runoff; and (3) vegetated BMPs that promote evapotranspiration

The collective information is intended to describe how the project will minimize water quality impacts to downstream water bodies.

The City implements a comprehensive project review and approval process to ensure that proposed projects comply with the MS4 Permit and local ordinance requirements. All priority projects are required to submit a Preliminary WQMP for review by the Public Works Water and Environmental Engineering Department. Projects classified as Non-Priority per the WQMP Technical Guidance document (TGD) must consult with the city staff to discuss WQMP submittal requirements and selection of LID Preventative Measures.

Development Review Committee Process

The Preliminary WQMP shall be submitted during the Development Review Committee (DRC) process and must:

  • Include completed form 1-1
  • Include completed forms 2.1-1, 2.3-1 and 2.4-1
  • Include completed forms 3-1 and 3-2
  • Include complete narratives as described in section 4.1.2 of the WQMP Template and Form 4.1-3 Preventative LID Site Design Practices Checklist
  • Include all calculations and forms as required in section 4.2 Project Performance Criteria of the WQMP Template (Forms 4.2-3 through 4.2-5 may be replaced by computer software analysis based on the San Bernardino County Hydrology Manual)
  • Include all calculations and forms as required in section 4.3 Project Conformance Analysis of the WQMP Template
  • Include a site plan showing LID Preventative Measures, structural BMPs, on-site conveyance and discharge points
  • Include Engineering studies/reports that justify any infeasibility determination (e.g. soils report explaining the infeasibility of infiltration BMPs)
  • Be approved during the DRC process prior to the scheduling of a public hearing before the City Planning Commission or City Council

The San Bernardino County Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP) Technical Guidance Document and Template for New Development and Redevelopment Projects can be downloaded by clicking on the following links:

After the Preliminary WQMP has been approved, a complete Final WQMP must be submitted to the City for approval. Any additional sections of the WQMP template that were not included in the Preliminary WQMP submittal and any related engineering studies must be included with this submittal.

Once the Final WQMP is approved it will be used as a guide for the maintenance of the BMPs. A hard copy of the Final WQMP must remain on-site with the current owner/tenant in perpetuity as it will serve as an enforceable document. Section 8 of the TGD describes in detail the requirements for the post-construction BMP Requirements. Figure 2-1 from the TGD illustrates the WQMP process: WQMP Development Process Flowchart (PDF).