As-Needed Environmental Services

The City of San Diego operates and maintains an extensive urban stormwater management system to convey stormwater and urban runoff for the purpose of reducing flood risk and improving water quality to provide essential public services, including the effective management of water resources in the City. The City's Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) includes nearly 1000 miles of drainage pipes; 84 miles of drainage channels; over 48,000 storm drain structures; and 15 pump stations distributed over a 342 square-mile metropolitan area. The inspection, cleaning, maintenance, and repair of the MS4 is the responsibility of the Stormwater Departments engineers, planners, and city crews working together to ensure the City's existing stormwater facilities operate and are maintained adequately. Typical Department projects include: dredging, excavation and/or depositing of fill material within natural and engineered channels; removal of non-stormwater discharges (e.g. spills, dumping, and disposal of materials other than stormwater); repair and maintenance of public stormwater facilities (channels, pump stations, pipes, inlets/outfalls, etc.); installation of erosion and sediment control best management practices (BMPs), on-going maintenance of permanent access and staging areas; design, permitting, and implementation of compensatory mitigation projects; management of invasive plant control; rehabilitation and restoration of stream, channel, and/or habitat; revegetation; as well as the construction of low impact development and green infrastructure projects.