Stormwater coordinator outlines NPDES obligations, capital projects and volunteer green‑infrastructure plans

A town stormwater briefing on April 3 summarized regulatory obligations, monitoring responsibilities and recent and planned capital and operational work under Prescott Valley’s NPDES (APDES) permit.

Arianna Odom, the town’s stormwater coordinator, explained that the town’s program follows the six minimum control measures under the NPDES framework as implemented in Arizona by ADEQ: public education and outreach; public participation; illicit discharge detection and elimination; construction‑site runoff control; post‑construction stormwater management; and municipal pollution prevention and good housekeeping.

Odom said the town maintains a storm‑sewer/GIS map, conducts construction‑site inspections and enforces BMPs, performs dry‑weather and wet‑weather outfall screening, and carries out a street‑sweeping program (six full sweeps annually) and ditch maintenance. Recent capital work includes Fourth Street drainage in Quailwood; staff identified Lakeshore drainage stabilization as a future CIP candidate. Odom described a planned volunteer green‑infrastructure initiative to build neighborhood rain gardens and bioswales and said staff will continue outreach and training for town crews and contractors.

Council members and staff also discussed operations such as culvert cleaning and regrading of ditches to reduce localized flooding. Odom said the department has caught up on many outstanding work orders and that crews are moving to more proactive maintenance, including ditch stabilization and localized erosion mitigation.

No formal action was taken; staff said they will continue permit compliance, coordinate with regional MS4 partners and advance proposed CIP and pilot green‑infrastructure projects.