The Bangor Area Storm Water Group (BASWG) is a regional collaboration of regulated entities within the Bangor Urbanized Area working jointly to comply with stormwater regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
The BASWG has seven municipal members (City of Bangor, City of Brewer, Town of Hampden, Town of Milford, City of Old Town, Town of Orono, and Town of Veazie) and five non-municipal members: University of Maine, University College at Bangor, Maine Air National Guard Bangor Base, Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center and Eastern Maine Community College. All formal members of the BASWG are regulated entities regulated under the MePDES Stormwater Phase II Multisector General Permit.
The BASWG has a strong record of success in reducing the cost of stormwater management compliance to tax payers in its seven member municipalities. To date, the BASWG has conducted more than 20 regionalized stormwater-related efforts, including regionalized technical trainings for staff on standard operating procedures, joint purchasing, the use of a shared AmeriCorps educator to deliver school-based stormwater education; the completed mapping of all catch basins and outfalls in the Bangor Urbanized Area through a GIS mapping internship program; the development of a regional stormwater management plan to share responsibilities for tracking compliance with MePDES minimum control measures; and the creation of transferable technical models.
The BASWG’s research and development activities have led to the planning of a model rain garden for regional study and outreach, a regional catch basin performance study, and development of critical new systems for regionalized stormwater data collection and management. The BASWG is currently conducting regional intercept surveys to gather stakeholder input and development of formal evaluation tools that will allow members to document measurable outcomes required by the new permit. The members of the BASWG are now working to develop major integrated regionalized stormwater management systems and partner with other regional clusters to coordinate larger cost-saving collaborative projects.
Current estimates of cost savings to tax payers from the BASWG's collaborative activities exceed $400,000.