Governments reach stormwater deal, Hinkson issue unresolved

The city of Columbia and Boone County and the University of Missouri have reached a preliminary agreement with state environmental regulators on a stormwater permit for the community.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources renewed the stormwater permit in 2008, and local representatives appealed some of the permit terms, including control measures and monitoring terms.
Local leaders still disagree on how to counteract Hinkson Creek’s water quality problems. They contend that complying with the proposed rules could cost $500 million.
City, county and university representatives were to meet Friday with their attorneys in a closed session to discuss the impact of the new permit language on the flow and volume reduction requirements. They were listed in the newest draft of the Hinkson Creek Total Maximum Daily Load, which was issued again on Nov. 5 for a 30-day public comment period. The TMDL needs to be in place by the end of the year because Hinkson is listed as an impaired creek.
“We’ll get an overview of permit terms and our options to fight the TMDL,” County Commissioner Karen Miller said Wednesday.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Natural Resources previously issued a draft report that required drastic reduction in stormwater flows into Hinkson Creek to ensure healthy aquatic life.
An EPA hearing on the stormwater permit that had been scheduled for Nov. 9 was postponed. On Nov. 19, the Columbia Business Times will host a lunch forum at the Tiger Hotel where the issue will be discussed.
The local governments and the University of Missouri objected to the proposed TMDL requirements and said they were based on faulty science and failed to identify a specific source of pollution. They said the requirements could cost up to $500 million to implement and push development into a more sensitive watershed farther south, and alternative methods were both less expensive and more effective.
County Stormwater Coordinator Georganne Bowman said permit terms are inconsistent with the draft HMDL.
“We just don’t know how to manage it,” Miller said.
Miller said in a letter to DNR that the city and county have been working on the problem since they formed a stormwater task force in 2001.
It took years for members with opposing viewpoints — development interests and environmental interests — to build a working rapport and produce a stormwater ordinance and a stream buffer ordinance. The stormwater management requirements are triggered by new development and redevelopment projects.