Effingham County is permitted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the Georgia Environmental Protection Department (GA-EPD) as a Municipal Separate Stormsewer System (MS4), as defined in the 1972 Federal Clean Water Act. What this means to the County is that we are required to implement a stormwater management program to address six (6) minimum control measures (MCM) to protect water quality and flooding. Our Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) defines a plan to meet the 6 MCMs. To address water quality, the County is required to develop a Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development guide (GI/LID). Within this guidance are definitions and requirements for structural Best Management Practices (BMP) that can be built to effectively treat stormwater runoff and well as reduce excessive volume of runoff from leaving a developed site due to the increase in impervious areas, or hard surfaces. All new development and redevelopment projects in the unincorporated areas of Effingham County must comply with these documents. The County reports to the USEPA and GA-EPD on our progress with MS4 program implementation annually.

Citizens are encouraged to review the SWMP and Annual reports and to comment on the County’s best management practices found within the SWMP and our activities reported in the annual report. This can be done by emailing the County Engineer.