201 [S3E48]: Erica Penna, Managing Stormwater in Monroe County

NOTE: The 812 will take Memorial Day off; new episodes resume Wed., May 28.

Stormwater needs to be channeled somewhere -- lakes, rivers, retention ponds -- or it becomes floodwater. If there aren't ditches or box culverts near where you live or work, you may have been wading around last weekend. Communities do their best to manage stormwater, to not mix it with their wastewater. Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems, also known as MS4, exist throughout Monroe County: they reduce pollution and the costs of cleaning water for human reuse at the water treatment plant.

Erica Penna is Monroe County's stormwater program manager. We talk with her about MS4 and other kinds of concerns she deals with, like illicit discharges into storm drains; the challenges of preventing problems created by construction; and the county's current decade-long plan for stormwater, which is about to be updated next year. She can even tell you the difference between the local drainage board and the local stormwater management board. 

There's a new Last Pitch today, too: in light of the recent decision by the Election Board, it's about the prospect of changing from precinct voting to vote-center voting.