A state grant will help Rockland’s towns and villages create new laws addressing storm-water management � a key issue when it comes to preventing flooding around the county.

The $344,000 award will be administered by the Rockland County Soil and Water Conservation District, said Mary Hegarty, the agency’s environmental management assistant.

Rockland is one of 450 communities statewide that must obtain permits for their storm drain systems in an effort to reduce storm-water discharges into New York’s waterways, according to Gov. George Pataki’s office.

Pataki awarded a total of $5.8 million in grants to improve water quality for residents, as well as fore aquatic life, statewide.

The new laws are part of a larger federal effort to help reduce the amount of runoff into the nation’s waterways. Runoff from urban areas is considered a major source of waterway pollution, Hegarty said.

The Rockland grant will help the county’s five towns and 11 of its villages develop two local laws that will address illicit discharges and construction and post-construction runoff controls, Hegarty said.

Illicit discharges could include the dumping of pet waste into storm drains or the illegal connection of sump pumps to the drains, she said. Construction and post-construction controls are meant to keep water on site to prevent sediment runoff or erosion, and to help reduce flooding, she said.

Storm water � be it rain or melting snow � carries pollution into streams, lakes, rivers and oceans. The pollution can include trash, road salt, lawn fertilizers, sewage from improper connections, and sediment from construction sites, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said.

Increased development has led to the presence of more driveways, roofs, parking lots, sidewalks, patios, and other surfaces that prevent rain and snow from slowly being absorbed into the ground to replenish aquifers. Instead, the water rushes off, washing any pollution it encounters into storm drains or directly into waterways.

Hegarty said storm drains emptied into waterways. They are separate from sewage systems, which carry the sewage to treatment plants; storm water is not treated, she said.

TJN