Municipal operation inspections

Staff collecting water data

Municipal operation inspections

Municipal operation inspections help reduce the impacts to stormwater from municipally owned or operated facilities, areas, or stormwater best management practices (BMPs). Staff conducting these inspections can stop pollution before it reaches stormwater, or minimize the impacts if your BMPs have failed or need maintenance.

The municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) General Permit requires inspections of the following: (MS4 General Permit Part III.D.6.e)

• Annual inspections of structural stormwater BMPs to determine structural integrity, function, and maintenance needs.
• At least one inspection every permit term of stormwater ponds and outfalls to determine structural integrity, function, and maintenance needs.
• Quarterly inspections of stockpiles, and storage and material handling areas identified in the Facility Inventory to determine function and maintenance needs.

During each of these inspections, inspectors must look for evidence of illicit discharges (MS4 General Permit Part III.D.3.c.). All inspections must be documented (MS4 General Permit Part III.D.6.h.(1)), so save any checklists that you are using.

Resources

Fact sheets and guidance documents

• MPCA Managing Stormwater Sediment BMPs guidance - Guide for properly managing sediment from stormwater systems, such as ponds
• Documentation that MS4 staff should retain - List of all the documentation requirements (what information to keep, how long to keep it, level of detail to keep, etc.) for compliance with the MS4 permit

Checklists and templates

BMP inspection checklists

• Rain garden/bioretention basin inspection checklist - University of Minnesota's (U of M) checklist for inspecting bioretention systems, such as rain gardens
• Constructed wetland inspection checklist - U of M's checklist for inspecting constructed wetlands
• Filter strips and swales inspection checklist - U of M's checklist for inspecting filter strips and swales
• Filtration system inspection checklist - U of M's checklist for inspecting filtration systems
• Infiltration system inspection checklist - U of M's checklist for inspecting infiltration systems
• Underground sedimentation inspection checklist - U of M's checklist for inspecting underground sedimentation devices
• Permeable pavements inspection checklist - U of M's checklist for inspecting permeable pavers

Pond inspection checklists

• Wet pond inspection checklist - U of M's checklist for inspecting wet ponds
• Dry pond inspection checklist - U of M's checklist for inspecting dry ponds

Outfall inspection checklists

• Outfall inspection checklist - City of Rochester's checklist for inspecting outfalls
• Outfall inspection checklist - City of Arden Hills' checklist for inspecting outfalls