Get Ventura Countywide Stormwater Quality Management Program. Standard Form - Portal Countyofventura

Runoff picks up fertilizer, oil, pesticides, dirt, bacteria and other pollutants as it makes its way through storm drains and ditches - untreated - to our streams, rivers, lakes and the ocean. Polluted runoff is one of the greatest threats to clean water in the U.S.

Beneficial uses of stormwater include any use of water to meet individual or societal water needs, including but not limited to: irrigation, drinking, washing, bathing, cooling, and flushing.

Storm Drains is a system designed to carry rainfall runoff and other drainage. It is not designed to carry sewage or accept hazardous wastes. The runoff is carried in underground pipes or open ditches and discharges untreated into local streams, rivers and other surface water bodies.

Storm water runoff is rain and melting snow that flows off building rooftops, driveways, lawns, streets, parking lots, construction sites, and industrial storage yards. Developed areas are covered by buildings and pavement, which do not allow water to soak into the ground.

Stormwater runoff is rain that falls on streets, parking areas, sports fields, gravel lots, rooftops or other developed land and flows directly into nearby lakes, rivers and Puget Sound.

Runoff occurs when there is more water than land can absorb. The excess liquid flows across the surface of the land and into nearby creeks, streams, or ponds. Runoff can come from both natural processes and human activity. The most familiar type of natural runoff is snowmelt.