Stormwater

The campus of Colorado State University-Pueblo is located in the northeast portion of the City of Pueblo and incorporates many varied activities.  The University is situated on top of one of the high points in Pueblo, Colorado. Storm water runoff from the University makes its way into either the Fountain Creek drainage or several large arroyos which all eventually empty into the Arkansas River. Storm sewers in Colorado lead directly to surface water bodies without any prior treatment. What we do here on campus has the ability to affect water quality downstream of us. Many of our day to day operations put us at risk of contaminating storm water.

Colorado State University Pueblo is required to comply with regulations of the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) and other regulatory agencies to protect against illicit campus discharges of pollutants to storm and surface water conveyances (such as storm drains, parking lot runoff, gutters, etc.) Illegal discharges include processed/chlorinated water, petroleum residues, chemicals, pesticides, sediment, and trash.

Facilities Management and Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) oversee efforts on campus to protect stormwater, including the administration of a campus-wide Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) Permit. This permit requires documentation and reporting of campus efforts to promote environmental stewardship related to protection of storm conveyances and surface waters. A Program Description Document (PDD) contains the campus procedures used to maintain compliance with the MS4 permit. The PDD is available for public review and comment free of charge. Contact EHS at the phone number and/or email address provided below to receive a copy of the PDD.

All incidents involving the release of hazardous materials to sewer systems, or the environment must be reported immediately by calling the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office at 719-549-2373 or to EHS at 719-549-2747.

This is a list of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) that CSU-Pueblo is striving to implement to lower our impact. Take a look at it: Stormwater SOP