Privatization and inter-municipal cooperation in local stormwater planning and management

Abstract

Decentralized approaches to environmental policy benefit from local input and knowledge, yet also place greater responsibility on local governments. Under the US Clean Water Act, thousands of municipalities are required to implement stormwater programs. Most research has focused on stormwater management strategies in large cities, but there are few studies of how smaller municipalities respond to federal mandates given their relatively limited fiscal and staffing capacities. Our work examines the prevalence of outsourcing strategies to administer stormwater programs among municipalities in Utah. We find that municipalities use a mix of in-house staffing, private consultant use, and cooperation with other municipalities to develop and administer their stormwater programs. The use of private consultants was most common among suburban cities, while all municipalities engaged in inter-municipal cooperation through county-level coalitions that take responsibility for public education programming. Reliance on the county-level coalition had the effect of distancing managers from public education activities.