Search Results (6)

In South Korea, a reasonable rate system that can be domestically applied to calculate sewage and stormwater separately from the domestic sewage fee system is needed. This study proposed a phased pricing scenario to separate sewage and stormwater in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, and the rate changes were compared based on a simulated calculation of the stormwater utility fee. In this investigation, stormwater runoff cases from other countries and the current domestic system were analyzed. A stormwater utility fee introduction scenario was presented that considers the impervious surface area. Water and sewage usage statistics and hydrant spatial data were collected from the Incheon Metropolitan City Waterworks Authority, and the total amount of water and sewage fees from the land use area were calculated. The stormwater utility fee was calculated, and the rates of each step were compared. The total sewage fee of Bupyeong-gu during 2014 was KRW 21,685,446,578, and the phased stormwater utility fee was calculated, assuming that 40% represents the stormwater cost. The sewage fee for the residential area in phase 3 decreased by 0.77% compared to phase 1. For the commercial areas, the sewage fee decreased by 36.87%. Because the impervious surface ratio was high, the overall area contributing to the impervious surface area was small. In the industrial area, the sewage fee increased by 8.35%. In the green area, the sewage fee increased by 37.46%. The sewage fee for the apartment complexes decreased by 10.6%. Finally, the possibility of estimating the actual stormwater utility fee was confirmed. Full article

One of the most complex and difficult questions to answer concerns how to organize and economically support public services of all kinds. In terms of services that involve a multiplicity of actors and objectives, as is the case with urban stormwater management, the difficulty is magnified and resources never seem to be sufficient. This paper reviews the successful approaches to stormwater management in a number of countries and concludes that it is both feasible and possible to successfully structure stormwater management in cities using a variety of models and incentives. With examples from cases practiced in the USA and Canada, based theoretically on the user-pays principle and on the fair distribution of impacts, the text innovates showing not only a technically and legally viable option, but an opportunity for users to become aware of the importance of reducing environmental impacts. By raising the possibility of delivering services out of the general public budget, reducing the taxation of all in exchange for charging only users and improving the performance, the discussion is directed, in an innovative way, to a very rarely questioned aspect and links the change in mentality from and economic way of thinking towards the new stormwater paradigm shift and SDGs. Full article

With a steady increase in impervious surfaces due to urbanization in Korea, there is a growing burden and an urgent need to fund better management of nonpoint sources of pollution and stormwater. A prerequisite for securing the necessary financial resources is the determination of basic data for the accurate calculation of impervious surfaces as the basis for estimating the costs of nonpoint source pollution control and billing of stormwater utility fees. This requires the extraction of landcover information in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment and development of a landcover map that accurately delineates pervious surfaces within impervious surface areas. However, since landcover maps in Korea are generated and updated at irregular intervals, it is difficult to properly track land use changes. To address this problem, this study has developed a new method for the detailed updating of landcover maps in developing urban areas to facilitate the calculation of stormwater utility fees. Sejong City was selected as the study site because it has experienced large-scale land use changes due to the recent relocation of the national administrative capital and continuous urbanization. The methodology proposed in this study is based on various spatial data such as aerial photographs and digital topographic maps and follows four process steps: preprocessing, first and second updates of landcover information, and quality assurance. In a test of this method, a total of 19,049 reclassified items were generated in the first and second updates, affecting a total area of 26.49 km² within the original landcover map. The accuracy of these updates reached 99.78%, considering the changed areas and rate of change. This study provides fundamental data for further application of a stormwater utility fee policy in Korea. However, further research is required to automate the generation of accurate pervious/impervious maps and develop pertinent guidelines so that individual municipal and provincial governments can generate and update their own pervious/impervious maps as a basis for calculating the impervious surfaces in their regions. Full article

Due to the increasingly devastating impact of pluvial flooding on human beings’ lives and properties in cities, the use of green infrastructure to manage stormwater onsite is becoming more popular worldwide. The maintenance of green infrastructure to ensure its function has become one of the most pressing tasks facing policy makers. However, there is limited research regarding the willingness to pay the stormwater fee as a form of maintenance funding. This study utilized contingent valuation data obtained from a survey of 1101 respondents living in six pilot sponge cities in China to estimate the willingness to pay for the green infrastructure maintenance. The findings indicated that two-thirds of all respondents were willing to pay, 17% would like to pay around 6–10 RMB/month (0.95–1.59 US dollars/month), and 17.8% would like to pay more than 20 RMB/month (3.2 US dollars/month). The educational level and age of the respondents were significant determinants of the probability of willingness to pay and the amount they would like to pay. Knowledge of the concept of sponge cities was another significant influencing factor for the willingness to pay, but it did not influence the amount of payment. The findings could help policy makers make better strategies regarding the maintenance of green infrastructure and its costs. Full article

Increases in extreme weather events have caused extensive flooding across the United States. In response, federal, state, and local governments have broadened their flood mitigation strategies to include acquisition and demolition of flood-damaged homes (“buyouts”). Little work has documented or analyzed the range of strategies for funding buyouts. Federal programs provide the bulk of funding, but these programs are often slow. Also, state and local governments struggle to meet cost-match requirements. We present and analyze a nationwide census of buyout funding programs (n = 34), which draw on five primary funding mechanisms. We find that state and local governments are using a range of traditional and innovative financial mechanisms, including municipal/green bonds, revolving loan funds, local option sales taxes, and stormwater utility fees, as viable tools for funding buyouts. These tools may promote more autonomy from federal government mitigation programs, and ultimately, faster buyout processes. Full article

Lack of stable and dedicated funding has been a primary challenge for municipalities in the United States to implement effective stormwater management programs. Stormwater utility fees (SUFs), as user fees, are an alternative dedicated revenue source to fund stormwater management. When complemented with stormwater utility credits or discounts, SUFs provide greater flexibility to adopting best management practices and reducing stormwater runoff at a lower overall cost to the community. While SUFs have been increasingly used, there is little systematic research on this topic. This paper reviews literature on how SUFs work, discusses the mechanisms for setting the fees, and provides examples of different rate structures from across the U.S. Then, we use the findings of the literature to evaluate SUFs as a funding strategy for stormwater management based on four revenue evaluation criteria of efficiency, equity, revenue adequacy, and feasibility. Overall, the literature indicates that stormwater utility fees are a more efficient and environmentally sustainable source of revenue that allows for long-range planning of capital improvements and operations, but their high political visibility and legal obstacles can affect their effective implementation. However, more empirical research is needed to assess these propositions. There is a lack of literature on effective SUF designs, equitable fee types, the extent to which SUFs lead to change in public behavior and their impact on business and stormwater management investments in a municipality. Full article