A Little Help Explaining the Stormwater Utility Concept

In some parts of the country, planners spend most of their time thinking about stormwater—and effective, resilient stormwater systems are one of the primary benefits of the planning profession.

With the critical need of stormwater infrastructure in mind, Katie Rousseau writes a post explaining some of the resources available on the American Rivers website designed to assist public utility managers in advocating for stormwater utilities.

Rousseau starts with a series of questions: "So, what does Joe Public know about stormwater? What should they know? Are communities communicating effectively to the public about stormwater and the fact that they need to collect fees?"

The many answers, varying in complexity, are the reason why American Rivers partnered with Bluestem Communications to develop the Stormwater Utility Communications Toolkit, with assistance for public relations, media relations, social media, and community engagement.