Five (5) Year Surface Water Management License Renewal

The Five (5) Year Stormwater Drainage License Renewal is regulated by the local Drainage Districts, such as:

Broward County
City of Weston
South Broward Drainage System
Tindall Hammock Drainage District
Coral Springs Improvement District
North Springs Improvement District
Old Plantation Water Control District
Central Broward Water Control District

We work closely with local Stormwater Drainage Districts to ensure that your project is compliant with regulations.

What to expect during the certification process?

An on-site inspection is performed by a professional engineer or qualified stormwater inspector.
An inspection report will be prepared by a professional engineer. This report will include a description of the existing drainage system, summary of field data collected during on-site inspection, site photos, recommendations, and an operation and maintenance instruction specific to the site.
System must be cleaned and/or repaired per the recommendations on the inspection report.
Property owner will notify the engineer when the recommendations on the inspection report have been addressed.
A final on-site inspection is performed by a professional engineer.
Professional Engineer will prepare a certification letter, stating that the existing surface water management system is in substantial compliance with the approved license/permit document.
Portillo Engineering will submit the certification package to the local drainage district.
Upon certification of the drainage system, the local water management district will issue a license document stating that the system has been certified and stating the date when the next Five (5) license renewal is due.

What is Surface Water Management?

Many of the earlier developments in Broward County were built on filled wetlands with storm sewers or ditches draining directly from the streets to our local waterways. Houses and businesses often flooded and untreated storm runoff impacted water quality on our canals and rivers. Today, regulatory criteria for surface water management systems serving developments are set to provide adequate flood control (water quantity) and remove pollutants from storm runoff (water quality). Surface water management (drainage) systems can contain storm drains, street gutters, weirs, sluice gates, dams, pumps, swales, French drains (a.k.a. exfiltration trenches), culverts, drainage wells, dry retention areas, and storm runoff treatment lakes or wetlands. A combination of these facilities is typically utilized to design a surface water management system to meet water quality and water quantity criteria.

What is a Surface Water Management License?

A surface water management license is permit issued by a local water management district for the construction and operation of drainage systems for commercial, residential, industrial and roadway developments. A surface water management license is valid for a period of five (5) years and must be renewed every five (5) years for the life of the project. In the event the property changes ownership, the license must be transferred to the new owner to take responsibility for the maintenance and operation of the surface water management system.

What is a Surface Water Management System?

A surface water management system is a benefit to the development or property and consists of combinations of or all of the following facilities: lakes, canals, wetlands, swales, dry ponds, storm drains, discharge structures, exfiltration trenches (French Drains), manholes, stormwater pumping stations, etc. A surface water management system is also known as drainage system. These systems collect stormwater runoff and convey the runoff into a stormwater facility such as a lake, canal or an underground system. A surface water management system provides the following benefits: Adequate flood protection and provides water quality treatment prior to discharging off-site.

Purpose of the Five-Year License Renewal or Certification

The purpose of the Five (5) Year License Renewal program is to ensure the permitted surface water management system is being maintained and operating as permitted by the water management district. In the event that the system requires repairs and maintenance of the drainage system components and impervious areas, it is the responsibility of the property owner to ensure that the system is adequately maintained and repaired as required by the license document issued to the property by the local independent drainage district.

Importance of this program

The code does not allow a surface water management license to be issued in the absence of reasonable assurances by the applicant that the surface water management system is in compliance with local and state surface water management and environmental requirements. In addition, this program ensures that all existing properties that have a surface water management license continue to be in substantial compliance with approved license document. The surface water management renewal program is very important to maintain water quality, provide flood protection, water conservation and water recharge.

We offer a wide variety of services to achieve quality project results.