National Municipal Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards

About the Award
The National Municipal Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards program, developed and introduced in 2015 by the Water Environment Federation through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was established to recognize high-performing regulated MS4s. Award winners meet and exceed regulatory requirements in innovative ways that are effective and cost-efficient.

Submissions undergo an expert committee review and selection process. Each applicant will be designated a Bronze, Silver, or Gold community within the categories of both program management and innovation.

MS4 Award Benefits
High-performers in program management and innovation were recognized in October 2018. The Phase I and Phase II communities with the overall highest score were honored as the formal winners of the 2018 National Municipal Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards at the Stormwater Congress Luncheon on Oct. 1 at WEFTEC 2018 in New Orleans, La. The 2018 award winners are listed below.

Check back soon for 2019 nomination information.

For More Information
Contact Rebecca Arvin-Colon at RArvin-Colon@wef.org or ms4awards@wef.org

2018 Award Winners

22 agencies received recognition by the fourth annual WEF National Municipal Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards Program. The winners received their awards at the Stormwater Congress Luncheon held at WEFTEC® 2018 in New Orleans.

Housed within the WEF Stormwater Institute, this awards program was developed to encourage innovation among municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4s) programs nationwide. The MS4 awards are intended to inspire leaders to seek new and innovative ways to meet and exceed regulatory requirements in ways that are technically effective and financially efficient.

The three award categories are Program Management, Innovation, and Overall Highest Score, which indicates the best performing programs. Each category has winners in both Phase I and Phase II communities. Phase I communities are medium and large cities or certain counties with populations of 100,000 or more. Phase II communities are smaller entities that operate an MS4.

The 2018 National Municipal Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Award winners are listed below.

Phase I Winners

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, Division of Water Quality, Kentucky – Program Management and Overall Highest Score
Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District, Kentucky — Innovation

Phase II Winners

City of Alexandria, Virginia — Innovation and Overall Highest Score
City of Auburn, Alabama – Program Management

In addition to the winners, the other applicants have been categorized into levels signifying their status among other MS4 communities nationwide. Each MS4 received a certificate indicating Silver or Gold level status in both program management and innovation. To view all of the designations, as well as additional past award recipient information, visit the WEF Stormwater Institute website.

2017 Award Winners

Thirteen high-performing municipalities received recognition in the third annual National MS4 Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards on Oct. 2, 2017. These awards celebrate administrators of municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) that perform beyond regulatory requirements.

The awards recognize performance in the categories of innovation and program management as well as combined high scores in both categories. Applications for the National MS4 Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards are reviewed by a broad subcommittee of water sector experts.

The awards also are separated into two classifications based on the population of the communities they serve. The classifications are:

Phase I, which encompassed medium or large cities with more than 100,000 customers and
Phase II, which encompasses smaller storm sewer systems outside of heavily populated urban areas.

The winners of the 3rd annual National MS4 Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards are as follows:

Overall Highest Scores

Phase I – City of Austin, Texas, Watershed Protection Department
Phase II – Capitol Region Watershed District, St. Paul, Minn.

Innovation

Phase I – Boston Water and Sewer Commission
Phase II – Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

Program Management

Phase I – City of Alpharetta, Ga.
Phase II – City of Alexandria, Va.

The 2017 recipients were awarded silver or gold certificates based on their level of performance in innovation or program management.

Gold recognition in Innovation

Phase I

Boston Water and Sewer Commission
City of Alpharetta, Ga.
City of Corpus Christi, Texas
City of Grand Rapids, Mich.
City of Austin, Texas, Watershed Protection Department

Phase II

Capitol Region Watershed District, St. Paul, Minn.
City of Alexandria, Va.

Silver recognition in Innovation

Phase I

City of Wichita, Kan.
Columbus, Ohio, Division of Sewerage and Drainage
Louisville, Ky., MSD
City of Dayton, Ohio; Department of Water

Phase II

City of Surprise, Ariz.
Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

Gold recognition in Program Management

Phase I

Boston Water and Sewer Commission
City of Alpharetta, Ga.
City of Corpus Christi, Texas
City of Grand Rapids, Mich.
City of Austin, Texas, Watershed Protection Department

Phase II

Capitol Region Watershed District, St. Paul, Minn.
City of Alexandria, Va.

Silver recognition in Program Management

Phase I

City of Dayton, Ohio; Department of Water
City of Wichita, Kan.
Columbus, Ohio, Division of Sewerage and Drainage
Louisville, Ky., MSD

Phase II

City of Surprise, Ariz.
Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

Additional past award recipient information can be found on the WEF Stormwater Institute website.

2016 Award Winners

Six high-performing municipalities left the 89th annual Water Environment Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC® 2016) in New Orleans as recipients of this year’s National MS4 Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards.

The distinction, introduced last year to celebrate administrators of MS4s that perform beyond regulatory requirements, was awarded to the winners during WEFTEC’s annual Stormwater Congress on Sept. 27.

Separated based on the population of the communities they serve, participating municipalities were classified as either Phase I or Phase II.

While all entrants received gold, silver, or bronze certificates based on their level of performance in the categories of innovation and program management, three stand-out winners from each classification were chosen in each category. Two additional winners were recognized for achieving combined high scores in both assessments.

The winners of the 2nd annual National MS4 Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards are as follows:

Overall Highest Scores

Phase I – Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program, Calif.
Phase II – Capitol Region Watershed District, Minn.

Innovation

Phase I – Jefferson Parish Environmental Affairs, La.
Phase II – City of Auburn, Ala.

Program Management

Phase I – City of Austin, Texas Watershed Protection Department
Phase II – Kitsap County Public Works, Wash.

Developed by WEF in cooperation with the U.S. EPA, applications for the National MS4 Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards were reviewed by a broad steering committee of water sector experts, including representatives from WEF.

Additional past award recipient information can be found on the WEF Stormwater Institute website.

2015 Award Winners

The 2015 National Municipal Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards program award winners were formally announced and celebrated at the 2015 WEFTEC Stormwater Congress Luncheon on Monday, September 28 in Chicago.

The winners of the first annual National MS4 Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Awards are as follows:

Overall Highest Scores

Phase I – Charlotte Stormwater Services, Charlotte, N.C.
Phase II – City of Fairbanks, Alaska

Innovation

Phase I – City of Santa Monica, Calif. and City of Tacoma, Wash.
Phase II – City of Alexandria, Va.

Program Management

Phase I – Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection, Md.
Phase II – Lafayette Consolidated Government, Lafayette, La.

Additional past award recipient information can be found on the WEF Stormwater Institute website.

Questions or Comments?

Contact:
Kelsey Hurst, Awards Program Manager
Phone: 703-684-2477