Abilene, TX Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

The City created its municipal drainage utility under § 32-160 by adopting Chapter 402, Subchapter C of the Texas Local Government Code, giving Abilene authority to run drainage as a public utility citywide and to bill property owners for it. Section 32-161 states the purpose is to control non-stormwater discharges to the maximum extent practicable under federal law and to keep the City in compliance with its Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permit. The operative prohibition sits in § 32-187: no one may discharge, or cause to be discharged, any harmful quantity of a substance into the municipal stormwater drainage system that is not entirely stormwater, and doing so is a criminal offense.

Section 32-188 carves out narrow exceptions, including firefighting flows, agricultural runoff, potable-water line flushing free of residual chlorine, lawn and landscape irrigation runoff, uncontaminated groundwater, air-conditioning condensate, individual residential car washing, and drainage from a residential pool with no harmful chemical levels, but only while the discharge is not determined to be a pollutant source. Section 32-189 separately bans illicit physical connections to the storm system, including any line carrying sewage, and gives a property owner 30 days to disconnect once notified, or six months for connections that were legal when installed.

The Administrator of the Stormwater Utility Division enforces the article and can order emergency suspension of water, sewer, or drainage access under § 32-213 when a discharge poses imminent danger, or non-emergency suspension under § 32-214 after notice and a chance to petition for reconsideration.