Fountain, CO Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

16 of the Fountain Municipal Code, titled the Stormwater Quality Management and Discharge Control Code, implements the federal Clean Water Act locally. 080 is the core prohibition: it is unlawful to discharge or cause the discharge into the city's MS4 of pollutants that cause or contribute to a water quality violation or put the city in breach of its municipal stormwater discharge permit (MSDP), and it is unlawful to store, handle, or apply any pollutant in a way that exposes it to rainfall or runoff reaching the MS4 or state waters.

The chapter carves out a defined list of exempt non-stormwater flows, including landscape irrigation, residential car washing, residential pool and hot tub discharges, and firefighting water, but the city engineer decides case by case whether an exempt-category discharge is actually a significant pollutant source. 090 separately bans illicit physical connections to the MS4, even connections made in the past under practices once considered acceptable. 150 makes property owners responsible for keeping any watercourse crossing their land free of trash and excess vegetation and for stabilizing the banks against erosion. 160.