Vanderburgh County, IN Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing chapter
- Vanderburgh County Code Ch. 13.04
- Trigger threshold
- Over 10,000 sq ft new impervious surface
- Review body
- Vanderburgh County Drainage Board
- Plan intake
- County Surveyor, Room 325 Civic Center
- Submission deadline
- 2 full weeks before Board meeting
- Peak release cap
- 25-yr post vs. 10-yr pre-development rate
Summary
Any new development, redevelopment or land-disturbing activity in unincorporated Vanderburgh County that adds more than 10,000 square feet of impervious surface must submit an engineered drainage plan to the County Drainage Board through the County Surveyor's office before construction.
A. Drainage Plan Required. It is the policy of the board of county commissioners of Vanderburgh County, Indiana, hereinafter referred to as the commissioners, that an engineered drainage plan be submitted to the Vanderburgh County drainage board, hereinafter referred to as the drainage board, for any new development, redevelopment, new construction, addition to existing construction, or other land disturbing activity located within the commissioners' and/or the drainage board's jurisdiction which shall result in the addition of impervious surfaces exceeding a total of ten thousand (10,000) square feet.
Full Breakdown
5, which require that a drainage plan preserve the amount of drainage that existed when the tract was created and not change where surface water enters or exits the tract, subject to the County Drainage Board's authority to approve an alternate plan. , Evansville, no later than two full weeks before the Drainage Board meeting where it will be presented. The Drainage Board can also aggregate a series of smaller activities within a 3-year window into one project if their combined impervious addition exceeds the 10,000-square-foot threshold.
S. 41 Industrial Corridor, unless direct discharge into a major waterway such as Pigeon Creek or the Ohio River is approved. 020 caps the post-development controlled peak release rate during a 25-year storm at or below the pre-development peak release rate during a 10-year storm from the same land.
Violations & Fines
Chapter 13.04 authorizes the County Surveyor to route and review every submitted drainage plan and gives the Drainage Board final say on whether a plan or an alternate plan satisfies the chapter, including designating impacted drainage areas that trigger tighter release-rate limits, such as the 100-year-to-10-year peak ratio applied in the North U.S. 41 Industrial Corridor and the eastside impacted drainage area. Projects with final drainage plan approval predating the relevant impacted-area declaration, and subdivisions already recorded before the governing ordinance, are exempted from the stricter release-rate standard for that area, but any project whose primary plat and development plans lapse unimplemented with the Area Plan Commission must resubmit and is treated as a new project subject to current requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does a Vanderburgh County drainage plan become mandatory?
Where do I file a Vanderburgh County stormwater drainage plan?
What stormwater release rate must a Vanderburgh County project meet?
Are any Vanderburgh County projects exempt from stormwater storage requirements?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Vanderburgh County
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