Pocatello, ID Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Chapter 8.52, Stormwater Management, exists to meet the city's NPDES permit obligations, protect water quality in local watercourses, wetlands, and groundwater, and encourage groundwater recharge under Section 8.52.020. Section 8.52.040 applies the chapter to all land development, including grading and building permit applications, site plan applications, and land division applications, unless specifically exempt, and reaches both new development and redevelopment sites. Section 8.52.050 requires stormwater management practices to be designed, constructed, and maintained under the design and sizing criteria in the Portneuf Valley Stormwater Design Manual, as amended.

Where a development is traversed by a drainageway, channel, or stream, Section 8.52.100 requires a recorded drainage easement that conforms to the watercourse, stays clear of fences and other obstructions, and is wide enough to convey a 100-year, 24-hour storm, with a twenty foot minimum width; the easement must be approved by the city and recorded with Bannock County before a final plat or certificate of occupancy issues. Section 8.52.120 makes property owners responsible for operating and maintaining their stormwater facilities and requires an operations and maintenance agreement, recorded with Bannock County, before final development approval when structural or nonstructural stormwater measures are involved.

Section 8.52.110 requires the property owner to notify the city when construction starts so the public works director or a designee can conduct and document regular inspections, and no additional work may proceed past a documented violation until it is corrected and approved. Section 8.52.130 lets the public works director issue a written correction notice describing the required remedial measures and a compliance schedule, backed by a stop work order halting construction until compliance is confirmed.