Riverside, CA Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

RMC § 14.12.315(A) states flatly that "no person shall discharge or cause to be discharged into the storm drainage system, whether currently carrying water or not, any pollutant or non-storm water." Subsection (F) specifically bars chemicals, green waste, and pet waste from entering the storm drain, and subsection (G) prohibits wash water from gas stations, vehicle maintenance, mobile detailing, power washing, and hosing down parking lots, driveways, sidewalks and patios from reaching the storm drain. Subsection (E) bans pumping sump contents into the storm system, and subsection (H) prohibits runoff from construction sites, materials or waste.

Violators are liable "for all damages and costs incurred by the City, including administrative expenses and fines," with the City calculating its administrative expense at 90 percent of repair and personnel costs, payable within 30 days of invoicing (§ 14.12.315(C)), and must file a written incident report within five business days (§ 14.12.315(D)). Section 14.12.316(A) separately makes it a violation to "throw, deposit, leave, maintain, keep, or permit to be thrown, deposited, placed, left or maintained, any pollutant in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, storm drain, inlet, catch basin, conduit or other drainage structures ... or upon any public or private plot of land in the City," with an exception only for pollutant temporarily held in a contained, leak-proof receptacle.

New development and redevelopment projects must submit a Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP) and implement post-construction best management practices identified by the Director of Building and Safety, increasing permeable area, directing runoff to permeable surfaces, and maximizing on-site stormwater storage for reuse, under § 14.12.316(B). Illicit connections to the storm drain system are separately, and retroactively, prohibited under § 14.12.316(F).