The City of Sacramento (Calif.) established its Stormwater Quality Improvement Pro-gram (SQIP) before such initiatives were required by federal law.The Clean Water Act included a stormwater component in 1987, and the city established the SQIP in 1990, about a year before it was required to, with the aim of reducing stormwater pollutant loads. “In the 1990s, this was new territory,” says Bill Busath, supervising engineer for the city. “My predecessors in the program were pro-active.” But being a pioneer meant there were no models to follow. Instead, the city worked with other fledgling stormwater programs, the regional water quality control
