Managing stormwater was the last thing developers in Athens, Ga., considered. During the past nine years, the community saw 11 percent population growth, stressing the undersized or failing infrastructure in the central business district and suburban areas.The Athens-Clarke County (ACC) Department of Transpor-tation and Public Works had done piecemeal drainage and flood control projects for years, but without a capital improvement program. Once developed in 2000, the program identified 203 flooding problems and 57 Level 1 (top-priority) problems. The county’s aggressive response earned them the 2003 Georgia Water & Pollution Control Association Stormwater Program of the Year award. That year,
