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Funding & Grants Reports Lawn Management Utility Fee Credits Newsletters
Information about various aspects of the Town's stormwater program can be found within the folders below.
Funding & Grants
The stormwater program is primarily funded through the stormwater user fees paid by each property owner annually. However, the program has also been successful in securing over $1,000,000 of funds in the form of grants to the Town, which helps keep costs to property owners as low as possible. Since 2018, the stormwater program has made capital investments worth $818,553.  More information about the utility budget and grants received can be found below.

Budget

The budget for FY24 (July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024) is approximately $1,069,405. The program budget funds the following items with the overall ultimate goal of improving water quality:
- Capital construction funding of $430,032 in FY24
​-2 full-time maintenance workers in the Town Garage who inspect, maintain, and repair 279 outfalls, 314 catch basins, and 2,282 underground pipes
- 1 technical position overseeing planning, design, and construction of Town assets
- Compliance with Town stormwater permits, which cost $20,000 annually
​- Stream monitoring for nutrients, chloride, and bacteria (learn more information)
- Water quality testing at 13 public recreation sites each summer
​- Street sweeping activities, including annual catch basin cleaning

Grant Funding

The Town has been fortunate enough to receive over $1,077,476 in grants. They include:

Condition Assessment:

Over $200,000 in funding from the Chittenden Country Regional Planning Commission was received to perform video inspections of stormwater structures and underground pipes the Town is responsible for maintaining. This work was completed in 2020 and has been very helpful in allowing the Town to identify priority pipes for investment. Since the condition assessment, the town has spent approximately $250,000 installing structural liners to restore pipe integrity and protect the traveling public.

 Shore Acres Stormwater Improvement Project:

The stormwater program has been awarded $367,000 in grant funding to design and construct stormwater improvements in the Shore Acres and Cedar Ridge neighborhood in Malletts Bay. More information is available on this project's webpage. Engineering and design work is complete, with construction planned for the 2024 season. These funds are from the Federal Government's Transportation Alternatives Program.

Police Station Outfall Project:

This 100% grant funded outfall repair work was completed in 2021 behind the Colchester Police Station. These up-grades ensure the stormwater system serving the Town office complex is functioning in a way that protects Smith Creek from erosion.

Reports
Home Lawn Management Tips
On this page you will find information about how to maintain a healthy lawn in ways that also keep excess nutrients out of Colchester's surface waters.  Below are several tables with lists of normal lawn maintenance activities, common pests, and safe pesticides for you to reference when making smart decisions about your property.  In addition, there are links to documents that can provide even more information about specific treatments and maintenance activities.

Normal Lawn Maintenance
To get the best out of your lawn, you need to know what to look out for.  Not every problem with turf grass is related to pests or weeds.  Sometimes damage is simply caused by unusual or extreme weather or preexisting soil conditions.  Many of these issues can be addressed by regularly testing your soil, keeping track of how often it has rained, by evaluating how often you irrigate and add fertilizer, and by preventing contamination from other harmful chemicals.  By doing what you can to keep your lawn healthy, you will not only be saving water, but are helping to control the flow of stormwater runoff and providing a level of natural filtration to clean runoff before it meets with existing surface waters. 

Insects to Watch
There are many different pests that can negatively impact the health of your lawn.  The table to the right highlights insects that are commonly found on residential lawns. Not all pests are present at the same time of year, and not all of them affect the same layers of your lawn.  Some pests can damage turf from underneath by harming root systems.  Others breed in the thatch buildup under healthy leaves of existing turf.  

The table below lists the best test to use for each suspected kind of pest.  These tests range from driving a cylinder into the soil and filling it with water to flush out the insects, to simply turning over a patch of turf and shaking the grubs loose.  It is important to be sure of what pest you are addressing to target your treatment appropriately and avoid using options that will be harmful or ineffective.

List of Common Lawn Insects 
Pest Time Frame
 Notes Primary Test
White Grubs
 Mar-Jun, Aug-Nov Turf will appear to be experiencing drought stress. Skunks, raccoons, and crows will dig for the grubs. Turf may be able to be rolled back. Adult>: Pheromone traps
Larvae: Soil Sample
Billbugs Jul-Sept Areas wilt and do not recover if watered. Sawdust-like material in thatch buildup. Turf may easily be tugged loose.
 Adults: Soapy Flush
Larvae: Core Float
Chinch bugs Jul-Aug Wilted or browned areas. Worse in sandy and sunny areas. About 1/5 of an inch long.
 Adults: Can Float
Cutworms
 Jun-Aug Burrows surrounded by brown patches. Green frass possibly present.
 Adults: blacklight trap
Larvae: Soapy Flush
Sod Webworm
 Apr-Aug Discrete brown areas that become contiguous later. Common in late spring in sunny areas.
 Adults: Visual observation at twilight
Larvae: Soapy flush
Fungi and Infections Common to Turfgrasses
While they are uncommon, there are a number of diseases that affect residential turfgrasses.  In most cases, these infections are temporary and do not require special treatment, but knowing what kind of mold or other infection your lawn has can inform what changes you might need to make to your maintenance routines to help treat it. 

Many diseases can be prevented simply by holding back on irrigating your lawn if it has been a wet season.  Heavy shade and over-saturated soil can promote the spread of mycelium (the vegetative part of a fungus).  The over-application of fertilizer can cause succulent growth in turfgrass, which is more susceptible to infection.  Finally, use chemicals to treat infestations sparingly.  Some herbicides, in particular, can make turfgrasses more susceptible to infection by fungi.

List of Common Fungi That Affect Turfgrass 
Disease Time Frame Description Cause
Gray or Pink Snow Mold Jan-Apr/ Jan-May Matted grass covered with white-grey or pinkish white mycelium. Reddish, brown, or yellow sclerotia may also be present Grows on cold, wet turf incubated by snow cover. The Pink variety is heartier and can also damage root systems.
Rusts Jul-Oct Irregular pattern of orange, yellow, or rust-colored pustules on the grass blades. Produces powdery orange spores. Can be a sign of low nitrogen content in soils. Most common when nights are cool with heavy dew and light, frequent rainfall.
Red Thread/Pink Patch May-Oct Pink or red gelatinous mycelium on leaves. Small pink cotton candy-like puffs of spores present. Grows in areas with poor nutrition, and more common in cool, wet conditions. Can survive for long periods.
Dollar Spot Jun-Sept Straw colored silver dollar-sized spots. White mycelium can be observed when wet. Leaf has bands of brown or reddish-brown. Spreads mechanically through mycelium. Common in warm, humid areas. Targets leaf tissue, but usually does not harm roots.
Brown Patch May-Sept 1-3 inch patches of light brown turf. Light grey mycelium around the edge of the patch can be observed when wet. Thrives on succulent turfgrasses with high nitrogen levels in humid conditions.
Weed Management
The final group of common pests in residential lawns is weeds.  While what people consider a weed may change from household to household, the general definition of a "weed" remains the same; a plant that is growing where you do not want it to be.  The table to the left identifies a few common groups of weeds and their normal germination times.  The best way to prevent weeds from taking over is simply to maintain healthy turfgrass.  Be sure to water infrequently and deeply, do not "scalp" your lawn by cutting it too short (less than 2 inches), and test your soil every few years to check if it is still sufficient for the kind of turfgrass in your yard.

Be mindful about how much vegetation you are seeking to remove from your yard.  While crabgrass, nutsedge, and dandelions may not look as clean and uniform as a yard made of only turfgrass, they can be extremely valuable for preventing soil erosion, absorbing stormwater runoff, and keeping even less favorable plants from taking root.
The usage of pesticides in lawn maintenance is often not necessary, but persistent infestations may be cause for intervention.  Figuring out what pesticide to use can be difficult.  Not every pesticide will work against every kind of pest.  Herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides, largely only work on their respective kinds of pests.  There are multi-use pesticides, but they can often be more hazardous than individual treatments.  Below, you will find a list of pesticides that can be used with relative safety.  The safety rating is based on how hazardous the active ingredient is to humans (from short-term and chronic exposure), animals, and aquatic environments, how easily it can be washed out of the soil, and how long it takes for the compound to breakdown in nature.  It is not a comprehensive list of products, but it is a useful place to start.

Common Residential Weeds
Kinds of Weeds Time Frame Notes
Crabgrass Apr-Jul Period of peak germination.
Annual Bluegrass Aug-Nov May develop seed heads earlier in the year if the weather is fair
Yellow Nutsedge May-Jul Sedges can be identified by their triangular, solid stems. Grasses normally have round, hollow stems.
Winter Annual Broadleaves (Dead Nettle Depicted) Aug-Nov Period of peak germination.
Summer Annual Broadleaves (Carpetweed Depicted) Apr-Jun, Aug-Oct Period of peak germination.
Perennial Broadleaves (Dandelions Depicted) May-Jun, Aug-Sept Period of peak germination.
List of "Safer" Pesticides
Contents
Safer Pesticides
External Resources
To figure out exactly what you need to use, it might take referencing several different sources.  The information above is primarily from the Texas Cooperative Extension.  Another useful reference is the World Health Organization, who has published a document that ranks all registered active ingredients based on their effect on human health.  If you are looking for a pesticide to target a particular insect, animal, weed, or fungus, take a look at the California-based nonprofit, Our Water Our World, for an extensive list of safer, effective treatments.  These documents, and more, can be found to the right.
Utility Fee Credits
The Colchester Stormwater Program offers credits against the stormwater fee for property owners who undertake specific, approved actions that reduce the impact of stormwater runoff into the public stormwater system, or provide an ongoing public benefit related to stormwater management. A credit is an on-going reduction in a property or parcel’s calculated stormwater fee.

Only directly assessed commercial properties are eligible for utility credits - single family properties as defined in the stormwater ordinance, including residential parcels capped at 1 acre for billing, are not eligible to apply. To qualify for any of the user fee credits, the property or parcel owner must fill out a credit application and submit it to the Department of Public Works. The application will be evaluated to determine the amount of credit using the Stormwater Program Credit Manual.

More information is available by selecting a topic below. If you have questions about whether your property is eligible for program credits, please email DPW@colchestervt.gov or call 802-264-5620.
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