The City’s stormwater program is a requirement established by the federal government’s Clean Water Act (CWA), which is dedicated to implementing broad-based watershed strategies to reduce water pollution. The federal government requires the City of Asheville, and all similarly-sized U.S. cities, to create and maintain stormwater programs in an effort to restore and maintain the integrity of our nation’s waters by dramatically reducing water pollution.
Other primary initiatives:
- Reduce stormwater infrastructure failures which may cause property damage and loss of life
- Reduce flooding on streets and private property
- Reduce environmental degradation due to sedimentation, erosion and illicit discharge
Notice: If you see emergency sediment, erosion, or illicit discharge violations within the city limits during normal business hours, weekdays 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., call 828-232-4567. After normal business hours or on weekends and holidays, please contact our on-call duty officer at 828-251-1122.
Part of the Stormwater division’s mission is public education and outreach. To learn more or to request someone to speak to your group or organization, call the Stormwater Quality Specialist at 828-259-5401 or view Public Outreach for more information.
Flood Assistance Support Team
The Flood Assistance Support Team (FAST) is here to provide focused and personalized support for property/business owners, developers, and designers needing timely and clear information about what can be built or developed in the floodplain.
This is a dedicated, interdepartmental team charged with prioritizing floodplain assistance and serving as the definitive group to help parties whose activities are subject to floodplain requirements.
Parties needing special assistance to better evaluate their development options will be provided fee-free FAST Sessions. Dedicated time slots for FAST Sessions are offered twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday. Once registered, the full team will be alerted and in attendance at the meeting. The findings and action steps from these meetings will be documented.
The FAST team will perform outreach to property owners who may have experienced substantial damage from Helene. They will start by reviewing properties that have already submitted permits on hold.
The permits on hold have generally
- Sustained substantial damage; or
- They are close to the substantial damage threshold.
These permits were placed on hold to provide staff the opportunity to work directly with the contractor and property owners on any up-to-date building value information such as pre-storm appraisals as well as their options for rebuilding.
You can contact the team by email at fast@ashevillenc.gov. More resources are available here.
Contact Information
To connect with staff, visit the Contact Information page
161 South Charlotte Street, Second Floor, Asheville, NC 28801
Monday through Thursday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Mailing Address – PO Box 7148, Asheville, NC 28802
Phone: 828-232-4567
