Timely Wastewater Permits

Wastewater discharge permits (WPDES) are issued to municipalities and industries that have discharges to waters of the state. When a 50% permit backlog developed during the early 1990s the Legislature required a permit streamlining study. This study was completed in September 1994 and recommended information technology (IT) solutions (hardware & software), easy accessibility to data, and automation of the permitting process.

As these recommendations were implemented, the permit backlog shrank from over 50 percent to less than 10 percent (9.4%, specifically) in 1999. In 1999, the WDNR developed an automated data system (the System for Wastewater Applications, Monitoring & Permits (SWAMP), the permit backlog decreased to 6.7% and since that day has ranged from 5.9% to 8.4%. Currently the backlog is at 8.3%, well below the target of 10%. This is a tremendous success of the wastewater program.