PhillyStormwater.org lets users explore parcels on an interactive map, including high resolution ortho-photography.
Azavea developed PhillyStormwater.org to assist the Philadelphia Water Department to encourage property owners to use green stormwater management practices.
Client: The Philadelphia Water Department
Challenge: Once a “green country town” blanketed with vegetation and soil, much of Philadelphia’s green space has been covered by impervious pavement, and its streams replaced with combined sewer systems. In the event of a storm, instead of being filtered and absorbed naturally, stormwater runoff overflows into rivers, creating environmental and health risks. To help combat this problem, The Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) implemented a new billing system designed to encourage property owners to use green stormwater management practices, as well as start charging them for the amount of impervious surface on their property, rather than the amount of water they use. As the program developed, PWD needed a platform that would enable property owners to understand how their charges are calculated, and for the PWD staff to manage the financial credit issued back to a property owner for each onsite water management practice.
Solution: Azavea created PhillyStormwater.org, a public web stormwater billing application that supports the City of Philadelphia’s parcel-based billing program. Non-residential property owners are charged based on the total area of their property and the amount of impervious surfaces, rather than the amount of water they use. Phillystormwater.org shows in detail how each component of the stormwater charges is calculated and how they will be phased in over time and what steps the property owner can take to mitigate the impact. The application lets users explore parcels on an interactive map using high resolution aerial photography. Customers can submit appeals through the application to dispute the gross area or impervious area of their parcel, and can learn what steps they can take to reduce charges through a green water management credit program. The administrative side of the software enables PWD staff members to track these appeals and promptly correct the underlying data when errors are verified, and to manage the corresponding financial credits issued back to each customer.
Outcomes: PhillyStormwater.org supports an interactive, transparent billing system that promotes environmentally-conscious practices. The application provides the Water Department with one overall system that enables the department to serve customers better through more efficient use of time and a corresponding reduction in costs to the taxpayer. Philadelphia’s green stormwater management program is the most ambitious in the country, and this application is an essential tool in PWD’s plan to replace at least one third of the City’s impervious surfaces with green stormwater infrastructure by 2029.
Website: http://PhillyStormwater.org/