DeKalb details sewer-capacity rules, credits and rehab work required under consent decree

Director Hauser told the committee that the county's sewer system is roughly 2,600 miles and that consent-decree requirements force rigorous, model-based evaluation of any new connection. She described a multi-step process: initial hydraulic-model evaluation, use of a capacity bank/credits if a model fails, and required developer-funded rehabilitation to generate credits that enable new connections.

"Since 2022, when the modified consent decree was approved by the courts, we have actually generated about 2,950,000 gallons per day of sewer capacity credits," Hauser said, adding that joint work with developers has rehabilitated about 19 miles of sewer pipe. She explained thresholds for what the county classifies as a "large" development vary by sewershed (roughly 10,000–40,000 gallons per day) and described additional regulatory conditions in constrained basins, including low-flow fixtures, prohibitions on fats-oils-grease connections and maintenance requirements for private lines when credits are used.

Hauser and staff emphasized that downstream communities already experiencing spills must be protected from added flows and that the credit-generation program is the county's preferred pathway to allow needed development while managing environmental risk. Commissioners asked for an inspection requirement on private sewer laterals at property sale to reduce infiltration/inflow (I&I); Hauser and staff agreed to coordinate with the law department to draft possible legislation and follow up with the committee.