The statewide Areawide Water Quality Management Plan (AWQMP) is a collection of documents that describe the overall condition and resources within a given area. These plans form the foundation for the management of water quality. The AWQMP serves as a platform for subsequent water quality initiatives and activities, including point and nonpoint pollutant plans, monitoring activities, and related environmental resource considerations. One item found under the umbrella of Areawide Water Quality Management Planning is the Sewer Service Area Plan. Sewer Service Area plans are specific to infrastructure development within municipal areas and outline 20-year service areas for public sewers.

Sewer Service Area Plans outline 20-year growth boundaries and sensitive areas to protect water quality by proactively addressing the future needs for wastewater collection and treatment in developing areas. This planning helps protect water resources from adverse impacts by facilittin cost-effective and environmentally sound sewerage system planning. Plans identify existing sewered areas as well as available land suitable for new development. The process also identifies areas not suitable for public sewer including but not limited to environmentally sensitive areas (NR 121.05(l)(g)2.c).

Goals to establish service area plans and policies relating to wastewater collection and treatment are best developed in tandem with Comprehensive Planning. Policies framing service area planning decisions include:

• Providing cost-effective collection and treatment facilities;
• Consideration of current and anticipated development or redevelopment that conforms with Comprehensive Plans;
• Providing collection and treatment infrastructure improvement and upgrades accommodating 7-yr design events, and addressing NPDES permitting and EPA guidelines;
• Providing collection and treatment facilities that comply with state and federal regulations and protection of sensitive resources such as headwaters, springs and wetlands;
• Optimizing Main and CSO treatment plant performance and efficiency;
• Optimize industrial pretreatment and pollution prevention strategies;
• Interagency cooperation and public involvement.

With input from Planning, Engineering, and Wastewater, and WDNR SSA Planning effectuates long-term water quality protection by designating as environmentally sensitive wetlands, shorelands, floodplains, steep slopes, lands with erodible soils, and environmentahy limiting areas within the planning boundary. Additional areas within the City's limits which are guarded from sewered development include parks, the municipal forest and other valuable recreational areas.

The delineation of a sewer service area not only identifies those areas eligible to receive sanitary sewer service, but also identifies and protects natural and environmentally sensitive areas from future development and indiscriminate urban growth. Such areas include, but are not limited to,areas of steep slope, floodways, shorelands, and wetlands. Wastewater treatment facilities could then be designed to provide adequate treatment capacity for the anticipated population growth in the sewer service area, while protecting sensitive natural areas and water quality.

A sewer service area identifies the land area intended for sewer services that will be made available during the 20-year planning period. Delineating a service boundary is critical in designing sewage collection and treatment facilities to serve existing and future residents of the Manitowoc-Two Rivers area in the most cost-effective and environmentally sound manner. The service area in this plan is delineated with the aid of the 20-year population projection, an acceptable residential population density, and a forecast of non-residential (i.e., commercial, industrial) growth, all of which result in acreage demand and allocation. The service area excludes major areas found to be environmentally or physically unsuitable for sewered development. Land included in the service area is deemed eligible to receive sewer service; however, the governmental entities providing sewer service are not obligated to serve specific areas. This plan anticipates, however, that areas identified within the boundary will be served during the next twenty years, with the caveat that changes in the population or housing trends may call for modifications or amendments to the plan during the same period. Sanitary sewers represent perhaps the greatest catalyst to development within an area. Orderly land use and organized community growth are directly dependent upon the orderly provision of such essential services. A sewer service plan should provide each of the participating municipalities with a valuable tool to manage its growth in the most cost-effective and environmentally acceptable fashion.

Upon approval of the Manitowoc-Two Rivers Sewer Service Area Plan by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, permits for wastewater treatment facilities, facility plans, interceptors, and sewer extensions must be in conformance with the plan. The Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission with assistance from the Sewer Service Area Plan Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) shall serve as the local body to review such projects and to ensure plan conformance.