Stormwater management in the new millennium presents us with new challenges that will require new solutions. Generally we tend to find solutions to problems based on our understanding of certain physical and psychological laws that govern our world as we know it. Historically each successive generation has tended to add to our knowledge and understanding of these universal laws. Often a particular individual will emerge from the pack and provide us with a significant new approach to age-old problems. Stormwater certainly qualifies as an age-old problem. Now, physical law assumes that we know water, including stormwater, runs downhill, but lately it appears to me that some of us are trying to circumvent nature and make stormwater run uphill. In other words, we seem bent on finding solutions to stormwater management by doing things the hard way. Compounding this problem has been the lack of that certain individual willing to step forward and lead the way on this issue.

Today responsible stormwater managers are not only tasked with managing flood-control issues, but they also must preserve and enhance water quality, ensure federal and state regulatory compliance, and address local political issues such as funding and responsible fiscal management. While their workload has grown more complex and heavier over time, to date no single individual or group has emerged as the recognized and undisputed leader among these professionals to blaze a trail for others to follow.

Over the last several years I have watched as numerous groups have formed that purport to represent the needs of stormwater professionals. Most of these groups are, at best, stakeholders in a particular issue or cause. They tend to be motivated or focused on some political, geographical, regional, environmental, or other professional concerns that preclude their ability to impartially represent our group as a whole. Observing the shortcomings of this process caused me to recognize the need for a unified representative voice able to speak on behalf of all stormwater professionals on the national level. With each passing day, this need seems to grow ever more critical. Clearly what we need is a vehicle–a national clearinghouse for working through our issues–to carry the message of practical stormwater management approaches to our lawmakers in Washington, DC.

During my recent tenure as president of the Florida Stormwater Association (FSA), I participated in the organization's strategic planning session, convened for the purpose of planning the association's future direction. It evolved as the consensus of this group that the need for a national group to represent all stormwater professionals was a pressing one. After lengthy discussion, however, it was decided that the FSA was not the entity that should attempt to fill this role. Even so, the potential structure of such an organization was debated. It was determined that a national parent organization should be established that would consist of representative groups from every state. Local chapters within each state would then focus on their area's issues. This would provide for the inclusion of various approaches and solutions to the particular problems created by each area's unique and diverse geography, topography, and hydrologic conditions. Indeed, this very diversity of needs constitutes a stumbling block in the development of a national parent organization with the ability to represent everyone's separate issues on a national basis. Additionally, it might be said that while stormwater doesn't recognize political boundaries, politicians certainly do, thus creating one more fly in the ointment in the attempt to codify a unified national message on behalf of our entire group.

Before being invited to serve as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of this magazine, I knew no one at its publisher, Forester Media . Nevertheless, it seems to me that Stormwater magazine provides stormwater professionals with a unique forum for brainstorming and discussion of different ideas and approaches toward solving this dilemma. This is certainly a step in the right direction. In August 2002, the magazine will be hosting StormCon at Marco Island, FL. It is the only North American event devoted exclusively to stormwater- and surface-water-quality professionals across the continent. This is a second step in the right direction. Perhaps it will be at this meeting where a particular individual or group will step forward to lead the way. While we might have a long way to go to reach our goal, even the longest journey begins with the first few steps. One thing is sure: Our organization, like the government, will be formed and run by those who show up. You can't lead if you're not there.

Patrick S. Collins, P.E., is a consultant with Stormwater Management Resource Technologies Inc. in Sarasota, FL.