SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – City officials are poised to establish the state’s first stormwater utility as a way to help clean up Lake Champlain.

The utility will assume ownership of the city’s 141 private stormwater systems to ensure they are properly maintained so residents and business owners no longer have to worry that permit violations will hold up real estate sales or development.

“The utility will take the whole issue of who owns the stormwater system and who has responsibility for it out of the picture,” said city manager Charles Hafter.

Stormwater is rain or snowmelt that runs off impervious surfaces like roads, parking lots and roofs. The runoff collects sediment and other pollutants before washing into streams, lakes and ground water.

State officials say 82 of South Burlington’s 141 stormwater systems discharge into impaired waters.

Stormwater utilities are common in other states, said Eugene Forbes, a senior vice president with Hoyle Tanner and Associates, a Burlington-based engineering firm. They are often established by communities prone to flooding, but are also used to control pollution, he said.