Protecting and Utilizing Natural Waterways in Stormwater Management Planning

Natural streams, creeks, and drainage swales evolved to carry rainfall runoff long before culverts and pipes existed, and they remain one of the most efficient, resilient, and cost-effective elements in any municipal stormwater network. When a community plans for development or retrofit, treating th…continue

Protecting Special Value and Sensitive Features During Site Development

Stormwater management succeeds when the landscape itself is considered the first line of defense. Certain parts of that landscape offer outsized benefits or face outsized risks, and thoughtful planning around them is essential. Special Value Features are areas that deliver exceptional stormwater ben…continue

Understanding Brownfields

A brownfield is real property whose reuse or redevelopment is complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Congress added this definition to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), recognizing that l…continue

Precast Underground Vaults: How a Deep Sump Turns Runoff into Cleaner Outfall

What Exactly Is a Precast Underground Vault? A precast vault is a large, reinforced-concrete box or cylinder installed below grade to detain, treat, or both detain and treat stormwater when surface land is scarce. The modules are factory-made for quality control, then craned into an excavated pit an…continue

Restoring Riparian Corridors: Proven Techniques for Healthy Waterways

Riparian corridors, the vegetated strips that border rivers, streams, and lakes, serve as protective edges for both land and water. They filter pollutants, stabilize banks, slow floodwaters, recharge groundwater, and create habitat highways for fish and wildlife. When these corridors are degraded by…continue

Safeguarding Hydric Soils from Stormwater Runoff

Hydric soils, those that form under prolonged saturation and develop anaerobic conditions, are ecological powerhouses. They store carbon, filter pollutants, support wetlands, and buffer floods. Because they are already close to saturation, even modest increases in runoff volume or velocity can trigg…continue

Understanding Stormwater Outfalls: Types and Their Environmental Impact

What is a stormwater outfall? A stormwater outfall is the point where a storm-drain system, whether pipes, ditches, or channels, discharges runoff to a receiving water such as a stream, wetland, lake, or the ocean. Regulatory guidance clarifies that simple cross-road culverts, which only pass flow b…continue

Construction Site Runoff Control: Keeping Sediment, Chemicals, and Fines Out of Your Storm Drains

(In the photo above, the silt fence has been improperly installed, as you can see it was placed in loose, already excavated, soil.) Why Construction Runoff Matters A single acre of bare earth can release 10 - 20 times more sediment than the same acre in cropland, and up to 2,000 times more than a fo…continue

Understanding Common Pollutants in Runoff

Stormwater runoff is one of the leading causes of water pollution in the United States. As rainfall or snowmelt flows over impervious surfaces such as roads, parking lots, and rooftops, it collects a wide array of pollutants that are carried into local waterways through storm drain systems. Understa…continue

How to Identify Illicit Stormwater Discharges

Protecting your community’s waterways starts with knowing what doesn’t belong. Illicit discharges are one of the most persistent threats to stormwater systems and local water quality. These unauthorized flows, often containing pollutants like oils, detergents, sewage, or industrial waste…continue

A Brief History of Soil and Water Conservation Districts

Severe dust storms sweeping across the Great Plains during the early 1930s highlighted how badly America’s soils had been over-worked, and they spurred the first coordinated federal response. Congress passed the Soil Conservation Act on April 27 1935, establishing the Soil Conservation Service…continue