Articles Tagged: Stormwater Projects

One of the greatest challenges facing municipalities with Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permits is getting the public to care about stormwater. Residents rarely think about catch basins, roadside ditches, detention ponds, or illicit discharges until flooding occurs or a nearby stream b…

For much of the last century, stormwater management followed a simple philosophy: collect runoff as quickly as possible and move it downstream through pipes, ditches, culverts, and channels. Success was often measured by how rapidly water could be removed from streets and developed areas. That appro…

Rain gardens are among the most recognizable and effective forms of green infrastructure. Although they often resemble attractive landscaped planting beds, a properly designed rain garden is a carefully engineered stormwater management system. Every component, from the shape of the basin to the soil…

Stormwater management has traditionally focused on one primary goal, moving runoff away from roads, buildings, and neighborhoods as quickly as possible. While this approach successfully reduces flooding, it often leaves behind landscapes dominated by pavement, pipes, and manicured turf that provide …

Floating wetlands are emerging as an innovative and increasingly popular tool for improving water quality in stormwater systems, ponds, and urban waterways. By replicating many of the functions of natural wetlands without requiring extensive excavation or shoreline restoration, these systems offer m…

When most people think about stormwater pollution, they think of sediment, nutrients, oils, trash, or road salt. However, heat itself can be a pollutant. Thermal pollution occurs when stormwater runoff becomes significantly warmer than the natural receiving waters it eventually enters. Elevated wate…

Across towns and counties, road departments replace cross culverts every day. The motivation is usually sound. Aging pipes fail without warning, and a collapse beneath the roadway can create a serious safety hazard, not to mention an expensive emergency repair. Proactive replacement is responsible a…

As communities look for sustainable ways to manage stormwater, bioswales have become one of the most effective and visually appealing tools in the green infrastructure toolbox. They blend natural processes with engineered design to slow, filter, and infiltrate stormwater before it reaches local wate…

When addressing a drainage problem, one of the most important decisions is whether to move water away through a traditional catch basin and pipe system or to manage it on-site using a dry well. Both approaches are widely used and effective when applied in the right context, but selecting the wrong s…

Is a Catch Basin Appropriate Here? Before a catch basin is installed, it is important to step back and ask a simple but often overlooked question, what purpose is it actually going to serve at this location? Catch basins are frequently installed out of habit or because “there has always been o…

Municipal road crews are on the front lines of stormwater management whether they realize it or not. Every ditch they shape, every culvert they install, and every roadside repair they complete has a direct impact on how water moves across the landscape. Yet in many public works departments, stormwat…

Municipal stormwater systems tend to operate quietly in the background, doing their job year after year with little attention. Pipes carry flows, culverts pass streams beneath roads, catch basins collect runoff, and ditches guide water away from infrastructure. Because these systems are largely out …