What Is Stormwater Management and Why Is It So Important?

What Is Stormwater Management and Why Is It So Important?

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stormwater management is the endeavor to limit runoff of precipitation or melted snow into roadways, lawns, and other locations and improve water quality.

Stormwater is filtered and eventually replenishes aquifers or runs into streams and rivers when absorbed into the soil. However, when a lot of rain falls, the saturated earth produces too much fluid, which seeps through the surface and into the roadside ditches and storm drains. As it enters streams, rivers, lakes, or wetlands, this water frequently brings trash, chemicals, bacteria, eroded soil, and other contaminants.

So, how does stormwater management help?

Impervious surfaces, such as pavement and roofs, hinder rainwater from naturally penetrating the ground in urban and developed regions. Instead, water flows quickly into storm drains, sewage systems, and drainage ditches where it can lead to flooding, mudslides, erosion, overflowing sanitary and storm sewer systems, and damage to infrastructure. However, "green infrastructure" and stormwater design absorb and repurpose stormwater to preserve or restore natural hydrologies.

The main goal of stormwater management is to contain stormwater and eliminate contaminants. Stormwater management includes the use of porous surfaces called pervious surfaces, gray infrastructure like culverts, gutters, storm sewers, and traditional piped drainage, and blue/green infrastructure that preserves, restores, or imitates the natural water cycle.

How can you help?

Educating yourself on where rainwater and snowmelt flow on your property when it doesn’t get absorbed into the ground is a huge first step. Implementing best management practices to reduce runoff and to make sure that it is clean when it leaves your property is the next step.

Stormwater MS4 Inspections Our staff at Retas Water Solutions has been specializing in stormwater compliance for more than 18 years. RETAS WATER SOLUTIONS can aid anyone looking to improve stormwater management on their property with our experience in developing stormwater pollution prevention plans (SWPPPs), sharing best management practices, assisting with design, municipal separate storm and sewer systems (MS4), conducting inspections, and helping clients with Level 1 & 2 ERAs compliance.

Our staff has assisted both MS4 programs and industrial facilities with compliance issues as part of these services. RETAS WATER SOLUTIONS develops Local Implementation Plans (LIPs) that include program management and the inventory, prioritization, and inspection of industrial, commercial, and municipal facilities.

RETAS WATER SOLUTIONS’s Stormwater/National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) group has developed and implemented municipal, industrial, commercial, and construction programs to achieve full compliance with federal, state, and local stormwater regulations.

Successful implementation and management of a stormwater program demand a clear understanding of the NPDES permit requirements and solid teamwork between staff and consultants/contractors. RETAS WATER SOLUTIONS stands poised to support any city or industrial facility with their stormwater compliance needs, having supported other cities and industrial facilities with the development and implementation of their stormwater/NPDES programs, as well as having developed multiple LIPs.