Stormwater Management Objectives

The objective of stormwater management is to manage both water quality and water quantity. Proper management of both is critical to the long-term health of the environment, citizen health and community safety. To be effective, stormwater management must be approached from a comprehensive perspective. A management plan typically requires some or all of the following steps:

• Comprehensive land use planning, especially taking into consideration watershed characteristics and patterns
• Identify specific stormwater standards and objectives; address questions such as 1) what federal and state water quality standards need to be met, and 2) how much flooding can be accepted under normal conditions?
• Public education to develop support for objectives and reinforce the critical role of citizens in stormwater management
• Identify and rank all existing problems; prioritize problem solutions
• Eliminate illicit discharges from known sources
• Decisions on appropriate solutions and selection of most environmentally and cost-effective best management practices (BMPs) to implement solutions
• Construction site inspections during implementation
• Maintenance of installed BMPs
• Establish stable funding sources to enable full implementation of management objectives

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Best management practices are implemented to meet management objectives
Best management practices are critical to meeting management objectives. A wide range of well-tested stormwater BMPs are currently available. Ongoing studies continue to identify BMP benefits, as well as the constraints and limitations inherent in any poorly chosen, installed, or maintained BMP. The most common BMPs include: Bioretention Dry detention basin Filter strip Vegetated swale Infiltration basin or trench Level spreader Permeable pavement Restored riparian buffer Rooftop runoff management (including green roofs) Sand filter Stormwater wetland Wet detention basin Curb outlet
	Click each photo to enlarge

Information presented within the property design and management section of this Water Web site has been reviewed by University of Nebraska - Lincoln Property Design & Management Team members Kelly Feehan, Thomas Franti, Steven Rodie and Richard Sutton.

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