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Stormwater
Mid-Atlantic Stormwater Quick Finder |
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National Information
Urban Runoff Publication
Related Mid-Atlantic Information
Mid-Atlantic Stormwater Action Team
This team supports stormwater issues within the mid-Atlantic region, focusing on reducing runoff in target urban and suburban areas through regulatory and non-regulatory approaches. The team also helps educate the public and state and local governments. Paula Estornell (estornell.paula@epa.gov) is the Team Leader.
Wet Weather and Green Infrastructure Workshop held in Virginia - EPA hosted a one-day workshop on April 29, 2009 for Viriginia municipal officials with wet weather responsibilities to help increase knowledge and effectiveness of using green infrastructure ideas. This new approach to manage wet weather uses or mimics natural processes to infiltrate, evapotranspirate or capture and reuse precipitation near where it falls on the ground. Green infrastructure is practiced at all scales from large sites to neighborhoods. Some examples include rain gardens, street trees along commercial corridors, wildlife refuges and large conservation easements. Workshop discussions focused on planning, design, and installation of Green Infrastructure technologies, changing land use codes and ordinances that incorporate these ideas as well as the financial, social and environmental benefits.
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Environmental Impact
As stormwater flows over land it picks up heavy metals, bacteria, pesticides, suspended solids, nutrients, and floating materials. In the United States, stormwater runoff from residential, commercial, and industrial areas is responsible for 21% of impaired lakes and 45% of impaired estuaries. In the Mid-Atlantic region alone, stormwater is responsible for over 4,000 miles of impaired streams. The impacts from stormwater are caused not only by the pollutants in the runoff, but also by its volume. As the water flows over land it can erode soil and then redeposit that soil in streams, causing muddy water and degrading aquatic habitats.
As the population in the Mid-Atlantic region continues to increase, causing more and more runoff, the choices made in developing land can make the difference in the impact on our rivers.
| Resource Extraction | 10,038 |
| Unknown | 8,784 |
| Natural | 6,341 |
| Agriculture | 6,153 |
| Urban Runoff/Storm Sewers | 4,376 |
| Municipal Permitted Discharges | 2,192 |
| Hydro Modification | 1,449 |
| Atmospheric Deposition | 561 |
| Other | 329 |
* From the 305(b) State Integrated Assessment Reports |
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Sources of Stream Impairment in the Mid-Atlantic
How Stormwater Runoff is Controlled
The Clean Water Act requires anyone releasing pollutants through a pipe, ditch, channel or other container into a river or stream to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Stormwater runoff from municipalities, industrial sites and construction sites contain pollutants such as sediment, bacteria, metals, nutrients and toxics, all regulated through NPDES permits. The permits contain limits on what can be discharged, monitoring and reporting requirements, and other requirements to ensure that the discharge does not affect water quality or public health. Best management practices such as street sweeping, stormwater detention ponds, rain gardens, etc. control stormwater runoff quantity and/or quality and effectively reduce the release of pollutants into receiving waters.
