Education

Learn about ways to manage stormwater with nature!

Discover How Nature Helps Manage Stormwater
Learn how nature-based solutions can make our communities cleaner, greener, and more resilient! This page offers free educational resources on stormwater management using natural methods—like rain gardens, bioswales, wetlands, and native landscaping—that help reduce flooding, improve water quality, and support local wildlife. Whether you’re a homeowner, educator, or city planner, you’ll find practical tools and inspiration to put nature to work for your community.

Nature based solutions use environmental designs to help solve problems, like flooding, in cities and communities. They include things like planting trees to cool down hot areas, or restoring wetlands, planting rain gardens to retain stormwater, and building stormwater parks which soak up rain, reduce runoff, and prevent water from overwhelming streets and homes. These solutions can improve water quality, protect homes, and create more green spaces for people to enjoy.

Green Infrastructure/ Low Impact Development

LID and GI form a ‘treatment train’ approach to stormwater management. They work together at both the site and regional scale.

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Mapping Your Site

Property owners interested in applying low impact development strategies, can conduct a basic site analysis by mapping your property.

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Prioritize. Plan. Prepare.

Determine primary concerns, research existing conditions, and prime your site!

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Infiltration Landscape

Practices to promote infiltration of stormwater into native soils to prevent erosion and flooding.

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Vegetated Filter Strip

A densly-planted edge that filters and spreads out stormwater along a slope before entering a constructed pond or natural waterway.

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Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater harvesting reduces runoff volume. Rain barrels can be used as an outdoor water supply for irrigation, car washing and more.

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Subsurface Storage

These systems are designed to retain stormwater between storm events, and slowly discharge it into the soil or other facilities.

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Permeable Paving

You can drive, park, or walk on permeable paving. The various gradient of layers below work to slow and capture rainwater so that it can soak into the native soil below.

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Bio-Swale

An open, gently sloped, vegetated channel with subsurface layers of soil and gravel to promote infiltration into the natural soils.

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Dry Swale

An open grassed convenance channel that filters, spreads, and detains stormwater runoff as it moves downstream.

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Rain Garden

A rain garden is a planted depression designed to accept stormwater runoff from adjacent surfaces, but not hold it for more than 24 hours.

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Flow-Through Planter

Stormwater is directed to the planter via curb cuts or a disconnected downspout. The vegetation in the planter will work to clean or ‘treat’ runoff.

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Monitoring for Effectiveness

See Data!

We are currently monitoring an existing bioswale for effectiveness. Water quality and quantity are being evaluated. Follow the link above to see rainfall and soil data!