Stormwater is excess runoff from rain and snowmelt events that flows over land or impervious surfaces, such as paved streets, parking lots, and building rooftops, and does not soak into the ground. Some of the concerns around stormwater are that "the runoff picks up pollutants like trash, chemicals, oils, and dirt/sediment that can harm our rivers, streams, lakes, and coastal waters" -- and human health. [Source: EPA Stormwater Program](https://www.epa.gov/npdes/npdes-stormwater-program) _Lead image from Dr. Gloria Horning's [work](/notes/joyofsoy/11-09-2018/fighting-the-flood-community-activism-and-education-in-pensacola)_ ### How is stormwater regulated? Stormwater is one of the pollutants that is regulated under the [National Pollution Discharge Elimination System](https://www.epa.gov/npdes) (NPDES). "The NPDES stormwater program regulates some stormwater discharges from three potential sources: municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s), construction activities, and industrial activities." ### How is stormwater monitored? Monitoring for stormwater can be challenging. Monitoring activities could explore facets of stormwater such as: - The depth and duration of standing water in an area, - How much rainwater can be harvested from an area, - How much water can be absorbed by an area, - How different ground covers react to stormwater events, and - How well infrastructure is working to handle stormwater runoff. This page was created to compile some activities, questions, updates and projects surrounding issues of stormwater. Click the links below to add to this growing resource! ## Stormwater Activities [notes:grid:activity:stormwater] ### Frequently Asked Questions [questions:stormwater] **** ## Updates [notes:stormwater!question:stormwater] **** ## Project Pages - 2018 [Pensacola Stormwater Project](https://publiclab.org/wiki/pensacola-stormwater-project) - 2017 [New Orleans Stormwater Workshop Series](https://publiclab.org/notes/stevie/02-01-2017/stormwater-workshop-series-in-new-orleans) - 2016 [New Orleans Flood Sensing Project ](https://publiclab.org/wiki/depth-flood-sensing-in-new-orleans)** _Lead image from [Commons Wikimedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stormwater_culvert_along_Dobney_Ave.jpg)_ ...
| Author | Comment | Last activity | Moderation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| warren | "Hi, just wanted to say we featured your story in our new Kickstarter campaign for Mini Balloon and Kite Kits: https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/0..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "Hi, just wanted to say we featured your story in our new Kickstarter campaign for Mini Balloon and Kite Kits: https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/0..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| Bronwen | "This is really great! I would also recommend NOAA's Climate Data Online Tools (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/datatools) to people interested in..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "Hi, Gretchen - do you have some examples of when and where this technique has been successfully used by folks? Thanks! " | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| ramirodiaz | "This is great. I spoke with the Project Nola owner about this concept when we were working on the Urban Water Plan. He stated that he monitors radi..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago | |||
| danbeavers | "Perhaps a better analogy would be a survey rod. It is designed to be read under poor conditions. Perhaps there is some other scale that is easily..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago | |||
| pdhixenbaugh | "As an add-on, most stormwater flows into storm drains and directly into streams without treatment. In combined sewer systems, CSOs happen periodica..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago | |||
| pdhixenbaugh | "The general permits also come in different variants, and the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) permit is a big one. For example, my muni..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago | |||
| warren | "This is great, thanks for posting! This reminds me of the markings by the door of some shops with security cameras. I wonder if you can buy those s..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago | |||
| liz | "Many older cities treat stormwater before it is discharged. Quoting Kate Asher in Anatomy of a City (2005), "New York is one of only 800 or so citi..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago | |||
| stevie | "You can read about this on the NPDES wiki here. "There are two kinds of permits issued under NPDES: individual and general. Individual permits are..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago | |||
| stevie | "One way stormwater is regulated is through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). See NPDES wiki "NPDES only applies to “poi..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago | |||
| warren | "Hi, Stevie -- is it possible that anything from Model My Watershed could help answer the question? I think they may run these equations in a map fo..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago | |||
| eustatic | "DoJ allowed monitoring as a Supplemental Environmental Project (in lieu of fees)? I've heard the opposite. Was it citizen or government, or third..." | Read more » | about 8 years ago | |||
| danbeavers | "The screw valve should BE a needle valve. I suggest a needle valve so that there is a large range of flow control. Most other valves are mainly o..." | Read more » | over 8 years ago | |||
| eustatic | "huh. i think i can make this out of the air filter parts? how essential is the 'needle valve' versus the screw valve that comes with the aquarium..." | Read more » | over 8 years ago | |||
| gretchengehrke | "Please post pictures in the comment section that are good example photos. I intend to put this information into a wiki page soon, and would love t..." | Read more » | over 9 years ago | |||
| eustatic | "but for the fact that these features are not recorded in google earth yet for the most part... " | Read more » | over 10 years ago | |||
| sammycoh | "This is great! A surprising alternative/addition to what you did is to actually use Google Earth. They have a pretty accurate elevation function t..." | Read more » | almost 11 years ago | |||
| eustatic | "thanks, Mat, that means a lot. because i'm graphics-software-ignorant, it's just a screenshot of a powerpoint slide with the photo and drawings ov..." | Read more » | almost 11 years ago | |||
| mathew | "I'm especially into your annotated oblique images, Scott. Really nice. " | Read more » | almost 11 years ago | |||
| eustatic | "http://publiclab.org/notes/eustatic/01-07-2014/kite-fisheye-photos-of-bayou-st-john-restoration here is my example of live targeting the kite with..." | Read more » | almost 11 years ago | |||
| eustatic | "willie, that is really cool. i would do the same thing for new orleans--what about a stormwater tag? http://publiclab.org/tag/stormwater http://p..." | Read more » | almost 11 years ago | |||
| liz | "This is fantastic Willie! How long is the flooding season in Jakarta? " | Read more » | almost 11 years ago |