Urban Areas

Fact Sheets & Reports | Guidance Documents & Manuals | Information Resources & Centers | Research Facilities | Research Studies

Urbanization increases the variety and amount of pollutants carried into our nation's waters. In urban and suburban areas, much of the land surface is covered by buildings, pavement and compacted landscapes with impaired drainage. These surfaces do not allow rain and snowmelt to soak into the ground which greatly increases the volume and velocity of stormwater runoff. In addition to these habitat-destroying impacts, pollutants from urban runoff include:

• Sediment
• Oil, grease and toxic chemicals from motor vehicles
• Pesticides and nutrients from lawns and gardens
• Viruses, bacteria and nutrients from pet waste and failing septic systems
• Road salts
• Heavy metals from roof shingles, motor vehicles and other sources
• Thermal pollution from dark impervious surfaces such as streets and rooftops

These pollutants can harm fish and wildlife populations, kill native vegetation, foul drinking water, and make recreational areas unsafe and unpleasant.

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Fact Sheets and Reports

• Protecting Water Quality from Urban Runoff
  This is an EPA fact sheet about how urban runoff affects water quality (February 2003, EPA 841-F-03-003).
  
  
• Nonpoint Pointer No. 7 - Managing Urban Runoff
  This is an EPA fact sheet from 1996 (EPA 841-F-96-004G).

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Guidance Documents and Manuals

• National Management Measures to Control Nonpoint Source Pollution from Urban Areas
  This guidance helps citizens and municipalities in urban areas protect bodies of water from polluted runoff that can result from everyday activities. These scientifically sound techniques are the best practices known today. The guidance also helps states to implement their nonpoint source control programs and helps municipalities implement their Phase II Storm Water Permit Programs (November 2005, EPA 841-B-05-0004).
  
  
• Economic Benefits of Runoff Controls
  The purpose of this report is to show that certain urban runoff management controls can be incorporated into a development in a way that provides aesthetic and economic benefits (September 1995, EPA 841-S-95-002).
  
  
• Management Measures for Urban Areas
  This is the urban management measures chapter in the official and operative guidance authorized by Congress under Section 6217(g) of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990.
  
  
• Model Ordinances to Protect Local Resources
  These pages includes model ordinances to serve as a template for those charged with making decisions concerning growth and environmental protection.
  
  
• Urban Runoff Management Documents
  This is a list of documents on managing urban runoff that the Nonpoint Source Control Branch at EPA headquarters has found to be especially well done.
  
  
• Techniques for Tracking, Evaluating, and Reporting the Implementation of Nonpoint Source Control Measures - Urban
  This guidance is intended to assist federal, state, regional and local environmental professionals in tracking the implementation of best management practices (BMPs) used to control urban nonpoint source pollution (January 2001, EPA 841-B-00-007).
  
  
• Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems Manual
  This manual provides current information on onsite wastewater treatment system (OWTS) siting, design, installation, maintenance and replacement. It reflects significant advances that the expert community has identified to help OWTSs become more cost-effective and environmentally protective, particularly in small suburban and rural areas (February 2002, EPA 625-R-00-008).
  
  
• Financing Stormwater Management
  This site includes an annotated bibliography of existing stormwater finance materials; an archive that contains selected previously published materials concerning stormwater finance; a manual that discusses the financing options available to communities for stormwater management programs.
  
  
• Guidance for Municipal Stormwater Funding (PDF) (140 pp, 1MB, About PDF)
  Developed in January 2006, this guidance examines a range of possible approaches to paying for stormwater management, with a focus on developing guidelines for service/user/utility fees to support these programs.
  
  
• Watershed Based Wetlands and Water Resource Protection (PDF) (30 pp, 5MB, About PDF)
  This presentation describes a modeling methodology used in New Castle County, DE to identify natural resource areas in need of protection. This methodology and presentation were developed by the University of Delaware, Water Resources Agency, Institute for Public Administration with an EPA Wetland Program Grant.

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Information Resources and Centers

• Center for Watershed Protection
  The Center for Watershed Protection works with local, state and federal governmental agencies, environmental consulting firms, watershed organizations and the general public to provide objective and scientifically sound information on effective techniques to protect and restore urban watersheds.
  
  
• Stormwater Manager's Resource Center
  The Stormwater Manager's Resource Center (SMRC) is designed specifically for stormwater practitioners, local government officials and others that need technical assistance on stormwater management issues.
  
  
• EPA Smart Growth
  This site provides information to help create communities that promote the sustainability of America's environment, economy and quality of life.
  
  
• Low-Impact Development (LID)
  Learn from reports, studies and documents about the effectiveness of LID practices, and access manuals and tools for implementing low-impact development.
  
  
• National Conference on Urban Stormwater: Enhancing Programs at the Local Level
  A wide array of effective storm water management and resource protection tools have been developed for urban environments, but their implementation continues to be hampered by a lack of technology transfer opportunities. At the national conference Urban Stormwater: Enhancing Programs at the Local Level (February 17-20, 2003), attendees learned about state-of-the-art technologies and implementation programs that have proven success in local communities. This page provides papers from that conference.
  
  
• American Society of Civil Engineers
  The ASCE provides a variety of resources to both members and non-members. Visit this site to learn more about upcomming events, current issues and membership opportunities.
  
  
• American Water Resources Association
  The American Water Resources Association is a non-profit professional association dedicated to the advancement of men and women in water resources management, research and education.
  
  
• Florida Stormwater Association
  The Florida Stormwater Association is composed of local governments, consulting firms, water management districts, water control districts and some non-profit organizations. These members have joined together to enhance the capacity of stormwater management through research, dissemination of information, active participation in the legislative decision process, and education.
  
  
• International Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Database
  This database provides access to stormwater BMP performance data in a standardized format for over 170 BMP studies conducted over the past fifteen years. The database was developed by the Urban Water Resources Research Council (UWRRC) of ASCE under a cooperative agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency.
  
  
• RiverSides Stewardship Alliance
  RiverSides is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating RiverSafe communities—communities that protect rivers by reducing runoff pollution from individual properties through education and providing the tools people need to make the connection between personal action and healthy rivers.
  
  
• StormwaterAuthority.org
  This site provides information on stormwater pollution, treatment methodologies and related issues. The online library contains downloadable research papers, software and information regarding nonpoint source pollution, best management practices, upcoming conferences, total maximum daily loads and other stormwater topics.
  
  
• Urban and Coastal Community Conservation Resources
  The National Association of Conservation Districts provide urban and community conservation resources and give conservation districts and their partners a place to gather information and exchange ideas about their urban and community conservation activities.

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Research Facilities

• National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL), Aquatic Stressors Research
  NHEERL is EPA's focal point for scientific research on the effects of contaminants and environmental stressors on human health and ecosystem integrity.
  
  
• Urban Watershed Research Facility
  The Urban Watershed Research Facility (UWRF), locaed in Edison, New Jersey, is a 20-acre, isolated, open space designed for the research of technology that may be used to control or mitigate stormwater runoff.
  
  
• EPA's Urban Watershed Management Branch (ORD NRMRL)
  This EPA group researchs, develops and demonstrates technologies, systems and methods to manage the risks to public health, property and the environment from wet-weather flow.

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Research Studies

• National Epidemiological and Environmental Assessment of Recreational (NEEAR) Water Study
  The main goal of the NEEAR study is to better understand how new ways of mesuring water pollution can be effectively used to protect swimmers' health.
  
  
• Urban Watershed Management Branch Study: Particle-Associated Microorganisms in Stormwater Runoff
  This research investigated the effects of blending and chemical addition before analysis of the concentration of microorganisms in storm water runoff from a single summer storm to determine whether clumped or particle-associated organisms play a significant role.
  
  
• Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment
  A research partnership between EPA Region 3 and the Office of Research and Development. Study topics include acid mine drainage, urban sprawl, animal wastes and transportation
  
  
• Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (REMAP)
  Uses Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) design principles to investigate ecological conditions and local and regional scales.
  
  
• Urban Stormwater Best Management Practices Study
  This EPA report from 1999 summarizes then-current information and data regarding the effectiveness of BMPs to control and reduce pollutants in urban stormwater, as well as their expected costs and environmental benefits (August 1999, EPA 821-R-99-012).
  
  
• Urban Stormwater BMP Performance Monitoring
  This EPA manual from 2002 provides targeted practical assistance in conducting water quality monitoring and reporting data that are useful for assessing the effectiveness of stormwater BMPs (April 2002, EPA 821-B-02-001).
  
  
• Urban Stormwater BMP Performance Tool
  This Web-based tool provides stormwater professionals with access to approximately 220 studies that assess the performance of over 275 stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs).