Stormwater Atlas

intro

Purpose, Scope, and How to Use This Synthesis

Frames this work as a synthesis of U.S. practice for research and committee review, not adopted regulation or a design manual.

ReviewedPrevalence 56%~167 manuals tagged14 citationsModel: heuristic+editorial
Provisional practice synthesis for discussion — not a design manual or adopted regulation. Controlling state, regional, and MS4 criteria apply when more stringent. Verify citations against the linked jurisdiction manuals.

Practice

U.S. stormwater design manuals almost always open by stating purpose, audience, and how the manual relates to permits and local codes. Across this atlas (~299 manuals; ~76 Tier A anchors), roughly half of corpora carry general “purpose/scope” framing in their structure tags. This practice synthesis follows that pattern: it summarizes common practice for research and committee use, while making clear that state and local criteria control when they are more stringent.

Guidance

Use this synthesis as a survey of common U.S. post-construction practice, not as a design manual or regulation. Name the design purpose (water quality, channel protection, or flood control) before selecting criteria. Treat practice notes and guidance tables as evidence-backed starting points, and always cite the controlling state, regional, or MS4 manual for project decisions.

Open questions

Confirm public-facing disclaimer language. Decide whether a short navigation flowchart belongs here or under submittals.

References

Numbered footnotes for guidance clauses and atlas notes. Field-verified entries come from structured atlas evidence; corpus-pattern entries are keyword-matched excerpts.

  1. [1]State of Hawaii Department of Transportation, Highways DivisionHawaiiCorpus patternpages 20-20
    “s of this manual to the maximum extent practicable (MEP). 1.3 APPLICABILITY The purpose of this manual is to provide procedures and guidelines to ensure that post- construction BMPs are considered and implemented, as applicable, throughout all phases of DOT-HWYS”
  2. [2]Rhode IslandRhode IslandCorpus patternpages 11-11
    “general organization of the manual. The final section in this chapter explains how to use the manual. Chapter 2: Why Stormwater Matters - The Impacts of Development Chapter Two describes stormwater runoff and its impact on watershed hydrology, water”
  3. [3]West VirginiaWest VirginiaCorpus patternpages 10-10
    “oN 1.2 West VIrgInIa storMWater ManageMent & desIgn guIdance Manual The primary purpose of this Manual is as a design resource to accompany the MS4 General Permit for stormwater discharges (Permit No. WV0116025). The MS4 General Permit specifies elements of a st”
  4. [4]MinnesotaMinnesotaCorpus patternpages 120-120
    “120 Minnesota storMwater Manual Applicability: Waters of the U.S. Stormwater Relationship: Discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S. Rivers and Harbors Act, Section 10 Permit Program3.”
  5. [5]Tennessee Department of Environment and ConservationTennesseeCorpus patternpages 8-8
    “ion 1.1 provides an overview of the permanent stormwa Section 1.2 addresses the purpose of this manual and its inte Section 1.3 outlines the permanent stormwater manageme Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permits and the section guidance on meeting these require”
  6. [6]PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaCorpus patternpages 282-282
    “, peak rate management, and WQM functions. These stormwater functions and their applicability to this SCM are shown below. Function Mechanism Volume Management • Provides sustained ET. Groundwater Recharge • Not a considered a recharge SCM. Geomorpholog”
  7. [7]VermontVermontCorpus patternpages 8-8
    “groundwater recharge, overbank flood protection, and extreme flood control. The purpose of this manual is threefold:  To protect the waters of the State of Vermont from the adverse impacts of stormwater runoff.  To provide design guidance on the most effective”
  8. [8]New York StateNew YorkCorpus patternpages 11-11
    “Chapter 1: Introduction to the Manual Section 1.1 Purpose of the Manual The purpose of this manual is threefold: 1. To protect the waters of the State of New York from the adverse impacts of urban stormwater runoff 2. To provide design standards on the most”
  9. [9]ConnecticutConnecticutCorpus patternpages 235-236
    “reatment capacity. Table 13- 2 and Table 13- 3 provide a general summary of the applicability of different types of Pretreatments BMPs and can assist in selecting an appropriate pretreatment practice. Multiple pretreatment BMPs may be used, as necessary”
  10. [10]City of BoiseIdahoCorpus patternpages 9-10
    “specific site conditions. Section 1 describes the regulatory and jurisdictional scope for these design requirements. Section 2 presents the general requirements that apply to all sites that require a City drainage permit. Section 3 contains the”
  11. [11]New York StateNew YorkCorpus patternpages 13-13
    “SECTION 1—INTRODUCTION Purpose & Scope The purpose of this document is to provide minimum standards and specifications for meeting criteria set forth by the New York State Department of Environmenta”
  12. [12]City of FlagstaffArizonaCorpus patternpages 36-36
    “eer with guidance to the methods and procedures, their data requirements, their applicability, and their limitations. These methods and procedures can be applied using commonly available computer programs. The City Stormwater Section Director has the di”

Supporting jurisdictions

12 jurisdictions cited in this section (outline tags ~167 manuals; full atlas has ~299).

hawaii-dot-pcbmpri-statewest-virginia-manualmn-state-2008tn-statepa-statevt-stateny-statect-stateboise-idny-bluebookflagstaff-az