Stormwater Infrastructure - Where is it?
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
If you are anything like me and live in a house, you stress out when it rains. When you were a kid, rain and storms used to be fun; you'd play out in the rain, watch the lightning, listen to the thunder, and splash in the puddles afterwards. Now, you sit and pray that your sump pump works, your downspouts aren't clogged, and the basement doesn't flood. Most houses and subdivisions are supposed to be designed to be able to handle rain and stormwater conveyance. But what encompasses stormwater infrastructure in your neighborhood and at your house?
For houses, the lots are supposed to be graded away from the house to allow stormwater to flow away from the foundation. Downspouts are used to collect runoff from the roof, and sump pumps and foundation drains discharge groundwater following large precipitation events where the water tables are high. Sometimes these downspouts, sump pumps, and foundation drains are incorporated into a collection system that discharges away from the house, sometimes in the rear of the lot following a natural drainage course. If you are experiencing ponding on your property, basement flooding, sump pump issues, or other drainage concerns on your property, you can always reach out to our office for technical assistance, and we can help guide you in the right direction.
But where does the stormwater go when it leaves your property? Most of the stormwater flows into a collection system of pipes, called storm sewers. These are different from sanitary sewers in that storm sewers only convey stormwater, while sanitary will convey wastewater from your home. There are some combined sanitary sewer connections in Middletown and Cincinnati that will convey wastewater to nearby rivers when it rains. These are outdated systems that combine storm and sanitary sewers, so they discharge wastewater when the treatment plant is overwhelmed during heavy rain events. Most homes have a sanitary sewer connection, while storm sewers are placed most of the time along the street. You may see grated catch basins or inlets along the curb for the purpose of collecting stormwater. In certain communities, the storm sewer system falls under the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) EPA permit, which requires communities to regulate polluted stormwater runoff. It is also important to note that some older neighborhoods lack stormwater infrastructure, or their stormwater infrastructure is undersized or undermaintained, which can cause flooding issues.
In larger neighborhoods, you may see what looks like ponds in between larger sections of houses. These are actually retention basins that are developed to retain stormwater. Retention basins have a permanent pool of water but are designed to provide temporary storage of stormwater above the permanent pool and slowly release it. This allows suspended solids like sediment to settle out in the pond, reducing pollution to the receiving channel. Retention basins are pretty common in subdivisions since they can provide aesthetic benefits to the residents. Detention basins differ from retention basins as they are designed to only slowly release stormwater and not retain any of it. Both retention and detention basins discharge to a waterway like a small stream. Most storm sewers or drainage easements flow into detention and retention basins in a subdivision. Majority of the time, the responsibility of these basins falls on an HOA or sometimes a homeowner that owns the property where the basin is located. The county may maintain these basins if the basin falls within a public easement, but only on rare occasions and mainly for the repair, construction, and operation of important stormwater infrastructure. You can request a copy of the subdivision plat through the County Recorder's office or by visiting their website.
While drainage easements aren't necessarily infrastructure, they still serve an important purpose in stormwater conveyance in a subdivision. The purpose is in the name - an area of land set aside for the purpose of drainage. These easements can either be private or public, depending on what is stated in the plat map for the subdivision. Private easements are typically the responsibility of the homeowner or the HOA. Public drainage easements are typically maintained by Butler County with some stipulations and are mainly for the repair, construction, and operation of stormwater infrastructure. These easements can be a paved gutter, a small stream, or just a grass swale. They consistently need to be maintained and free of any debris or sediment to function properly. Blocked or clogged easements can cause a lot of issues like localized flooding and erosion.
If you live in a subdivision, are on the board of an HOA, or have any of the aforementioned stormwater infrastructure on your property, it may be a good idea to develop a maintenance plan for these structures. This can help prevent expensive damage and repairs down the road. However, when it comes to extreme rainfall events, severe flooding can occur in your neighborhood. Extreme flooding in Butler County typically occurs following high rainfall events of 3+ inches in a short period of time. Unfortunately, flooding is a difficult issue to combat, especially if it is community wide. Most flooding results from the stream and groundwater system being overloaded, resulting in flooding along the floodplain as the stream/river attempts to dissipate energy. In these situations, often the best solution is to prepare an emergency plan if needed and wait for the flood waters to recede. Flooding can also result from poorly maintained stormwater infrastructure. Communities should regularly check on culverts, storm drains, and other stormwater infrastructure to ensure they are well maintained and able to handle an extreme rainfall event.
For assistance regarding any drainage or stormwater concerns, please feel free to reach out to our office at (513) 887-3720.
