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EPA's National Stormwater Calculator (SWC) is a desktop application that estimates the annual amount of rainwater and frequency of runoff from a specific site anywhere in the United States (including Puerto Rico). Estimates are based on local soil conditions, land cover, and historic rainfall records.

It is designed to be used by anyone interested in reducing runoff from a property, including

site developers,

landscape architects,

urban planners, and

homeowners.

The Calculator accesses several national databases that provide soil, topography, rainfall, and evaporation information for the chosen site. The user supplies information about the site's land cover and selects the types of low impact development (LID) controls they would like to use. The LID controls that the user can choose are the following seven green infrastructure practices:

1. Disconnection

2. Rain harvesting

3. Rain gardens

4. Green roofs

5. Street planters

6. Infiltration basins

7. Porous pavement

Green infrastructure promotes the natural movement of water, instead of allowing it to wash into streets and down storm drains. Green infrastructure also has the added benefit of beautifying neighborhoods and increasing property values.

The SWC estimates runoff at a site based on available information such as soil type, landscape and land-use information, and weather. This update to the SWC will allow users to consider how runoff may vary based on historical weather and potential future climate. To better inform decisions, it is recommended that the user develop a range of SWC results with various assumptions about model inputs such as percent of impervious surface, soil type, sizing of green infrastructure, as well as historical weather and future climate change scenarios. Please check with local authorities about whether and how the use of these tools may support local stormwater management goals and requirements.

Clean water is essential to keeping our families and the environment healthy. The Calculator helps protect and restore the environmental integrity of our waterways.

To Install the Calculator on Your Computer:

1. Go to Windows Programs and Features Control Panel and uninstall your current version of the National Stormwater Calculator 1.1.0.3 or earlier.

2. Download the National Stormwater Calculator 1.2.0.0 Beta (MSI) (48.6 MB, 05/01/2017)

3. If your browser offers the option to run the setup program then do so.

4. Otherwise, have your browser display its list of recent downloads and select the setup file to run it.

5. If you have problems installing the calculator contact your system administrator or try the alternative method described below.

Alternative Installation Method:

1. Download National Stormwater Calculator 1.2.0.0 Beta (ZIP)(50 MB) to your computer.

2. Locate where your browser saved the zip file and move it to a folder you created just for the calculator.

3. Unzip StormwaterCalcualtor.zip and right click on the file named StormwaterCalculator.exe.

4. Select 'Create Shortcut'.

5. Drag the shortcut onto your desktop and use it to launch the calculator.

6. (Optional) Right-click the shortcut to rename it and/or move it to your Start menu.

Additional Information

U.S. EPA. (2014) National Stormwater Calculator User's Guide Version 1.1 (PDF) (67 pp, 3.01 MB) Publication No. 600/R-13/085c.

Basic Fact Sheet: The Stormwater Calculator - Identifying Green Infrastructure Solutions

Technical Fact Sheet: U.S. EPA. (Revised April 2017) National Stormwater Calculator - A desktop tool that helps users control runoff to promote the natural movement of water (PDF)(1 pp, 3.96 KB) Publication No. 600/F-13/095c.

EPA's National Stormwater Calculator (Video) (1:21 min, EPA YouTube)

Helpful Resources

Stormwater Management: provides information and guidance on stormwater management practices.

Low Impact Development: provides information and guidance on the use of low impact development (LID) practices.

Green Infrastructure: provides basic information, useful tools, as well as research, case studies and a publication library.

Climate Change: provides information and resources on climate change and its effects in the U.S. and globally

Contact

EPA National Stormwater Calculator Team
SWC@EPA.gov

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EPA's National Stormwater Calculator (SWC) is a desktop application that estimates the annual amount of rainwater and frequency of runoff from a specific site anywhere in the United States (including Puerto Rico). Estimates are based on local soil conditions, land cover, and historic rainfall records.

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This novel PSA describes the importance of stormwater handling and how your stormwater dollars are used in the budget.

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It's your neighborhood; it's your watershed.

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It's your neighborhood; it's your watershed.

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Clean Rivers and Streams Saturday, May 20th, 2017 at 9:10am

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Gorongosa's Water Cycle — HHMI BioInteractive Animation

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This animation illustrates the main stages of the water cycle in the setting of Gorongosa National Park. Gorongosa National Park sits at the southern end of Africa's Great Rift Valley in Mozambique and is centered around Lake Urema. To the northwest, Mount Gorongosa rises almost two thousand meters above sea level.

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This is the full length Stormwater manual that we are using part of in class.  Chapter 4: Section 4.6 has the descriptions of stormwater solutions that are in our booklet.

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This is the full length Stormwater manual that we are using part of in class.  Chapter 4: Section 4.6 has the descriptions of stormwater solutions that are in our booklet.

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Runoff from stormwater continues to be a major cause of water pollution in urban areas. It carries trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants through storm sewers into local waterways. Heavy rainstorms can cause flooding that damages property and infrastructure.

Historically, communities have used gray infrastructure-systems of gutters, pipes, and tunnels-to move stormwater away from where we live to treatment plants or straight to local water bodies. The gray infrastructure in many areas is aging, and its existing capacity to manage large volumes of stormwater is decreasing in areas across the country. To meet this challenge, many communities are installing green infrastructure systems to bolster their capacity to manage stormwater. By doing so, communities are becoming more resilient and achieving environmental, social and economic benefits.

Basically, green infrastructure filters and absorbs stormwater where it falls. In 2019, Congress enacted the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act , which defines green infrastructure as "the range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pavement or other permeable surfaces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters."

Green infrastructure elements can be woven into a community at several scales. Examples at the urban scale could include a rain barrel up against a house, a row of trees along a major city street, or greening an alleyway. Neighborhood scale green infrastructure could include acres of open park space outside a city center, planting rain gardens or constructing a wetland near a residential housing complex. At the landscape or watershed scale, examples could include protecting large open natural spaces, riparian areas, wetlands or greening steep hillsides. When green infrastructure systems are installed throughout a community, city or across a regional watershed, they can provide cleaner air and water as well as significant value for the community with flood protection, diverse habitat, and beautiful green spaces.

Learn more:

Downspout Disconnection

This simple practice reroutes rooftop drainage pipes from draining rainwater into the storm sewer to draining it into rain barrels, cisterns, or permeable areas. You can use it to store stormwater and/or allow stormwater to infiltrate into the soil. Downspout disconnection could be especially beneficial to cities with combined sewer systems.
Examples
Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater harvesting systems reduce stormwater pollution by slowing runoff and collecting rainfall for later use. The variety of systems range from the backyard rain barrel and the commercial building cistern to ground level pits, aquifers and even nets that capture dew and fog. These types of systems have been implemented world-wide.
Examples
Rain Gardens

Rain gardens are small, shallow, sunken areas of plantings that collect stormwater runoff from roofs, streets, and sidewalks. Also known as bioretention cells, they are designed to mimic the natural ways water flows over and absorbs into land to reduce stormwater pollution.
Examples
Planter Boxes

Planter boxes are urban rain gardens with vertical walls and either open or closed bottoms. Usually found in downtown areas, they collect and absorb runoff from streets, sidewalks, and parking lots. Ideal for areas with limited space, planter boxes can be a useful way to beautify city streets.
Examples
Bioswales

Bioswales, often found along curbs and in parking lots, use vegetation or mulch to slow and filter stormwater flows.
Examples
Permeable Pavements

Permeable pavements infiltrate, treat, and/or store rainwater where it falls. They can be made of pervious concrete, porous asphalt, or permeable interlocking pavers. This practice could be particularly cost effective where land values are high and flooding or icing is a problem.
Examples
Green Streets and Alleys

Green streets and alleys are created by integrating green infrastructure elements into their design to store and filter stormwater. Permeable pavement, bioswales, planter boxes, and trees are among the elements that can be woven into street or alley design.
Examples
Green Parking

Many green infrastructure elements can be seamlessly integrated into parking lot designs. Permeable pavements can be installed in sections of a lot and rain gardens and bioswales can be included in medians and along the parking lot perimeter. When built into a parking lot, these elements also reduce the heat island effect and improve walkability in the area.
Examples
Green Roofs

Green roofs are covered with growing media and vegetation that enable rainfall infiltration and evapotranspiration of stored water. They are particularly cost-effective in dense urban areas where land values are high and on large industrial or office buildings where stormwater management costs are likely to be high.
Examples
Urban Tree Canopy

Trees absorb stormwater in their leaves and branches. Many cities have set tree canopy goals to restore the benefits of trees lost when the areas were developed. Homeowners, businesses, and community groups can participate in planting and maintaining trees throughout the urban environment.
Examples
Land Conservation

The water quality and flooding impacts of urban stormwater also can be addressed by protecting open spaces and sensitive natural areas within and adjacent to a city while providing recreational opportunities for city residents. Natural areas that should be a focus of this effort include riparian areas, wetlands, and steep hillsides.
Examples

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Runoff from stormwater continues to be a major cause of water pollution in urban areas. It carries trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants through storm sewers into local waterways. Heavy rainstorms can cause flooding that damages property and infrastructure.

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A percolation trench, also called an infiltration trench, is a type of best management practice (BMP) that is used to manage stormwater runoff, prevent flooding and downstream erosion, and improve water quality in an adjacent river, stream, lake or bay.

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Disclaimer: Rainfall data on this page have not received final approval and as such are provisional and subject to final revision. The data are released on the condition that neither the USGS, the United States Government, nor the City of Portland may be held liable for any damages resulting from their use.

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38 Inches to Centimeters Conversion - Convert 38 Inches to Centimeters (in to cm) - Distance and Length Conversion

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Inches : An inch (symbol: in) is a unit of length. It is defined as 1⁄12 of a foot, also is 1⁄36 of a yard. Though traditional standards for the exact length of an inch have varied, it is equal to exactly 25.4 mm.

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Watch now: Oregon Field Guide | Stormwater | OPB Video

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Stormwater is a toxic cocktail of sediment, grease, road grime, tire wear and any litter small enough to slip into storm drains. And that's just what can be seen. There's much more. Watch online: Stormwater from Oregon Field Guide. On demand, streaming video from OPB

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DIY Rain Gardens 1 - How to Build a Rain Garden

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In this first video in our DIY Rain Gardens series, presenter Erik Carr covers where to locate your rain garden and how to calculate how big it should be.

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DIY Rain Gardens 2 - Infiltration Testing

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In the second video in our DIY Rain Gardens series, presenter Erik Carr shows how to conduct a water infiltration test on your land.

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What is the water cycle?

Let me introduce myself. I am Drippy, your host at the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Science School. And, what is the water cycle? I can easily answer that-it is "me" all over! The water cycle describes the existence and movement of water on, in, and above the Earth.

Earth's water is always in movement and is always changing states, from liquid to vapor to ice and back again. The water cycle has been working for billions of years and all life on Earth depends on it continuing to work; the Earth would be a pretty stale place to live without it.

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Let me introduce myself. I am Drippy, your host at the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Science School. And, what is the water cycle? I can easily answer that-it is "me" all over! The water cycle describes the existence and movement of water on, in, and above the Earth.

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At USGS Kids, you'll find games, puzzles, stories, and projects that help kids learn about nature and conservation while having fun.

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Map Your Schoolyard | USGS Schoolyard Geology

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Mapping the schoolyard to learn the concept of maps.