Trees to Offset Stormwater: A Study of 12 Communities

The Trees to Offset Stormwater project is a study of the role of urban tree canopy in taking up, storing and releasing water to reduce impacts from stormwater runoff. The nonprofit Green Infrastructure Center Inc. (GIC) developed the project with urban and community forestry program coordinators for forestry agencies in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama. The GIC studied the role of the urban forest in mitigating the impacts of stormwater runoff across 12 communities from large to small cities in locations varying from mountains to the hills of the Piedmont to the coastal plain. This summary report includes the project’s findings, the process to create a model of the role of trees in stormwater uptake and links to the best practices audit tool to help cities reducing imperviousness and better manage their urban forest.

Trees to Offset Stormwater: A Study of 12 Communities