Incorporating Forestry into Stormwater Management Programs

Stormwater utilities were interested in learning how viable urban forest systems are in helping them manage stormwater runoff, so the Water Research Foundation and U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities commissioned a study. The overall goal of this project was to document the contribution of urban tree systems to stormwater nutrient and volume control in terms of their effectiveness at various scales, cost, desirability, and practicality. An associated set of tools was developed to enable water utilities and other stormwater professionals to apply project findings, including: (1) simplified models to predict event and annual runoff reductions by urban tree canopy, (2) an urban tree cost-benefit value database, and (3) an urban forest hydrology curricula targeted to utilities to more effectively integrate urban tree systems within stormwater management frameworks.