SUBJECTS › ENVIRONMENT › STORMWATER
› Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Storm and Surface Water Management: Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping
Updated 04/08
Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Storm and Surface Water Management: Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping
Contents
About Best Management Practices (BMPs)
Best Management Practices (BMPs) are a method by which the adverse impacts of development and redevelopment are controlled through their application. BMPs are defined in the state's draft Storm Water Manual "as schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and structural and/or managerial practices, that when used singly or in combination, prevent or reduce the release of pollutants to waters of Washington State." The types of BMP identified by the state are source control, runoff treatment, and flow control.
The primary purpose of using BMPs is to protect beneficial uses of water resources through the reduction of pollutant loads and concentrations, and through reduction of discharges (volumetric flow rates) causing stream channel erosion.
It is generally more cost effective to prevent impacts using source control than using runoff treatment to remove pollutants. However, since source controls cannot prevent all impacts, some combination of measures will always be needed. Adapted from Minimum Technical Requirements Vol. I, Storm Water Management Manual for Western Washington, Washington State Department of Ecology, April 2005, p. 8.
General Resources
- Assessment of Stormwater Best Management Practices - Water Resources Center, University of Minnesota
- Integrated Pest Management - MRSC
- National Menu of Stormwater Best Management Practices - Environmental Protection Agency
- International Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Database Project - ASCE, EPA and others
- Pierce County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Manual: A Guide to Best Management Practices for Industries, Businesses and Homeowners
- Puget Sound Partnership Stormwater Resources
- Selecting Best Management Practices for Stormwater Management, Department of Ecology WQ-R-93-011 #2 of 5
- Source Controls Protect Stormwater Quality, Department of Ecology, Publication WQ-R-93-011 #5 of 5
- Stormwater Best Management Practices Municipal Handbook, (The California Stormwater Best Management Practice Handbooks), California Stormwater Quality Association, last updated 2004
- Storm Water Best Management Practices Study (BMPs) - EPA Office of Water
- Storm Water O&M Fact Sheet Preventive Maintenance (
50 KB), EPA Office of Water, Publication 832-F-99-004
- Stormwater Strategies: Community Responses to Runoff Pollution, National Resources Defense Council, May 1999, updated 2001 See in particular Chapter 10, Strategies in the Pacific Northwest
- Storm Water Management Manuals, Department of Ecology
- Source Control BMPs, Vol. IV ( 1.48 MB), Storm Water Management Manual for Western Washington, April 2005, Washington State Department of Ecology
- Best Management Practices for Stormwater Control, Section 1.4 ( 14 MB), Storm Water Management Manual for Eastern Washington, September 2004, Washington State Department of Ecology
- Source Control BMPs, Vol. IV (
- Using Smart Growth Techniques as Stormwater Best Management Practices, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 231-B-05-002, December 2005
- Washington's Water Quality Management Plan to Control Nonpoint Source Pollution - Final, Department of Ecology, Publication 99-26, April 2000.
Best Management Practices for Specific Facilities
Agricultural Practices - Protecting Water Quality - MRSC ESA Page
- Construction Stormwater Pollution Prevention, Vol. II, Storm Water Management Manual for Western Washington, April 2005. Washington State Department of Ecology
- Construction Stormwater Pollution Prevention Best Management Practices (BMPs) Packet - Jefferson County Community Development
- Core Elements for New Development and Redevelopment ( 14 MB), Ch. 2, Stormwater Management Manual for Eastern Washington, 2004
- Erosion and Sediment Control - Construction Site Storm Water Runoff Control - MRSC
- Highway Runoff Manual - Washington State Department of Transportation
- Protecting Water Quality: A Construction Site Water Quality Field Guide - A field guide to erosion, sediment and stormwater best management practices for development sites in Missouri and Kansas, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, 1995, Reprinted 1999
- Storm Water Phase II Final Rule, Post Construction Runoff Control ( 43 KB), EPA Fact Sheet 2.7
- Whatcom County Ordinance No. 2000-066 (
2,229 KB) regarding standards for on-site storm water quality and quantity facilities, Planning Commission Findings of Fact, Proposed Amendments to Zoning Code, and Staff Report, adopted December 2000.
- How to Building a Rain Garden: Handbook for Western Washington Homeowners ( 6.48 MB), by Curtis Hinman, WSU Extension, June 2007
- Pierce County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Manual: A Guide to Best Management Practices for Industries, Businesses and Homeowners
- Keep Water Safe and Clean - Seattle Public Utilities
- Your Yard and Water Quality: Simple Things Gardeners Can Do to Prevent Water Contamination, Clean Water for Washington, Washington State Cooperative Extension, Publication EB1744, 1993
Commercial/Industrial/Manufacturing BMPs
- Guidance Manual for Developing a Stormwater Pollution Plan for Industrial Facilities, Department of Ecology, Water Quality Program. Revised April 1998, Publication No. WQ-R-93-015, Updated May 2004
- Pierce County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Manual: A Guide to Best Management Practices for Industries, Businesses and Homeowners
- Vehicle Recyclers: A Guide for Implementing the Industrial Stormwater General NPDES Permit Requirements, Department of Ecology, Water Quality Program. Publication 94-146, Revised January 2006
- Vehicle Washing - Carwash
- Vehicle and Equipment Washwater Discharges/Best Management Practices Manual ( 828 KB), Department of Ecology, Water Quality Program, Publication 95-056 June 1995, Revised September 2007
- Bellevue Car Care ( 28 KB) - Utilities Department
- King County Car Wash Kits
- Car Washing in Kirkland
- Redmond Conservation and Education: Washing Your Car? Read This First!
- Vehicle and Equipment Washwater Discharges/Best Management Practices Manual (
- Animal Wastes (Pooper Scooper Provisions) - MRSC
- Green Golf Courses - MRSC
- Pesticides and Integrated Pest Management - MRSC
- Water Quality Best Management Practices for Operation and Maintenance of Publicly-Owned Property ( 286 KB), Clark County Public Works in Cooperation with City of Vancouver, 2000
Runoff Reduction BMPs - Low Impact Development
- General
- Green Roofs for Healthy Cities
- Kitsap Home Builders Foundation Low Impact Development
- Low-Impact Development - EPA
- Low Impact Development - Puget Sound Partnership
- Low Impact Development Technical Guidance Manual for Puget Sound ( 7.73 MB), Revised May 2005
- Low Impact Development: An Alternative Approach to Site Design, by Asa Foss, PAS Memo, May/June 2005. MRSC Library Loan
- Stormwater Phase II Action Alert ( 162 KB) - American Forests - Re use of trees to reduce run-off
- Urban Subwatershed Restoration Manual Series - Center for Watershed Protection
- Local Government Provisions
- Bellingham Ordinance No. 2001-01-001 ( 840 KB) - Regarding land use controls in Lake Whatcom Watershed (Silver Beach Neighborhood), and adopting limits on permitted uses, impervious area, earthwork and related water quality protection measures, 1-01
- Bothell Ordinance No 1988 (2008) ( 57 KB)- Provides low impact development (LID) regulations within the Fitzgerald/35th Avenue SE Subarea, press release included.
- Lacey, WA Ordinance No. 1113 - Lacey's Zero Effect Drainage Discharge Ordinance
- Pierce County Low Impact Development - WSU Extension
- Port Angeles Ordinance No. 3293 ( 1.53 MB)- Adds Planned Low Impact Development Zone, passed 8-07
- Tumwater Municipal Code Ch. 13.22 - Zero Effect Drainage Discharge
- Snohomish County Ordinance No. 03-037 ( 67 KB) - Extending Reduced Drainage Discharge Housing Demonstration Program, and Reenacting Ch. 30.34B of Snohomish County Code
- Snohomish Ordinance No. 06-044 ( 127 KB) - Adds Ch. 30.63C, low impact development; makes available for use the low impact development technical guidance manual for Puget Sound, adopted 6-28-06
- Snohomish County Ordinance No. 06-115 ( 1.58 MB) - Requires use of low impact development techniques for new development in Little Bear Watershed, adopted 12-06
- Bellingham Ordinance No. 2001-01-001 (
- Statutes allowing reduction of storm water charges for any new or remodeled commercial building that utilizes a permissive rainwater harvesting system
- RCW 35.67.020 (3) - Re sewage systems
- RCW 35.92.020 (3) - Re municipal utilities
- RCW 36.89.080(2) - Re storm water control
- RCW 57.08.005(6)(b) Re water-sewer districts
- RCW 86.15.160 (4) - Re flood control zone districts
- Ordinances - Storm Water Rate Reductions for Rainwater Catchment Systems
- Kitsap County Ordinance No. 315-2004 ( 122 KB)- Amends Kitsap County Code 12.40.050 to establish a surface and stormwater management program rate reduction for permissive rainwater harvesting systems, infiltration systems, and direct discharge systems.
- Snohomish County Ordinances 05-102 and 05-103 provide reductions in surface water management rates and charges for commercial properties with approved rainwater harvesting systems, passed 10-05
Treatment BMPs
- Kitsap County Ordinance No. 315-2004 (
- Organizations
- Portland Office of Sustainable Development - Rainwater Harvesting
- San Juan County (WRIA 2) Rainwater Collection - Department of Ecology
- Seattle Promotes Rainwater Harvesting for Beneficial Use, Seattle DPD News, April 1, 2008
- Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting ( 2.42 MB), 3rd Ed., Texas Water Development Board, 2005
- Runoff Treatment BMP, Volume V, Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington, April 2005, Washington State Department of Ecology
- Runoff Treatment Facility Design, Ch 5 ( 14 MB), Stormwater Management Manual for Eastern Washington, 2004
- Storm Water Phase II Final Rule Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping (
37 KB), EPA Fact Sheet 2-8, Revised 2005
- Bellingham Getting Less from a Lot ( 272 KB), American Public Works Association Technical Innovation Award, 2005
- Spokane County Grassy Swales
- Maple Valley Ordinance No. O-02-198 ( 86 KB) - Provides storm water pond landscaping regulations on storm water facilities, passed 7-02.
- Rain Gardens
- Reining in the Rain: A Case Study of the City of Bellingham's Use of Rain Gardens to Control Stormwater ( 281 KB) - Puget Sound Action Team, March 2004 in Partnership for Puget's Sound Archives
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Rain Gardens Infiltrating Wisconsin!
- Reining in the Rain: A Case Study of the City of Bellingham's Use of Rain Gardens to Control Stormwater (