Stormwater Management Planning

Since the inception of the Stormwater Management Program in 2004, the MWRD has assisted local communities in planning, implementing, and financing stormwater projects. Recognizing that expanding traditional countywide planning approaches could take decades, the MWRD developed a new, volume-based approach to expedite stormwater planning and effectively track project implementation.

Volumetric Planning Portal

To establish a flexible, dynamic, and long-term vision for stormwater planning, the MWRD created an innovative approach that provides a straightforward metric for local municipalities. This approach allows communities to easily incorporate stormwater planning into their overall comprehensive plans and timelines for addressing local issues.

The MWRD recognized that the core principle of its Watershed Management Ordinance (WMO)—ensuring volume control and detention are created for new developments to mitigate the negative impacts of runoff—could also serve as a powerful, countywide planning tool. By applying this WMO principle, we can estimate the stormwater storage volume needed across various watersheds. This simple, volume-based metric serves as the foundation of a planning tool that places every community’s stormwater needs on common ground.

To support this, the MWRD created Stormwater Central, an online platform that allows communities and other agencies to easily access information from a comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) database. This GIS data will be continuously updated in response to climate change, new rainfall data, and evolving development trends. This ensures the information remains relevant and readily integrates into each community’s changing priorities and planning efforts.

The key feature of the platform is the Stormwater Project and Data Explorer, a dynamic tool that allows users to easily navigate, interact with, and visualize the available data on Stormwater Central.

A Living Resource

Building on this robust GIS foundation, Stormwater Central is designed to grow and evolve alongside the region’s needs. As we look to further streamline planning processes and help communities conceptualize and implement projects, the MWRD will continually explore new ways to enhance the platform's capabilities.

By maintaining Stormwater Central as a dynamic resource, we aim to continually reduce the need for costly preliminary planning studies and ensure that local communities always have the most effective information available to support their stormwater management goals.