stormwater

What is Stormwater?

Stormwater is rainwater or melted snow that runs off streets, lawns, and other surfaces after it rains or snows. It can also include water that soaks into the ground but then flows into streams and rivers or replenishes aquifers. Stormwater can also evaporate back into the atmosphere.

What stormwater infrastructure does Spalding County have?

Stormwater Basics

In undeveloped areas, precipitation soaks into the ground. When buildings, parking lots, roads and other impervious surfaces are added to the landscape, the ground cannot absorb the water. Water from rainfall, or stormwater, instead flows over land, streets, parking lots and roofs and into a water bodies or storm drains.

Stormwater runoff can contain pollutants from the area it runs through. Because stormwater flows over hard surfaces directly into a water body or storm drain, there is no opportunity for soil and plants or a water treatment facility to filter out pollutants. Urban and suburban areas produce much more stormwater runoff due to the high amount of paved and hard surfaces that can lead to issues such as:

‍Flooding
‍When excess water has nowhere to go, flooding can impact property and cause damage to land and structures. Flooding can also be a public safety issue that affects entire communities.

‍Pollution and Health Impacts
‍Stormwater picks up anything that is on the ground and carries it along with it. Animal waste, chemicals, pesticides, oil, and sediment – all end up in waterways and potentially in our sources of drinking water.

‍Streambank Erosion
‍Uncontrolled stormwater can cause streambank erosion, leaving bare soil and exposing tree roots. This can lead to property damage and cause issues with streambank stability.

‍Sedimentation
‍Erosion and runoff can also lead to sedimentation. Sedimentation in waterways from runoff causes changes to aquatic habitats. Undesirable plant growth increases, water becomes more turbid or cloudy which leads to disruption of aquatic ecosystems. Sedimentation also fills in waterways, which can increase flooding potential.