Stormwater management has evolved from efforts to quickly drain the runoff from rainfall from streets and other elements of the built environment, which helps prevent flooding, to complex programs that also reduce the pollutants carried by stormwater runoff. These efforts employ a variety of practices that range from constructed ponds to rainfall “gardens” that infiltrate runoff before it reaches the storm drain network.
There are stormwater management programs in each of COG’s member jurisdictions. These programs must meet federal requirements under the Clean Water Act, plus additional state regulatory requirements. The members meet these requirements primarily through compliance with municipal separate storm sewer system permits, known as MS4s.
COG staff assists members in meeting their stormwater management requirements through workshops, peer exchanges, and other ways of sharing information across the region. In Maryland, COG staff coordinates, in conjunction with the Maryland Association of Counties, a dialogue between a statewide group of local governments with (MS4 permits and the Maryland Department of the Environment on regulatory issues. Because the cost of their stormwater management programs is increasing rapidly in response to new regulatory requirements, COG staff is also working with its members to save money on stormwater procurement.
News & Multimedia
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July 10, 2017
Thomas J. Grizzard, Jr., professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech and former director of the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring...
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June 5, 2017
Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania have designated June 3-11 as Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week to recognize the efforts of the many partners working to improve...
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April 20, 2017
Regional Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts are making metropolitan Washington a better place to live, work, and play, according to COG’s Chesapeake Bay and...
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October 13, 2016
COG would like to congratulate District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, and Prince George’s County Executive Rushern...
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June 7, 2016
What do a redesigned New Hampshire Avenue with bike and bus lanes in Takoma Park, a spruced-up 19th Street NW with a raingarden and benches in the District of...
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June 3, 2016
Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania have designated June 4-12 as Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week. Local governments and water utilities across metropolitan...
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January 6, 2016
Although COG Principal Water Resources Planner Lisa Ragain has been working on water protection and communication since the 1990s, her expertise does not end...
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January 15, 2015
2015 State of the Region: Infrastructure Report covers transportation, water, energy, public buildings, and public safety communications systems. Throughout...
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December 30, 2014
In 2014 the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments identified regional infrastructure as its focus and held a series on...