urban conservation practices

Residential and urban landscapes generate runoff with almost every rainfall event. Conservation measures capture and infiltrate stormwater and reduce a property's contribution to water quality degradation, flashy stream flows and flooding.

Communities benefit from urban conservation in installing new systems and retrofitting existing infrastructure so that water will move off streets, keeping soil and pollutants out of our waterways. The practices listed here are the best practices for preventing runoff and promoting infiltration.

Helping homeowners and urban landowners improve water quality
In Iowa, rainfall averages anywhere from 28-36 inches per year. That means an acre of land, whether it is in town or out in the country, will receive anywhere from 760,000 to 977,500 gallons of rain in a typical year.

Current storm water management efforts focus on moving the water away as quickly as possible. The result is litter and pollutants being washed into a storm drain and being carried to the nearest river, lake or stream during each and every rainfall. It also creates rushes of water that result in dramatic changes in stream levels that contribute to stream bank erosion and even flash flooding.

So, it is important for all Iowans to take steps to better manage the rain that falls on their property, with a focus on preventing runoff and promoting infiltration. One step is to use the Unified Sizing Criteria, a comprehensive approach to stormwater management systems. It uses measurement standards to meet flooding, health, safety, and water quality goals. These criteria are used to design these best management practices that meet desired treatment objectives. See the Unified Sizing Criteria brochure for more information.