WHAT IS A STORMWATER BMP? A COMPLETE GUIDE FOR PROPERTY OWNERS & MANAGERS

Understand Your Stormwater BMP — Before Problems Start

Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) are engineered systems that protect your property, your community, and your local environment from flooding, erosion, and water-quality issues. This guide explains what they are, how they work, and why they must be maintained.

Schedule a Stormwater BMP Inspection

WHAT IS A STORMWATER BMP?

A Stormwater BMP (Best Management Practice) is an engineered system designed to manage, control, and filter stormwater runoff.

Its purpose is to:

  • Prevent flooding

  • Reduce erosion

  • Protect water quality

  • Capture or slow stormwater

  • Filter pollutants before they reach downstream systems

  • Prevent structural damage to surrounding land

BMPs are required under NPDES and MS4 stormwater regulations for properties across the United States.

Key Insight:
 BMPs are not natural features. They are man-made systems that require ongoing inspections, cleaning, and maintenance to function properly.

WHY BMPs MATTER

Stormwater BMPs Are Critical Infrastructure — Just Like Roads, Pipes, and Utilities

When BMPs fail or clog, the entire property is impacted.

Consequences of neglected BMPs:

  • Flooding of yards, paths, greens, roads, and buildings

  • Erosion along slopes, embankments, and pond edges

  • Sediment buildup leading to pond shallowing

  • Poor water quality, algae blooms, and contamination

  • Sinkholes, washouts, and infrastructure undermining

  • Regulatory violations, fines, and NOVs

  • Higher long-term repair costs

A healthy BMP protects:

  • Property value

  • Aesthetics

  • Resident/member experience

  • Environmental health

  • Compliance status

  • Your bottom line

Worker laying rocks and using tools to build a structure along a riverbank.

COMMON TYPES OF STORMWATER BMPs

1. Retention & Detention Ponds

Engineered basins designed to capture, store, and slowly release stormwater.
Common problems: erosion, sediment buildup, bank failure, clogged inlets/outlets.

2. Bioswales & Swales

Shallow, vegetated channels that move stormwater while filtering pollutants.
Common problems: improper grading, sedimentation, vegetation loss.

3. Permeable Pavement BMPs

Allows water to pass through instead of running off.
Common problems: clogging from sediment and organics.

4. Rain Gardens / Bioretention Areas

Capture and infiltrate runoff using soil, plants, and engineered media.
Common problems: ponding, plant death, clogging, soil compaction.

5. Drainage Systems & Catch Basins

Move water off surfaces and into controlled conveyance pathways.
Common problems: pipe collapse, clogging, root intrusion, basin overflow.

6. Outfalls & Energy Dissipation Systems

Where stormwater exits the system into a pond, creek, or channel.
Common problems: scour, blowouts, undermining, bank collapse.

7. Infiltration Trenches & Filters

Allow runoff to soak into the ground.
Common problems: clogging, failure to infiltrate, sediment migration.

WHY BMP MAINTENANCE IS REQUIRED

Stormwater BMPs must be inspected and maintained — it’s the law.

Under MS4 and NPDES regulations, properties are responsible for keeping their BMPs functioning.
Failure to maintain them leads to:

  • NOVs (Notices of Violation)

  • Fines

  • Required emergency repairs

  • Increased liability

  • Environmental penalties

Common required maintenance activities:

  • Sediment and debris removal

  • Clearing inlets/outlets

  • Shoreline stabilization and erosion control

  • Drainage pipe cleaning

  • Vegetation restoration

  • Outfall and structure cleaning

  • Grading correction

  • Bank and slope repair

Important:
 Most BMP failures happen because nobody is performing routine maintenance.

 SIGNS YOUR BMP IS FAILING

Use this as a diagnostic checklist:

  • Standing water where it shouldn’t be

  • Erosion, washouts, or slumping banks

  • Sediment buildup, murky water, or browning pond edges

  • Iron staining or algae blooms

  • Clogged drainage structures

  • Water flowing around, not through, the system

  • Overflowing catch basins or inlets

  • Outfalls washing out or scouring holes

  • Sinkholes or depressions near stormwater features

If any of these are happening, the BMP is underperforming or failing.

Group of workers constructing a stone wall outdoors on a sunny day, with trees and a grassy area in the background.

OUR BMP SUPPORT SERVICES

Constructed retaining wall along a small river in a wooded area under bright sunlight.

We offer full-service support for stormwater BMPs, including:

  • Stormwater BMP inspections (CEPSCI standards)

  • Annual and quarterly maintenance plans

  • Sediment removal and erosion repair

  • Drainage system cleaning and restoration

  • Outfall stabilization

  • Bank and slope reinforcement

  • Vegetation and ecosystem rebuilding

  • Reporting and compliance documentation

We evaluate your BMP like a regulator—but help you fix issues before fines or failures.

WHO THIS PAGE IS FOR

This BMP guide is designed for:

  • HOA property managers

  • Golf course superintendents

  • Municipal stormwater staff

  • Commercial facilities

  • Developers and EPC firms

  • Lakefront, pond, and riverfront property owners

Understanding your BMP is the first step to protecting your property.


Construction site with a yellow excavator lifting a large log while two workers observe, on a sunny day with blue sky and scattered clouds.

Know the Condition of Your Stormwater BMP Before the Next Storm

A stormwater BMP isn’t a pond, ditch, or pretty landscape feature —
it’s an engineered system that protects your property from disaster.

Schedule a BMP Inspection