The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created the National Stormwater Calculator, a desktop application that estimates the annual amount of rainwater and frequency of runoff from a specific site anywhere in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). Estimates are based on local soil conditions, land cover and historic rainfall records.
It’s designed to be used by anyone interested in reducing runoff from a property, including site developers, landscape architects, urban planners and homeowners.
The user supplies information about the site’s land cover and selects the types of low-impact development (LID) controls he or she would like to use. The LID controls the user can choose include seven green infrastructure practices:
- Disconnection;
- Rain harvesting;
- Rain gardens;
- Green roofs;
- Street planters;
- Infiltration basins; and
- Porous pavement.
The Calculator helps protect and restore the environmental integrity of waterways. For more information or to download, visit the EPA’s National Stormwater Calculator page.
