Cited by 204Urban Stormwater Management SolutionsHydrology and Watershed Management StudiesIntegrated Water Resources Management

Stormwater management network effectiveness and implications for urban watershed function: A critical review

Jefferson, Anne J., Bhaskar, Aditi S., Hopkins, Kristina G., Fanelli, Rosemary, Avellaneda, Pedro M., McMillan, Sara K.·2017·Hydrological Processes

Abstract

Deleterious effects of urban stormwater are widely recognized. In several countries, regulations have been put into place to improve the conditions of receiving water bodies, but planning and engineering of stormwater control is typically carried out at smaller scales. Quantifying cumulative effectiveness of many stormwater control measures on a watershed scale is critical to understanding how small‐scale practices translate to urban river health. We review 100 empirical and modelling studies of stormwater management effectiveness at the watershed scale in diverse physiographic settings. Effects of networks with stormwater control measures (SCMs) that promote infiltration and harvest have been more intensively studied than have detention‐based SCM networks. Studies of peak flows and flow volumes are common, whereas baseflow, groundwater recharge, and evapotranspiration have received comparatively little attention. Export of nutrients and suspended sediments have been the primary water quality focus in the United States, whereas metals, particularly those associated with sediments, have received greater attention in Europe and Australia. Often, quantifying cumulative effects of stormwater management is complicated by needing to separate its signal from the signal of urbanization itself, innate watershed characteristics that lead to a range of hydrologic and water quality responses, and the varying functions of multiple types of SCMs. Biases in geographic distribution of study areas, and size and impervious surface cover of watersheds studied also limit our understanding of responses. We propose hysteretic trajectories for how watershed function responds to increasing imperviousness and stormwater management. Even where impervious area is treated with SCMs, watershed function may not be restored to its predevelopment condition because of the lack of treatment of all stormwater generated from impervious surfaces; non‐additive effects of individual SCMs; and persistence of urban effects beyond impervious surfaces. In most cases, pollutant load decreases largely result from run‐off reductions rather than lowered solute or particulate concentrations. Understanding interactions between natural and built landscapes, including stormwater management strategies, is critical for successfully managing detrimental impacts of stormwater at the watershed scale.

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Crossref · 10.1002/hyp.11347

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Authors
Jefferson, A. J., Bhaskar, A. S., Hopkins, K. G., Fanelli, R., Avellaneda, P. M., & McMillan, S. K.
Affiliations
  • Kent State University (US)
  • Colorado State University (US)
  • United States Geological Survey (US)
  • Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
Corresponding author
Jefferson, Anne J.
Venue
Hydrological Processes
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2017-10-03
Volume
31
Issue
23
Pages
4056-4080
ISSN
  • 0885-6087 (ISSN-L)
  • 1099-1085
OpenAlex
W2750618168
Cited by
203
References
159
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 12
FWCI
8.11
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Hydrological Processes (publishedVersion)
Funders
Kent State University
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Urban Stormwater Management Solutions
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Integrated Water Resources Management
Keywords
stormwater management, stormwater control measures, impervious cover, detention, peak flow reduction, baseflow, groundwater recharge, evapotranspiration, nutrient export, suspended sediment, metals, urbanization, pollutant load

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