Your Blog for Stormwater Resources
Most people aren’t aware of why stormwater resources are important to cities, how it affects neighborhoods, or the benefits of upgrading to stormwater best management practices. We want to change that.
Here you’ll learn how stormwater fits into your everyday experience and what it can do for you. Click around to explore information and stories from experts, professionals, and real people.
Current Number of Incentive Programs
Recent Drops
Managing Yard Drainage: From French Drains to Dry Wells
(Or How to Get Water to Mind Its Manners). This is a very broad overview of words around drainage ("rainage" should be a word) that you might come across OR simply need to know about. Sort of a stream of consciousness on stormwater. Start with Gutters Properly...
Rain Barrels vs. Cisterns: How to Harvest Rainwater
Common Sense Managing rain where it falls isn’t just a homeowner’s trick—it’s common sense infrastructure. By capturing roof runoff, property owners ease pressure on storm drains, reduce localized flooding, and save money on water. Whether it’s a modest barrel or a...
Why Aren’t My Permeable Pavers Draining? (…and other driveway mysteries)
Permeable Pavers: How They Work Permeable pavements are supposed to make you feel like an eco‑wizard. They let water infiltrate through the surface and into a stone bed, reducing ponding and recharging groundwater. They even reflect more heat than traditional paving...
🌿 Breathe Easy with Native Landscaping: Allergy Relief in SoCal Yards
Taking out turf and adding in native plants can help your allergies. Tired of itchy eyes, stuffy noses, and relentless sneezes when you step outside? Your yard might be part of the problem—or the solution. In Southern California, native landscaping isn't just...
Rain Gardens, Coast to Coast: Same Idea, Different Drama 🌧️🌵
“Oh, that? That’s Splashley Olsen. She keeps 500 gallons out of the sewer every storm.” Mic drop. TLDR: Rain gardens are shallow, planted basins that catch stormwater from roofs and driveways, let it soak into the ground, and filter out pollutants before they hit...
Can Stormwater Be Filtered Clean? Cities Betting on a New Water Future
The rain comes. It comes fast. It comes dirty. And the water—listen—it doesn’t just go away. No. It takes. It drags. It carries the city with it. Plastic bags. Car grease. Dust from tires. Tiny bits of nothing. Tiny bits of everything. We call them microplastics. Cute...
Rain Barrels in Austin, Texas
💦 Make It Rain: How to Upgrade Your Rain Barrels Without the Headache in Austin, TX Let’s talk about something sexy: Austin rain barrels. Okay, maybe not sexy—but if you’ve ever watched your garden perk up after a summer shower or grimaced at your water bill, you’ll...
How to Slightly Ease Your Climate Anxiety
At Rainplan, we believe that a little action goes a long way—especially when it comes to managing stormwater and making your home more climate-resilient. Let’s be honest: climate anxiety is real—and growing. You feel it when you scroll through wildfire maps.You feel...
Stormwater Runoff and Sports
Stormwater Runoff and Sports When we think about sporting events, our minds usually drift to thrilling victories, legendary plays, and the electric atmosphere of the stadium. But behind the scenes, there's an often overlooked, yet crucial player that can turn an epic...
Creative Ways to Cover Rain Barrels
Rain Harvesting with Rain Barrels Saving on water bills and water for our gardens or lawns is becoming even more important. One way homeowners can save is by harvesting rainwater with a rain barrel. However, many homeowners hesitate to install rain barrels because...
The Future of Stormwater Management: Emerging Trends
The Future of Stormwater Management: Emerging Trends Stormwater management is an essential aspect of urban planning and environmental conservation, but it’s not the topic that sizzles like solar or carbon capture. As climate change intensifies and urbanization...
Equity in Stormwater Infrastructure: The Future of Sustainable Cities
Equity in stormwater infrastructure is a vital component of urban infrastructure, especially in densely populated areas. It helps prevent flooding, protects water quality, and ensures a sustainable future for cities. However, to build resilient and equitable urban...
Why Nature-based Solutions Now?
Resurfacing Urban Cities: The Green Revolution with Nature-based Solutions In our bustling urban jungles, where concrete and steel dominate the landscape, the fight against urban heat often feels like an uphill battle. But what if there's a natural ally in our quest...
Decisions with Ditching Your Grassy Lawn for Native Landscaping
TLDR: Native Landscaping is getting a boost at the moment during extended droughts, but depending on your area and budget-you might want to consider everything that goes into a transformation.Ditching the Grass: Going Natural with Native Landscaping If you're tired of...
An Intro to Stormwater Credit Trading Programs
TLDR: Stormwater Retention Credits, also called Stormwater Credit Trading Programs, are ways to benefit developers and property owners by buying and selling stormwater best management practices. What are Stormwater Credit Trading Programs? Stormwater credit...
Stormwater Innovation and Affordable Housing Developers
TLDR: Utilizing commercial stormwater incentives can help affordable housing developers expound upon tax credits while being more successful in competitive real estate markets. Affordable housing development faces numerous challenges making exploring innovative...
Enhanced towns & cities: building community green infrastructure
TLDR: Utilizing grants, stormwater management programs, and community empowerment can lead to building community green infrastructure that solves drainage problems aesthetically pleasingly. When it comes to building community green infrastructure, it takes a...
Green Banks: Capitalism Courts Climate Change (Finally!)
TLDR: See the infographics below for quick education content.With the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), types of green finance and how they will be utilized have become of interest to not only the public but also investors. The IRA was a large package...
How to Winterize Green Infrastructure at Home
As the leaves change and temperatures dwindle day after day, you have probably noticed you need to begin prepping for the colder seasons. With those changes comes the time to winterize your yard for those sub-freezing temperatures and winter precipitation. You...
How to Do a Percolation Test
What is a percolation test? A percolation test often referred to as a “perc test,” determines how quickly water can move through the soil when saturated. You might already have observed the impacts of this during a heavy rainstorm! Perc tests can be done by either a...
What is a Green Bank?
Green Investment Banks: Types of Green Finance With the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act, types of green finance have become of interest to the public, as has an interest in a coalition for green capital. The Inflation Reduction Act was a large package involving...
Best Residential Rainwater Harvesting System
Interested in investing in a rainwater harvesting system but do not know where to start? That's ok. With a mountain of options, often complex local and state regulations, and confusing or nonexistent stormwater management incentives - it can be overwhelming to know...
Rain Water Collection: Illegal or Ok?
Recently we posted about residential rainwater collection systems on social media, and it ignited a discussion on whether having a rain barrel was legal or not in their state. We won't bury the lead here, and rainwater harvesting methods are legal in all 50 states....
Stormwater Management: Takoma Park, MD
If your property repeatedly flooded due to poor stormwater management and water coming from further uphill, what would you do to fix it? Would you try and control the flooding on your own lawn or go directly to the source? Even if that meant you pay your uphill...
Commercial Property Drought Landscaping
With cities moving into stricter water conservation methods, it has never been a better time to transform commercial property drought landscaping. You might have heard of xeriscape gardens or done your own research for the best rain barrels. Still,...
Rain Barrel Ideas for Summer
Did you come to this post looking for rain barrel ideas and information? You’re not alone! With summer technically just starting and the heat index in many areas hitting record highs, many property owners are thinking of creative ways to maintain their yards or keep their soils drought resistant. Using rainwater is one of the best ways to maximize Mother Nature, plus a great utility savings hack.
Drought-Resistant Design: Xeriscaping on a Budget
Drought-resistant landscaping is the new American culture, and many look for ways to start xeriscaping on a budget. Some might find it hard to give up the “lush green yard.” Universities, churches, and commercial buildings like cozy curb appeal and presentation can help sell a message, introduce a persona to your business, and demonstrate commitment to conservation. Still, as more cities adopt stormwater utility fees, higher water bills, and water restrictions, it makes perfect sense for property owners to transition to sustainable landscaping designs. Can this get pricey? Yes. However, we show you ways to incorporate stormwater incentives to make your xeriscaping on a budget a doable process.
Impervious Surfaces and Environmental Impact
When permitting or applying for a stormwater incentive, you might see the phrase, “impervious surface”. An impervious surface is an area where water can not seep into the group, and because of this, it causes water runoff. Let’s look at how this can compound poor water quality in neighborhoods and the types of impervious surfaces you should consider on your lot.
The Property Owner Guide to Stormwater Utility Fees
Stormwater utility fees are becoming more popular in metropolitan areas due to declining water quality from runoff. We break down the basics of what stormwater fee charges are, where you find them, and how to stop or lower your bills.
Selecting a Green Infrastructure Contractor
Hiring a professional green infrastructure contractor can be difficult, technical, and outright confusing. Learn what to ask.
Green Tech Startups to Energize Your Earth Day
Five (5) sustainable startups to energize your earth day discoveries. Here’s a list of startups dedicated to fighting climate change in unique ways.
Financial Literacy: Can Stormwater Be a Tax Benefit?
Financial Literacy 101: Can Expenditures or Investments in voluntary stormwater retrofits provide property owners a tax benefit? Since it is financial literacy month, it seemed timely to scope out an overview of the tax benefits of stormwater retrofits....
SWPPP: What to Include for A Successful Application
Having a plan to reduce your pollution is good for a lot of reasons, but it’s essential if you’re looking to break ground on a construction project. Understand what goes into submitting a winning SWPPP.
What is a Rain Garden and How does it Work?
Wondering about rain gardens? This quick post gives you insight into what a rain garden is, how it works, and the rain garden design process.
Stormwater Problems and Solutions
If you’re assessing a new property or putting one up for sale, you need to be informed. We’ve laid out the top issues that we hear from private property owners, some of the causes, and stormwater best management practices that we would usually recommend. The good news...
Catch the Rain: Rainwater Harvesting Systems
Explore the types of rain water harvesting systems to discover the benefits and features of each, so you can decide which type is right for you.
What a Sustainable Society Would Emphasize
What is the Triple Bottom Line Concept and How Can Green Infrastructure Play a Role? The Triple Bottom Line concept is a framework of what a sustainable society would emphasize meant to encourage businesses to consider their social, environmental and financial...
What are Stormwater Retention Credits?
Stormwater retention credits are created through projects that implement stormwater management practices to store, detain, or treat stormwater runoff. The property owner who has implemented GI on their site is the one who is allowed to sell the credits granted to them by the local municipal program.
Stormwater and ESG Investing
Stormwater and ESG Investing Trends On February 17th, 2022, a company called Actual seemingly started to crack an ESG investing trend most companies were struggling with: how to collect and visualize data when it comes to showcasing sustainable practices. Actual...
What are Stormwater Best Management Practices?
If you have ever worked with an engineer, you might be used to hearing the word drainage and the phrase ‘stormwater best management practices’. Often we have found that when clients start to dive into the world of design and structural planning, the terminology from experts in the field begins to confuse the process. We break down what exactly they mean when talking about BMPs.
What is Stormwater Management?
What is Stormwater & Why Does the Government Care about It? Stormwater drainage is a massive topic in 2022. As more severe weather patterns emerge, governments are focusing on declining infrastructure. We often don't think about it, but the United States is a...
Urban Runoff
The Row Home and Urban Runoff Rowhomes are a popular architecture design in densely populated urban areas, but did you know that row home design had urban runoff in mind? With each passing generation, the world faces new challenges and must continue to rise to the...
Intro to Green Infrastructure | Stormwater Systems
Wet Weather Turns into Water Runoff Stormwater runoff is the single largest cause of water pollution, flooding and property damage. According to FEMA, just one inch of rain can cause $25,000 of damage to your home. More than 22.4 million US properties are at risk of...
Permeable Pavers: A Better Option for Driveways
The most cost effective concrete driveways are constructed from permeable pavers.
SRC Program: Yellow Cab Company
Using Rainplan, Yellow Enterprises located at 1336 Bladensburg Ave Washington, DC 20002 was able to benefit from local incentives available to property owners within the City to upgrade their parking lot with a bio-retention “rain garden” facility that treats approximately 39K gallons of water per the first inch of rain.
Types of stormwater incentive programs
As part of our commitment to the long-term greening of the country’s stormwater infrastructure, we help clarify the available incentive programs also known as government subsidies. The government wants you to have a rain plan.
Expert Tips: Green Roof Maintenance
You installed your green roof and with winter approaching you wonder what happens next. It might be tempting to walk away from it during the cold months and re-adjust come spring, but even green roofs need TLC during winter. Mike White of Connect Contracting writes more about caring for your new investment.
Why Green Roofs Are the Best Project for 2022
Green roofs last twice as long, minimize sound, refract heat away from your home and neighbors, plus they’re becoming an affordable investment to standard roofs.
Water Runoff in Chesapeake Bay
A case study about how Washington DC homeowner Tom Bulger built a Rain Garden and leveraged incentives to address water runoff in Chesapeake Bay.
