Stormwater Wetlands
Description
Stormwater wetlands are constructed stormwater management practices, not natural wetlands. Like ponds, they can contain a permanent pool and temporary storage for water quality control and runoff quantity control. Wetlands are widely applicable stormwater treatment practices that provide both water quality treatment and water quantity control. Stormwater wetlands are best suited for drainage areas of at least 10 acres. When designed and maintained properly, stormwater wetlands can be an important aesthetic feature of a site.
Benefits
Pollutants are removed from stormwater runoff in a wetland through uptake by wetland vegetation and biota (algae, bacterial), vegetative filtering, soil adsorption, and gravitational settling in the slow moving marsh flow. Volatilization and chemical activity can also occur, breaking down and assimilating a number of other stormwater contaminants such as hydrocarbons. Stormwater wetlands have the advantage of providing both educational and habitat value.