Stormwater/Erosion

Precipitation events, such as rain events, and temperature events, such as snowmelt events, cause stormwater runoff. The EPA defines stormwater runoff as  “rain or snowmelt that flows over land and does not percolate into the soil,” occurring naturally from most land surfaces, and distinctly during storm events.

Typical erosion rates from stormwater runoff for land-based activities vary from less than one ton of sediment per acre each year on forest land, to one ton of sediment per acre each year on active pasture farm land, to about 4.7 tons of sediment per acre each year on row crop farm land — one tenth of construction.

The Virginia Conservation Assistance Program (VCAP) is an urban cost-share program that provides financial incentives and technical and educational assistance to property owners installing eligible Best Management Practices (BMP’s) in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay Watershed. These practices can be installed in areas of your yard where problems like erosion, poor drainage, or poor vegetation occur. Qualified sites shall be used for residential, commercial, or recreational purposes with a proposed practice that addresses a need.

The overall program goal is to encourage homeowners, homeowner associations, businesses, municipalities, churches, etc., to install stormwater retrofits that will provide nutrient and/or sediment reductions that can be credited toward accomplishing Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) goals.

This courses covers the causes and impacts of stormwater erosion and what options you may have to mitigate the issue on your own property.