Stormwater

Effective stormwater management preserves watersheds by preventing erosion, reducing pollution, preserving ecosystems, and protecting both open waters and fresh water supplies. With federal and state standards consistently tightening, cities and suburban areas continuing to grow steadily, and climate change potentially increasing the probability of extreme weather events, it has never been more important to effectively control, convey, and treat stormwater.

Stormwater BMP systems can often replace the need for expensive storm sewers, providing natural treatment of stormwater, groundwater replenishment, and a beautiful wetland habitat for native flora and fauna.

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Stormwater Pioneer

At Hazen and Sawyer, we offer sustainable, watershed-based approaches to stormwater management. We have done extensive work that focuses on reducing stormwater runoff by employing Low Impact Development techniques and Better Site Design practices and naturally treating stormwater runoff through Best Management Practices (BMPs).

This more sustainable alternative applies a comprehensive, watershed-based approach that minimizes the conveyance of stormwater, maximizes upstream infiltration and treatment, and uses natural features, such as creeks, streams, and swales, to move as much of the water as required and aesthetically enhance the area. Natural features are supplemented with engineered structures to ensure drainage of developed areas, existing roads and infrastructure, and interface with collection and treatment systems. This approach vastly reduces the construction and maintenance cost of the stormwater infrastructure, can recharge groundwater aquifers and restore wetlands, and better withstand intense storm events than conventional infrastructure alone.

Low Impact Development (LID) and Better Site Design is a comprehensive land planning and engineering design approach with a goal of maintaining and enhancing the pre-development hydrologic regime of urban and developing watersheds. LID sustainably achieves stormwater runoff control, at the source of runoff, by using site designed techniques that store, infiltrate, evaporate, and detain runoff.

The Staten Island Bluebelt BMPs employ the same LID hydrologic functions such as infiltration, evapotranspiration, and runoff reuse. By integrating these aspects, Hazen and Sawyer is able to reduce imperiousness area, reduce piping, improve functional grading, promote open channel sections, and incorporate bioretention and filtration landscape areas.

With our experience, know-how, and technology to help you tackle all your stormwater issues, you can confidently – and cost-effectively – meet necessary standards and help sustain the environment. Our forward-minded approach leads to enhanced effectiveness of design infrastructure, lowered costs, and improved water quality.

Our toolkit includes:

• Understanding of latest technology and BMPs
• Expertise with engineered wetlands and environmental restoration
• In-depth, up-to-date understanding of climate change and how it may affect operations
• Extensive experience with modeling and GIS
• Detailed knowledge of state and federal regulations, and diligent tracking of regulatory changes to TMDLs and NPDESs

Utilizing our talented staff with real-world experience, we skillfully design economical solutions that fully address your today’s challenges, and tomorrow’s. We can guide you successfully through increasingly stringent regulations, changing climatic conditions, and continued community growth to a successful stormwater management program.

Stormwater @ Hazen and Sawyer

Sandeep Mehrotra, P.E.
Group Leader

Our talented staff is at the forefront of the development and use of Best Management Practices, leveraging the power of natural processes to solve engineering challenges. We’ve also been a pioneer in Low Impact Development and Better Site Design, laying the groundwork for a smarter, more cost-effective future for stormwater management.

We specialize in watershed-level planning based on hydrologic models, which maximizes benefits, minimizes costs, and can open the door for grant funding and other cost-sharing opportunities.