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Stormwater Facilities and Maintenance

A blurred outdoor scene with greenery and what appears to be a grate or grid on the ground.
This Grass Swale intercepts stormwater and provides water quality treatment for the surrounding area.

All new construction and redevelopment sites in the SEMSWA service area are required to provide stormwater controls to address higher runoff volumes and pollutant loads associated with an increase in impervious surfaces, such as rooftops and parking lots, once the project is completed.  These stormwater controls are here referred to as Stormwater Quality Facilities.

As part of this requirement, these stormwater control facilities must also be properly maintained and routinely inspected to ensure they continue to function well and are not forgotten. Additional signage near the stormwater control facility may serve as a helpful reminder to others.

Unsure if you have a stormwater quality facility on your site? Please see our Maintaining Your Stormwater Feature page.

Operations and Maintenance 

Water quality facilities must be routinely inspected and maintained to ensure functionality. Each water quality facility constructed in the SEMSWA service area will have an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Site Plan and Maintenance Agreement or plat or plan sheet notes on older construction projects. The purpose of these documents is to provide information to the person or entity responsible for the long-term maintenance of the facility on inspection and operation procedures specific to the type of facility and provide mechanisms for ensuring that the long-term maintenance of the facility is performed.

Operations and Maintenance Agreement
Guidance on Inspection and Maintenance of Your Stormwater Quality Facility 

Below are the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for inspection and maintenance procedures specific to the type of stormwater quality facility at your site. These forms provide information on how to conduct inspections, and when to perform maintenance.

Extended Detention Basin (EDB)Grass Buffer / Grass Swall (GB/GS)Porous Landscape Detention (PLD) / Rain Garden / Bioretention FacilitySand Filter Basin (SFB)
Maintenance Agreement 

The Maintenance Agreement for the stormwater quality facility was recorded at the Arapahoe County Recorder’s Office. The document most likely was recorded as a “Notice”. Please contact SEMSWA’s Environmental Specialist at 303-858-8844 for more information on how to obtain a copy.

Construction Drawings Related to Stormwater Quality Facilities 

Do you need a copy of your construction documents? SEMSWA or Arapahoe County Public Works may have what you are looking for. Please contact SEMSWA’s Environmental Specialist at 303-858-8844 for more information on how to obtain a copy.

Does your Stormwater Quality Facility need Maintenance or Repair? 

Contractors Experienced with Maintenance or Repairs of Stormwater Control Facilities

SEMSWA oversees dozens of public stormwater facilities and shares below the names of contractors that have been pre-qualified as part of our RFQ process to identify experienced On-Call Contractors that have construction experience for a facility’s structural repairs and/or experience with maintenance, landscaping and re-vegetation services.

Minor Construction On-Call Contractors 

If you are seeking to maintain or repair the structural components of the facility and need services including a range of construction activities, such as excavation; grading; flatwork; sinkhole repair; pipe install, replacement or repair; inlet or outlet structure install, replacement or repair; and similar, consider one of SEMSWA’s On-Call Contractors for Minor Construction scopes of work:

  • Edge Contracting; Frontier Environmental Services; L&M Enterprises; American West; Naranjo Civil Constructors; and ECI.
Re-vegetation On-Call Contractors 

If you are seeking to maintain your vegetated infiltration facility, and need services including maintenance of irrigation systems, nuisance wildlife, weed control and experience with stormwater facility routine maintenance, covering facilities such as detention and water quality ponds, rain gardens/bioretention/porous landscape design, grass swales, porous pavement, grass buffers, minor channel maintenance consider SEMSWA’s On-Call Contractors for Re-Vegetation and Landscape scopes of work:

  • Arbor Force; Above and Beyond; Habitat Management; L&M Enterprises; and TerraCare Associates.
Certified Stormwater Professionals (Inspection & Maintenance) 

Stormwater professionals may have completed the two-day training course at the Colorado Stormwater Center on the inspection and maintenance of permanent water quality stormwater facilities. These certified stormwater professionals are listed here:

http://stormwatercenter.colostate.edu/certified-professionals/inspection-maintenance/

QUESTIONS? Please contact SEMSWA’s Environmental Specialist at 303-858-8844. Staff are available to discuss your maintenance options and may be able to meet you at your facility for a field site discussion.