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04/28/2025 2:17 pm

Stormwater Smart Initiative

Updated: Apr 28, 2025

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How We Work Smarter Work We're Doing Stormwater Educational Displays

Raleigh Stormwater is "Stormwater Smart." Our goal is to be the "smartest" stormwater program possible. We're focused on providing the most innovative, cost-effective, and equitable services to you and the entire community. You pay for these services through the stormwater utility fee. 

Are you interested in what we're doing? Look for information tagged with #StormwaterSmart on our X (Twitter) account and Facebook account.

How We Work Smarter

Here's what we plan to do better! Services will do more to reduce impacts from flooding, erosion, and water pollution in Raleigh.

  1. Get diverse community input on projects and policies. We want to understand your needs and identify good, equitable solutions to stormwater issues. 
  2. Plan projects looking at the entire watershed instead of focusing on one project or area at a time. This will help us upgrade the stormwater system in your neighborhood in a holistic way. 
  3. Improve how we track flooding and handle impacts from hazardous flooding.
  4. Use green stormwater infrastructure on projects to help keep pollution out of waterways. 
  5. Require better design and stormwater controls on buildings. This will help keep sediment - a major cause of pollution - on sites and out of streams. It also will manage how stormwater flows from a property, which helps reduce flooding.
  6. Make sure we are reaching and engaging with you. This includes using trusted, established channels and working with community leaders/groups.

See specific Stormwater Smart Goals.

Work We're Doing

A planted area at Raleigh Rose Garden that helps protect Beaverdam Creek from water pollution.

A planted bioretention area at Raleigh Rose Garden that helps protect Beaverdam Creek from water pollution. 

A construction worker installing a camera to monitor flooding

A camera used to track road flooding in Raleigh. The camera helps us see when an area is flooding so we can put proper safety measures in place. 

A creek flooding the greenway bridge on Rose Lane

Creek flooding over a greenway bridge on Rose Lane.

A view of the USGS rain gauge installed at Fire Station 15 in Raleigh.

A view of the USGS rain gauge installed at Fire Station 15 in Raleigh. The gauge will tell us how much rain is falling in this area. 

Stormwater Educational Displays

Scroll through the images to learn more about the stormwater educational displays installed in Raleigh!

Walnut Creek Gravel Wetland Educational Display

Healing Continuum

The Healing Continuum sculpture serves as educational art that informs and engages the community about the Walnut Creek Gravel Wetland. The gravel wetland slows down and captures runoff coming from Peterson Street and other nearby streets, sidewalks, and buildings, and removes pollutants before it enters Watson Branch, which then drains into Walnut Creek. In addition to its water quality benefits, the gravel wetland is planted with native plants to provide habitat and food sources for birds, butterflies, and other wildlife.

On the side of the sculpture facing the creek, visitors will find a diagram of the wetland and its components, a built-in window for viewing the wetland, and a description of how it functions. 

Alluvial Decoder Floodplain Cyclist Mural

Photo by Negin Naseri

Resources

 

Learn About Stormwater

Stormwater System and Projects

Drainage Assistance Program

Contact

 

Wayne Miles, PE
Stormwater Program Manager
wayne.miles@raleighnc.gov
919-996-3964

Back to Stormwater
Department:
Engineering Services

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