Stormwater Smart Initiative

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.

Get diverse community input on projects and policies. We want to understand your needs and identify good, equitable solutions to stormwater issues.
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.
Improve how we track flooding and handle impacts from hazardous flooding.
Use green stormwater infrastructure on projects to help keep pollution out of waterways.
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.
Make sure we are reaching and engaging with you. This includes using trusted, established channels and working with community leaders/groups.

Goals	Focus
Level of Service	Work with a variety of community organizations and members who have a diverse background and perspective on stormwater issues. Update watershed planning so it is more holistic. Our staff is working to address multiple stormwater needs instead of working on one project at a time. Make sure that the services we provide meet community needs.
Improving our Stormwater Program	Expand our flood monitoring network. We're looking closely at how rainstorms move throughout the city and how that's impacting flooding in the area. Be more efficient by improving how we work and the tools we use to manage the stormwater system. Fix infrastructure before it fails to save money and keep people safe. Use innovative practices and technologies to improve safety warnings when there is flooding.
Good Use of Resources	Leverage new work environments to be more productive and improve work-life balance so that staff continues to provide good customer service. Encourage regulation changes that help keep new development out of floodprone areas. Explore a variety of funding sources to complete more projects in a shorter timeframe.
Collaborate with Others	Work closely with other City of Raleigh departments to deliver integrated services and projects. Do stream restorations with sewer and greenway protection projects. Bring more innovative green stormwater infrastructure to the city to reduce water pollution.
Meet or Exceed Regulatory Requirements	Use better control measures and design standards to reduce stormwater impacts that occur when we build in Raleigh. Be more proactive with stormwater maintenance to save on cost and make the system more reliable. Lower water levels automatically from the office at more lakes across the city. This allows us to work more efficiently and safely. We also can more proactively protect people from downstream flooding.
Build Community Trust	Make sure the community is more informed and prepared for heavy rainfall and storms. Improve relationships with community groups.

Work We're Doing

Adding green stormwater infrastructure across the city.
Doing a pilot program to lower water levels at Lake Johnson to prepare for storms.
Adding rain gauges at fire stations to get better data on how much rain falls across the city.
Studying flooding and erosion conditions to see what projects are needed in impacted communities.