New Development

Stormwater Quality Design Manual

The Stormwater Quality Design Manual for Sacramento and South Placer Regions provides locally-adapted information for design and selection of three categories of stormwater quality control measures: source control, runoff reduction and treatment control. Although most of the manual is intended as guidance, there are several required items, whereby no flexibility can be afforded by the local permitting agencies:

Table 3-2 indicates types of projects subject to the development standards and thresholds for determining what types of control measures apply to the project.
Maintenance agreements or covenants are required for selected control measures (see Appendix B).
Sizing methodology for sizing water quality flow (WQF)-based measures (e.g., vegetated swale) and water quality volume (WQV)-based measures (e.g., water quality detention basin). See Appendix E.

The local permitting agencies may allow the use of alternative stormwater quality control measures that are not described in the new design manual, but since the approval process may take longer and approval is not guaranteed, site designers proposing to use alternative measures should consult with the permitting agency early in the design process (e.g., before planning application is made).

Download Documents:

Stormwater Quality Design Manual for the Sacramento and South Placer Regions, available in several forms:
- Full document including cover (9 Mb)
- Front and back covers only (330 kb)
- Full document without cover, with blank pages added to facilitate double-siding printing (9 Mb)
Stormwater Quality Control Measures Selection Matrix
Download the Excel version of the Runoff Reduction Credit Worksheets from Appendix D of the Design Manual — Residential, Commercial.
Proprietary Stormwater Quality Treatment Devices
Maintenance Agreements

Design Manual Background

Design specifications were originally contained in two documents:

Volume II of the City and County of Sacramento’s Drainage Manual (Hydrology Standards) — SATO sizing method for water quality detention basins; and
Guidance Manual for On-Site Stormwater Quality Control Measures (January 2000) — siting and design criteria for on-site stormwater quality control measures.

On May 18, 2007, the local agencies published the Stormwater Quality Design Manual for Sacramento and South Placer Regions. This document replaces the January 2000 Guidance Manual. Appendix E in the new design manual also replaces the SATO sizing method for water quality detention basins, originally included in the Volume II City/County drainage manual.

Project Updates — updates available in PDF on the process to adopt new development standards and create a new Stormwater Quality Design Manual for the Sacramento and South Placer Regions:
Comments received on drafts — Use the following links to download comments received on the Design Manual:
- Written comments on December 2006 Development Focus Group Draft that were received by February 2 deadline (including preliminary responses to many comments), and
- Comments received from the North State Building Industry Association as of March 14, 2007.
- Consolidated written comments received on December 2006 and February 2007 Draft Design Manual, and associated Steering Committee responses.
Community Outreach Presentations (most are PowerPoint files)
- Community outreach presentation, Spring 2006
- Development Focus Group presentation, December 11, 2006
- Presentation to the Building Industry Association’s (BIA) Sacramento Builders’ Group, February 14, 2007
- Public Workshops, March 8 and March 20, 2007 (available as PowerPoint or PDF)

Upcoming and Ongoing Training and Workshop Opportunities

An on-line training course is available through CSUS for the California Stormwater Quality Association’s BMP Handbook for New and Redevelopment Projects. The CASQA BMP handbook provides good introductory and background information on stormwater quality control measures and was used as a reference for the creation of the Stormwater Quality Design Manual for Sacramento and South Placer Counties. See the flyer for more information.

Additional Resources

Development Standards Plan (DSP) — The Sacramento Stormwater Quality Partnership submitted the DSP to the Regional Water Quality Control Board on December 1, 2003. The DSP was approved by the Regional Board on May 18, 2005, following a public review period. This gave the Partnership agencies one year (until May 18, 2006) to amend their development standards and two years (until May 18, 2007) to issue an amended technical guidance manual.
State Water Board’s Low Impact Development (LID) Policy — In 2006, the State of California Water Resources Control Board issued their policy statement regarding the use of Low Impact Development (LID) as a sustainable stormwater management practice.
Start at the Source — Design Guidance Manual for Stormwater Quality Protection.
Using Site Design Techniques to meet Development Standards for Stormwater Quality — A Companion Document to Start at the Source Manual.
Case Study examples of installed stormwater quality control measures and LID techniques at completed projects in the San Francisco Bay Area are available in several Site Design Guidebooks available for download at the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association (BASMAA) web site: http://www.basmaa.org/documents/index.cfm?fuseaction=documents&doctypeID=3
Low Impact Development Center

Contact Us

County of Sacramento and Cities of Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova: Dalia Fadl, 916-874-1321, fadld@SacCounty.NET

City of Sacramento: Sherill Huun, 916-808-1455, shuun@cityofsacramento.org

City of Elk Grove: Leslie Nguyen-Pickett, 916-478-2213, lnguyen@elkgrovecity.org

City of Folsom: Sarah Staley, 916-351-3545, sstaley@folsom.ca.us

City of Galt: Trung Trinh, 209-366-7268, ttrinh@ci.galt.ca.us

City of Roseville: Mark Queipo, 916-746-1300, mqueipo@roseville.ca.us