Soak Up the Rain: Trees Help Reduce Runoff

Trees are valued for the beauty and many other benefits they bring to our landscapes and neighborhoods. Trees are increasingly recognized for their importance in managing runoff. Their leaf canopies help reduce erosion caused by falling rain. They also provide surface area where rain water lands and evaporates. Roots take up water and help create conditions in the soil that promote infiltration.

Information About Trees

Making Urban Trees Count, Center for Watershed Protection
A robust collection of resources and research-based tools for crediting trees in stormwater and water quality management programs.  Includes an urban tree canopy BMP crediting protocol, water balance model documentation, and the comprehensive literature review:  Making Urban Trees Count: A Project to Demonstrate the Role of Urban Trees in Achieving Regulatory Compliance for Clean Water 

Tree Planting and Urban Trees, Green Infrastructure, U.S. EPA

Stormwater Trees Technical Memorandum, U.S. EPA, 2016
Trees in the urban environment provide many benefits and tree programs face challenges that can affect their success. This technical memorandum addresses planting and maintaining trees adjacent to roadways or sidewalks in urban areas where buildings and impervious surfaces create harsh environments.

Reducing Heat Islands Compendium of Strategies: Trees and Vegetation, U.S. EPA (pdf) (4.4 MB)
Shade trees and smaller plants such as shrubs, vines, grasses, and ground cover, help cool the urban environment. Describes the causes and impacts of summertime urban heat islands and promotes strategies for lowering temperatures in U.S. communities.

Trees Tame Stormwater, Arbor Day Foundation
Posters, including an interactive version, describe the problem of too few trees and the many benefits of abundant trees.

Control Stormwater Runoff with Trees, USDA Forest Service (pdf) (126 KB)
Fact Sheet describes how trees help reduce runoff.

Stormwater to Street Trees, Engineering Urban Forests for Stormwater Management, EPA (pdf) (3 MB)

Woody Shrubs for Stormwater Retention Practices, Cornell University (pdf) (10.4 MB)

iTree
USDA Forest Service software to help communities quantify the structure and benefits of trees.

TreeVitalize, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
TreeVitalize is a public-private partnership to help build capacity within communities to plan for, plant, and care for trees, and to offer educational trainings to help citizens understand the diverse benefits of trees and the importance of properly planting and maintaining them.

Local resources

• Connecticut
• Maine
• Vermont

Connecticut

Connecticut Native Tree and Shrub Availability List, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (pdf) (256 KB)
A (January 2005) native tree and shrub availability list for locating native planting stock.

Native Plants for Landscape Use in Connecticut, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation

Maine

Selecting, Planting, and Caring for Trees and Shrubs in the Maine Landscape, University of Maine Cooperative Extension

Vermont

Absorb The Storm - Create a Rain-friendly Yard and Neighborhood, Lake Champlain Sea Grant, University of Vermont Cooperative Extension (pdf) (2.5 MB)
Discusses a number of steps homeowners can take, including trees, to help prevent the problems associated with runoff.

Main Streets to Green Streets, Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (pdf) (4.2 MB)
Fact sheet describes some of the issues and benefits of using trees in managing stormwater in our downtowns.

Urban Tree Canopy, Watershed Management, Vermont Agency of National Resources
Basic information and links about urban trees to help manage stormwater.

Vermont Tree Selection Guide (pdf) (3.7 MB)
A guide to help citizens match trees to sites to achieve lasting shade.