View SCCWRP’s full thematic Research Plan for Stormwater BMPs (PDF)
2026-2027 Executive Summary
Stormwater BMPs (best management practices) are a wide-ranging collection of engineered technologies, landscape modifications, and non-structural strategies for managing how water runs off the land and how pollutants are treated during both dry and wet weather. Although Southern California’s stormwater management community is expected to spend billions of dollars on stormwater BMPs in the coming decades to reduce contamination levels in runoff and better control flows, relatively little is known about how to optimize their design and long-term effectiveness in semi-arid to arid regions, as well as how to model the effectiveness of implementing BMPs. SCCWRP is developing BMP strategies and tools intended to bring clarity and confidence to the field of stormwater management.
SCCWRP’s stormwater BMP research is centered around four main areas: (1) Understanding BMP mechanisms and processes, which involves quantifying how different BMP treatment mechanisms and processes remove various levels and types of pollutants from runoff; (2) developing design criteria for BMPs, which involves developing understanding of how materials and components used in building BMPs, plus operational conditions, influence performance; (3) identifying treatment needs and solutions to address technical considerations around stormwater capture and use; and (4) using continuous, real-time automated sensor-driven monitoring to identify and manage water quality concerns. SCCWRP prioritizes understanding not just performance effectiveness of BMPs themselves, but how the design, installation, and maintenance of BMPs influence water quality treatment.
This year, SCCWRP will work on three of these four main research foci – specifically, BMP mechanisms and processes, developing design criteria, and supporting management decisions for optimizing the long-term performance effectiveness of BMPs. SCCWRP’s focus for 2026-2027 will be on:
- Implementing a comprehensive regionwide BMP monitoring network: SCCWRP is continuing to work with the Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition (SMC) to implement a regional program for site-scale BMP performance monitoring to answer critical management questions regarding BMP performance, design, and maintenance across Southern California. This monitoring network, which is among the largest in the country, is predicated on well-defined research objectives, consistent and coordinated data collection, and a unifying framework for sharing data. SCCWRP is leveraging the regional monitoring network to cost-effectively generate robust, statistically relevant data sets covering a range of BMP types that serve multiple land uses under a spectrum of operating conditions, plus a range of conventional stormwater pollutants and fecal indicator bacteria. SCCWRP is using interim data analyses to inform research that aims to answer focused, high-priority management questions related to BMP performance – namely, identifying effective retrofit options and/or alternative designs to improve treatment performance for bacteria, nitrogen and other priority pollutants. Data will also be used to develop a mechanistic model of biofiltration performance that enables researchers to explore the influence of design alternatives on pollutant removal, and quantify variability in long-term pollutant removal effectiveness.
- Quantifying effectiveness of non-structural BMPs: SCCWRP is working to measure the effectiveness of non-structural BMPs at reducing pollutant concentrations and loading; nonstructural BMPs are a category of management actions for which even less performance effectiveness information is available than for structural BMPs. SCCWRP is measuring the impact of street sweeping on runoff water quality at multiple locations across southern California, representing the largest initiative of its kind in the nation.
- Advancing monitoring technology: SCCWRP and its partners will continue to field-test and develop implementation strategies for open source, internet-of-things-enabled sensors that offer the potential to collect and access water quality and flow data in real time for a fraction of the cost of commercially available sensors. The new sensors, coupled with open-source calculators that SCCWRP has been developing to simplify and standardize raw data processing, will support a long-term vision to reduce the cost and improve the quality of data collection and the ability to turn data into actionable information for stormwater managers.
- Advancing BMP design for semi-arid to arid environments: SCCWRP is co-leading the newly launched US EPA Southwest Stormwater Center of Excellence. With partners across Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico, SCCWRP is leading research aimed at identifying BMP design criteria suitable for the Southwest’s limited and episodic rainfall. The network of managers, engineers, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers that has been created by the Center will bring additional technical resources tailored to Southwest stormwater management to SCCWRP, focusing on stormwater capture and use, stormwater planning, funding and financing for stormwater projects, and stakeholder engagement.
