Rain garden and bioretention assessment protocol
This easy-to-use field protocol is intended to help interested citizens and local staff gather the necessary information to assess the performance of bioretention facilities and rain gardens. The information can be used to correct immediate problems and by stormwater system managers to inform long term maintenance and design considerations.
This assessment protocol was developed in partnership with the City of Puyallup, Stewardship Partners, the Washington Stormwater Center and WSU Extension. In addition, more than 90 dedicated volunteers participated in the training and conducted the field work necessary for the development and refinement of this assessment protocol. We could not have done it without them. Thank you!
Here are materials created for your use.
- Project Overview
- New! The Effects of Mulch on Stormwater Treatment
- Assessment Instructional Video (16 min.)
- Assessment Instructions
- Assessment Data Collection Form
- Mobile Friendly Data Collection Website
- Note- please establish and use a “Group Code” when inputting data into the database)
- Assessment Database
- downloadable .csv file, sortable by “Group Code”
- Additional Handouts to Instructions
- Spreadsheet for Collating Results from Multiple Assessments
- Assessment Protocol Training Webinar
- Protocol Assessment Findings
- Overview Presentation to Municon Conference 2019
- Rain Garden Social Science Survey with Results
- Proposal for regional implementation
To view all the materials and learn more about the project, please visit the Department of Ecology Stormwater Action Monitoring website.
This project was funded by the Stormwater Action Monitoring (SAM) program, which is a collaborative, regional stormwater monitoring program that is funded by more than 90 Western Washington cities and counties, the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, and the Washington State Department of Transportation. SAM’s goal is to improve stormwater management to reduce pollution, improve water quality, and reduce flooding. We do this by measuring stormwater impacts on the environment and evaluating the effectiveness of stormwater management actions.
