Smart Stormwater Management

Understanding Trends in Stormwater Inspection Reports Leading to Recurring Corrective and Urgent Maintenance Issues: Case Study for the Virginia Department of Transportation

Authors: Savannah L. Lynn, S.M.ASCE, Katarina A. Liddell, S.M.ASCE and Jonathan L. Goodall, P.E., F.ASCE 

Publication: Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment

Volume 12, Issue 3

https://doi.org/10.1061/JSWBAY.SWENG-707

Abstract

Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) are essential for meeting water quality and flood control goals, but their long-term effectiveness depends on sustained maintenance. In this study we analyzed a large BMP inspection dataset of 17,843 inspections across 2,535 unique BMPs conducted by the Virginia Department of Transportation from 2020 to 2024. We quantified persistent maintenance needs, identified assets with recurring issues, and examined how these issues vary across environmental and geographic conditions. Recurring maintenance is important because it can signal systemic or site-specific problems that are unlikely to resolve without targeted intervention, directly affecting both asset life-cycle costs and ongoing regulatory compliance. Results showed that a subset of the inventory, 45% of all assets, accounted for 80% of routine, 88% of corrective, and 85% of urgent issues. Routine tasks involve low-risk, scheduled upkeep, corrective tasks address moderate-risk conditions that impair function, and urgent tasks involve high-risk failures or safety hazards requiring immediate action. A smaller subset of the inventory with recurring corrective and urgent maintenance issues accounted for only 15% of the total inventory yet was responsible for 69% of all corrective issues and 72% of all urgent issues. Within this smaller group, 284 of the 385 assets (74%) had issues across three or more consecutive years, while the remaining 101 assets (26%) had issues in nonconsecutive years. Land-use setting, defined by the US Census as urban or rural, and environmental conditions, such as slope, influenced maintenance patterns in predictable ways, with erosion more common in high-slope basins and standing water more common in low-slope basins. Furthermore, low-slope and rural basins tended to exhibit a higher occurrence of blocked pipes and animal burrows. Across the inventory, the study found that many corrective maintenance tasks were related to environmental conditions, whereas many urgent tasks were not and appeared in more random patterns. By combining BMP maintenance classifications (routine, corrective, and urgent), recurrence tracking, and spatial risk factors, this study produced a general framework that enables agencies to prioritize chronic issues, target interventions, and strengthen long-term stormwater system resilience.

Understanding Long-Term Stormwater Best Management Practice Maintenance Challenges: Insights from the Virginia Department of Transportation

Authors: Savannah L. Lynn, S.M.ASCE, Jacob D. Nelson, Ph.D., P.E., and Jonathan L. Goodall, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE 

Publication: Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment

Volume 12, Issue 1

https://doi.org/10.1061/JSWBAY.SWENG-667

Abstract

Best management practices (BMPs) are designed to manage stormwater and reduce pollution, but their effectiveness and compliance with regulatory requirements depend on consistent maintenance. Despite their importance, there is limited research on how stormwater practitioners allocate resources and navigate operational challenges to maintain BMPs under regulatory and budgetary constraints. To address this knowledge gap, this study conducted an open-ended survey of stormwater professionals across eight districts of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). Paired with a review of 17,874 BMP inspection records from 2020 to 2024, the survey data provided insights into how reported maintenance issues from surveys align with inspection-based observations of BMP conditions, how resource constraints shape maintenance priorities, and which strategies may improve long-term maintenance outcomes. Thematic comparisons between survey responses and inspection data revealed strong alignment for sediment and vegetation concerns but underreporting of erosion and structural issues in narrative responses. The findings also show how resource limitations, such as insufficient staffing, lack of flexible funding mechanisms, and administrative burden, lead districts to make trade-offs when addressing corrective and urgent maintenance tasks. Districts employed a variety of strategies to mitigate these constraints, including severity-based repair prioritization and creative use of roadside or compliance-linked funding. The study further highlights how institutional structures, such as the presence of a dedicated stormwater manager or the design of contractor agreements, significantly influence maintenance outcomes. Enhancements to VDOT’s geospatial BMP database are proposed as a way to centralize the system to streamline task bundling, prioritize repairs, and enhance cross-district coordination. By analyzing district-level adaptations, this study highlights practical approaches for maintaining stormwater BMPs despite limited resources.

Authors: Jacob D. Nelson, Ph.D., Savannah L. Lynn, S.M.ASCE, and Jonathan L. Goodall, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE

Publication: Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment

Volume 11, Issue 2

https://doi.org/10.1061/JSWBAY.SWENG-599

Abstract

Studies have rarely used stormwater best management practice (BMP) condition rating data to quantify changes in condition ratings and characterize condition issues, making it challenging to implement proactive maintenance practices. To help address this knowledge gap, we answer the following questions pertaining to a widely used stormwater BMP: detention and retention basins. (1) How often do basin condition ratings change over time? (2) What are specific site and structural condition issues identified during condition inspections? (3) What issues and site characteristics correspond with basins that experience a rapid decline in condition rating, meaning a decrease in two or more condition rating levels within a single year? We do this by characterizing basin condition ratings and associated issues using information included in more than 5,500 basin inspection reports, each containing more than 200 questions, stored in the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) asset management system. On average, between 5.6 and 8.3 issues were recorded per visit for D-rated and E-rated basins compared with 0.03 to 1.8 issues for A-rated and B-rated basins. Of the 901 basins with three consecutive years of inspections, 41% and 35% had condition ratings that changed from 2020 to 2021 and from 2021 to 2022, respectively. The most common issues associated with rapid condition rating decline included major corrosion on the low flow orifice trash/debris rack, control structure, and pipe. Rapidly declining condition ratings were observed in 67% of VDOT’s nine independent management districts, suggesting rapid declines occur independently of management practices. Higher median elevation and percent slope attributes and lower median population were correlated with basins experiencing rapid condition rating decline. Using these results as context, we discuss considerations for improving BMP inspection data quality and opportunities for supporting proactive BMP management practices that can benefit other agencies managing a large portfolio of stormwater assets.