Stormwater Management

Adopt a Drain
 

Adopt-a-Drain Program

Help keep our waterways clean by adopting a drain in your neighborhood! Through Somerville’s Adopt-a-Drain program, residents and business owners can volunteer to care for a local storm drain and check on it before and after heavy rain, wind, or snow.
 

What is an Adopt-a-Drain program? What does it mean to adopt a drain?
An Adopt-a-Drain program is a volunteer program that helps keep our local environment clean and healthy. Participants sign up to adopt a drain (or drains!) and then check on that drain before and after heavy rain, wind, or snow. Any extra care is even better! Anything that goes down the drain can end up in the Mystic River, the Alewife Brook, or the Charles River. Keeping the drains clear can also help prevent streets from flooding as it ensures that water can freely flow down the drain.
 

What am I adopting? What is a storm drain?
Storm drains (or catch basins, as engineers like to call them) are the grates you see in our streets and roads. They’ll be to the side of the road, along the curb, and in Somerville are typically square. Since asphalt and pavement can’t absorb water, any rain and melting snow flow along the street and into these drains. 

A basin below the grates, called a catch basin sump, is meant to collect this water and any debris but it can fill up quickly and doesn’t capture everything. 
 

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Trash and leaves can clog drains, cause flooding, and pollute our waterways.
 

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A clear drain means water can flow into the catch basin sump.

How can I get involved?

Just head to the Somerville Adopt-a-Drain page to sign up! Find a drain by typing in a nearby address or by dragging the map. If the drain you want to adopt is available, you can claim it by clicking on it. Sign up for the program, give your drain a name, and keep an eye out for a welcome email with more info! You can adopt as many drains as you would like to care for.

Scoop the Poop
 

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Scoop the Poop
 

Did you know that stormwater can carry bacteria and nutrients from your dog’s poop from anywhere in the watershed to the Mystic or Charles River? Pick up your dog’s poop and properly dispose of it in the trash.

What You Can Do

 

Image Use Fertilizer Responsibly Curious about what you can do to keep our water clean? Watch this video! And then visit MysticRiver.org/stormwater to learn more! Keep our waterways clean, use fertilizer responsibly! (Video: English | Español)	Image Keep a (Trash) Lid on It Trash can be picked up by runoff when it rains and ends up in the Mystic River or Charles River. Properly dispose of trash in your trash carts or dumpsters and keep the lid securely on. (Video: English | Español)
Image Leave the Leaves & Yard Waste Be a Leaf Hero and leave leaf and yard waste in your yard as a natural habitat for native pollinators. Any excess leaf and yard waste can be collected and placed at the curb for City pick up between April and December! Check out the yard waste collection calendar!

What the City Is Doing

Somerville at a Glance

• Combined Sanitary Sewer: 72 miles
• Separated Sanitary Sewer: 64 miles
• Storm Drain: 48 miles
  • # of Catch Basins: 3,617
  • # of Drain Manholes: 1,478

Stormwater Management Plan

Somerville’s Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) describes and details the activities and measures that will be implemented to reduce pollutants that enter the drainage system to the maximum extent practicable (MEP). These control measures are based on the requirements of the National Pollutant Detection Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit.

See the full Stormwater Management Plan here. Any questions or comments can be sent to Lucica Hiller, Stormwater Program Manager, at lhiller@somervillema.gov.

Stormwater Management

The City of Somerville's sewer and drain collection systems consists primarily of combined stormwater and sewer systems. Some areas of the City along the Alewife Brook and the Mystic River have separate systems. Combined systems are common in older cities such as Somerville. During significant rainstorms, combined sewer systems may fill up beyond their capacity with a mixture of sanitary waste and rainwater. Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO) act like a relief valve allowing sewerage to discharge into waterways preventing sewerage backups into homes, businesses, and streets. Somerville’s combined sewer system ties into the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's (MWRA) wastewater collection system which is treated and discharges at Deer Island. During periods of heavy rain, both MWRA and Somerville’s wastewater systems can become overwhelmed by rainwater releasing CSOs into both the Mystic River and the Alewife Brook.

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NPDES / Stormwater Management Program

As part of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program, Somerville is required to take steps to reduce the impact of stormwater pollution. Portions of Somerville's stormwater drainage system operate as a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) under this permit.

The City's program includes the following elements:

• Public Education and Outreach
• Public Involvement and Participation
• Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) Program
• Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Control
• Post Construction Stormwater Management in New Development and Redevelopment
• Good Housekeeping and Pollution Prevention for Permittee Owned Operations

2016 General Permit

The EPA issued a new, updated general permit effective July 1, 2018. This permit replaces the 2003 permit and contains updated and new requirements that the Town will have to meet. The entire contents of the permit are available at the EPA’s website: https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/massachusetts-small-ms4-general-permit
 

Annual Reports & Resources

• Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP)
  • 2020 SWMP
  • 2019 SWMP
• Final Illicit Discharge Detraction and Elimination (IDDE) Plan with Appendices (Updated September 2022)
• Annual Report Year 4 (2021 – 2022)
  • Dry Weather Catchment and Building Investigations Summary June 2022
  • Low Impact Development and Green Infrastructure Assessment Report Year 4
  • Phosphorus Source Identification Report June 2022
• Annual Report Year 3 (2020 – 2021)
  • Dry Weather Outfall Screening, Sampling, and Ranking Data
  • Catchment Investigations
    • Dry Weather Catchment Investigations Progress Summary (Updated December 2021)
    • Dry Weather Catchment Investigation Fact Sheets
• Annual Report Year 2 (July 2019 - June 2020)
• Annual Report Year 1 (July 2018 - June 2019)
• 2019 Administrative Order
• Authorization to Discharge
  • 2022 Authorization
  • 2019 Authorization
  • Authorization of Representative
  • Results of Appendix C US Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Screening Determination
  • Notice of Intent (NOI) 2018

FAQ & Acronyms

What is a catch basin?

A catch basin, also known as a storm drain, is a large underground box-like structure with an opening at the top. The function of a catch basin is to take water from streets and other paved areas and move it through the storm drainage system into the nearest water body. Catch basins are designed to trap stormwater pollutants, such as sediment and oils. Regular maintenance to clean out the catch basins removes these pollutants from our system and our water bodies.

Where can I report someone dumping trash, oil, or other pollutants into a catch basin?

Only rain belongs down the storm drain system. Dumping into catch basins is illegal. Report illegal dumping using the 311 system.

Which watershed do I live in?

Somerville is part of the Mystic River watershed to the north and west and part of the Charles River watershed to the south and east. Any drop of rainfall that lands in either watershed will end up in either the Mystic River or Charles River.

What is the difference between an impervious area and a pervious area?

Impervious area is typically artificial surfaces that are covered in water-resistant materials, such as concrete, asphalt, or the rooftop of a building. These areas do not allow stormwater to infiltrate into the soils. Rather, stormwater runs along the surface, picking up pollutants or debris, and enters the drainage system through catch basins that discharge to a waterbody.

Pervious areas are typically natural surfaces that allow water to be filtered through various media, often soils, into the earth. Different media can provide different levels of treatment of the stormwater.

What is stormwater?

Stormwater originates from any form of precipitation (rain, snow, or hail) that runs off any surfaces, such as streets, roofs, yards, and other sites. Stormwater can be absorbed into pervious areas or run along impervious areas, typically toward catch basins, and be transported to waterways.

What are stormwater pollutants and where do they come from?

Stormwater pollutants are:

• Oil from vehicles and equipment,
• Excess nutrients, such as phosphate from fertilizers,
• Bacteria, such as E. coli from pet waste, and
• Debris, such as trash or sediment from construction sites

Proper disposal can help reduce pollutants entering our waterways. Check out the What You Can Do tab for more information and tips to help protect the Mystic River and Charles River.

 

Aren’t sewer and drain systems the same?

The sewer and drain systems are not the same. The sewer system should only carry sewage to the Deer Island Treatment Facility, and the drain system should only carry clean stormwater to our waterways. The City does have combined sewers, where sewer and stormwater can both collect and be treated at the treatment facility or overflow to either the Alewife Brook or the Mystic River. The City is committed to reducing overflows through various methods, including separating combined sewer systems, removing inflow and infiltration in the sewer system, and working with our neighboring communities to improve water quality.

Does the City have a rain barrel program?

The City, through the OSE Department, has offered discounted rain barrel in partnership with a rain barrel vendor in the past. Typically, these programs are held once a year. We will update this page if a rain barrel event will be held this year.

Common Acronyms

CB: Catch basin

EPA: Environmental Protection Agency

IA: impervious area

IDDE: Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination

MassDEP or DEP: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

MEP: Maximum extent possible

MH: Manhole

MS4: Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System

NOI: Notice of Intent

NPDES: National Pollutant Detection Elimination System

SWMP: Stormwater Management Plan

TMDL: Total Maximum Daily Load