Trees to Offset Storm Water Tools:
Each tool below can be used to evaluate your city or county’s tree protection and to determine how to make your city more pervious to reduce stormwater runoff and for managing your urban forest.
A sample stormwater calculator tool is provided for one city to practice using the tool. For a new city, data needs to be generated for land cover to provide inputs to use the calculator tool spreadsheet. Technical instructions are provided below. To create a new calculator tool for a new city, land cover must be created and Geographic Information Services (GIS) knowledge is needed to create data to populate the tool. GIC may also be hired to create data for a city or a city can create such data using the instructions below.
Policy and Practices Audit Tool to evaluate urban runoff
(for adding or losing tree canopy).
• TSW Codes Ordinances Review Tool — for evaluating urban codes, policies and practices to learn which practices or policies make the city more impervious or pervious. Requires collecting and scoring policies for a city to determine opportunities to increase infiltration and to utilize trees for stormwater management and other benefits.
• Download the TSW_Codes_Ordinances_Review_Template (xlsx file)
Setting Up Data for Your City
to Use the Stormwater Uptake Calculator Tool
Technical Instructions to set up the calculator tool to use with your land cover data – the calculator tool requires classified land cover to use. To determine how much stormwater trees take up for different storm events (e.g. a 10 year storm of rainfall over 24 hours) the spreadsheet tool requires that the land cover is assessed (what areas are forested, what areas are paved etc.) This technical manual explains how to import the data. A sample calculator is provided below. GIC also offers a simple tool to create land cover.
• Download TSW Technical Instructions here (pdf)
• Link to: YouTube Trees and Stormwater Training Videos.
• TSW Calculator — Blank Spreadsheet (xlsx file)
• Example TSW Calculator Tool (xlsx file)
Urban Forestry Program Self-Assessment Tool:
All the trees growing within a city or town boundary comprise its urban or community forest. The urban forest is made up of publicly and privately owned trees, trees in parks and natural areas, street trees, trees on commercial properties, and trees in residential yards. These trees provide many benefits and should be managed as part of the community’s green infrastructure. The health of urban forests depends on proactive tree protection, proper tree maintenance, and tree planting to replace tree loss. GIC has created a tool to assess a community’s urban forestry program based on tree care standards in six categories:
- Data and Tracking
- Staffing
- Tree Codes
- Plans
- Community Engagement
- Funding
GIC created five tiers corresponding levels of care: The “tree” tier represents the most robust program. While, a small town may remain at the “roots” or “sapling” stage because of resource constraints, it could go all the way to the “tree” level by investing in its urban forest and establishing partnerships. By answering the questions in the interactive tool linked to below a community will receive a tally of points, from these points each community can determine which tier they fall into, then see what next steps can be taken to further develop their urban forestry program.