What Is Stormwater Management?
Stormwater is not just runoff to control—it is one of the greatest design opportunities of our time. At its core, stormwater management is the practice of shaping how rainwater moves, where it goes, and what it carries with it. In natural landscapes, rainwater infiltrates into soil, replenishes aquifers, and sustains ecosystems, returning to the surface as clean spring water to also supply our own needs. In cities and developed areas, pavement and rooftops block that cycle, sending polluted runoff into drains, streams, and oceans. The result is flooding, erosion, and contamination that threaten both communities and the environment.
At Vaccarino Associates, a forward-looking landscape architecture studio, we see stormwater not as waste, but as a resource to harness—an essential layer of climate adaptation that connects ecology, infrastructure, and culture.
Why Stormwater Management Matters
Unmanaged runoff is one of the most overlooked challenges in the built environment. It damages infrastructure, erodes soils, and pollutes waterways. In island and coastal regions, these impacts are magnified: stormwater carries sediment into coral reefs, nutrients into fragile estuaries, and toxins into nearshore waters, undermining marine life and public health.
For Caribbean communities, stormwater management is inseparable from climate resilience. Rising seas, stronger hurricanes, and prolonged droughts mean water must be treated as a resource, not an afterthought. At the same time, potable water is scarce. Places like Culebra and Vieques import fresh water from Puerto Rico’s rainforests, with expensive channels under the ocean, an unsustainable system vulnerable to disruption. Designing for water independence through stormwater management practices directly supports both ecological health and community security.
By adopting thoughtful strategies, we can:
Prevent flooding and infrastructure damage by slowing and storing runoff at its source.
Protect coastal and marine ecosystems from sediment and pollutants.
Recharge groundwater and conserve drinking water through infiltration and reuse.
Adapt landscapes to drought and extreme storms, ensuring resilience in uncertain climates.
Stormwater management is more than engineering—it is resilience by design.
Stormwater Management Examples
Every site offers opportunities for innovation. Some of our stormwater management examples include:
Stoney Ground Housing, St. Croix – For this 29.5-acre FEMA-funded housing development, we replaced conventional stormwater basins with a network of bioretention swales and rain gardens. Central quads were designed as planted stormwater gardens that manage both drought and flood conditions. By using engineered soils and native vegetation, runoff is slowed, filtered, and infiltrated near its source—reducing reliance on underground pipes and transforming stormwater into free irrigation. This approach set a precedent for the Virgin Islands Housing Authority, demonstrating how landscape design can replace costly underground infrastructure with distributed, resilient systems.
Water Infrastructure at Flamenco Beach, Culebra – In response to the devastation of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, we developed a comprehensive recovery plan for one of the Caribbean’s most iconic beaches. The design integrates water reuse, ecological restoration, and green infrastructure to reduce vulnerability and restore balance. Parking areas were reimagined with permeable paving and vegetated swales, capturing and infiltrating stormwater rather than channeling it away. At the heart of the site, a degraded freshwater pond is being restored as a constructed wetland, filtering runoff, buffering floods, and supporting biodiversity. Together, these systems transform Flamenco into a living model for coastal resilience, where stormwater and wastewater are recycled into clean water, healthy soils, and thriving ecosystems.
Science City, Puerto Rico – Along Saman Boulevard, we redefined the urban surface as shared ground for both roots and infrastructure. Prefabricated concrete planks span as a deck over large volumes of uncompacted soil, allowing stormwater infiltration through integrated plank joints and curb openings. Beneath, a large stormwater chamber recreates the permeable conditions of natural landscapes, filtering runoff, sustaining the roots of Samanea saman trees, and recharging the aquifer. By combining technical precision with design identity, the stormwater system functions as both infrastructure and civic space—recycling “wastewater” into patterned landscapes that give the boulevard its distinctive character.
Each of these projects illustrates how landscape architecture and green infrastructure transform stormwater from a liability into a catalyst for regeneration. Stormwater management it is more than infrastructure— is a way of designing landscapes that protect communities, conserve resources, and restore ecosystems. At Vaccarino Associates, we integrate stormwater management practices into every project at the outset of the design process, whether it be a housing or campus, a waterfront or a coastal forest.