Calculating credits for stormwater ponds

Costs for ponds typically include costs for embankment, riser and spillway structures, outfall protection, vegetative stabilization, excavation, and grading. Additional costs for site preparation can include soil amendments, precision grading, plant materials and creation of occluding layers in coarse-textured soil types if wetlands systems must be created on upland sites due to project constraints. Project costs can be lowered if existing pre-construction site conditions are carefully considered and isolated areas with hydric soils contained within the footprint of the project are utilized as stormwater management facilities.

Additional maintenance costs will be incurred until the establishment of the wetland ecosystem. Invasive plants must be culled and dead plants replaced. The outlet structure may have to be adjusted, based on seasonal observations, to achieve the proper water surface in the pond.

Construction and maintenance costs

The Introduction to stormwater BMPs section outlines a cost estimation method which site planners could use to compare the relative construction and maintenance costs for structural best management practices. These curves are excellent for purposes of comparison; however, it is recommended that construction and maintenance budgets should be based on site specific information. Utilizing the table below and the cost estimation worksheet in Appendix D, will allow designers to avoid over or under estimation of fixed costs. The table below lists the specific site components that are specific to stormwater ponds. Not included in this table are those cost items that are common to all construction projects, such as mobilization, traffic control, erosion and sediment control, permitting, etc.

This table shows Cost components for stormwater ponds
(Link to this table)

Implementation Stage	Primary Cost Components	Basic Cost Estimate	Other Considerations
Site Preparation	Tree & plant protection	Protection Cost ($/acre) x Affected Area (acre)	Removal of existing structures, topsoil removal and stockpiling
	Topsoil salvage	Salvage cost ($/acre) x Affected Area (acre)
	Clearing & grubbing	Clearing Cost ($/acre) x Affected Area (acre)
Site Formation	Excavation / grading	8-ft Depth Excavation Cost ($/acre) x Area (acre)	Soil & rock fill material, tunneling
	Hauling material offsite	Excavation Cost x (% of Material to be hauled away)
Structural Components	Inlet structure	($/structure)	Pipes, catchbasins, manholes, valves
	Outlet structure	($/structure)
Site Restoration	Seeding or sodding	Seeding Cost ($/acre) x Seeded Area (acre)	Tree protection, soil amendments, seed bed preparation, trails
	Planting / transplanting	Planting Cost ($/acre) x Planted Area (acre)
Annual Operation, Maintenance, and Inspection	Debris removal	Removal Cost ($/acre) x Area (acre) x Frequency (2 / 1yr)	Vegetation maintenance, cleaning of structures
	Sediment removal	Removal Cost ($/acre) x Area (acre) x Frequency (1 / 5yr)
	Gate / valve operation	Operation Cost ($) x Operation Frequency (2 / 1 yr)
	Inspection	Inspection Cost ($) x Inspection Frequency (2 / 1 yr)
	Mowing	Mowing Cost ($) x Mowing Frequency (4 / 1 yr)