The city manages stormwater runoff in several ways.
- Stormwater Management Utility: In 2013, Oakwood established a stormwater utility for managing stormwater in compliance with federal and state EPA standards under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). One of the requirements of the NPDES permit involves public education on stormwater matters, education that leads to pollution prevention. The city routinely addresses this with articles published in the bi-monthly Oakwood Scene In 2019, the city completed a program to install “No Dumping” placards on all stormwater inlets (catch basins) throughout the city. This project was done as a volunteer effort through Little Miami Watershed Network and The University of Dayton River Stewards, at no cost to the city.
- Stormwater Drainage Ordinance: Several decades ago, Oakwood City Council adopted a drainage ordinance to address additional stormwater runoff generated by home and business improvement or expansion projects. The drainage ordinance requires that property owners take steps to mitigate the additional runoff created by their projects. The steps involve either stormwater retention or detention to: 1) protect downstream property; 2) protect downstream rivers and other waterways; and 3) reduce negative impacts to the flow capacity of the stormwater discharge infrastructure.
- Rain Garden: In 2008, the city built a parking lot on the former site of a 4-unit apartment building on Orchard Drive to address parking needs in the Far Hills Avenue Business District. The parking lot design included construction of rain gardens to accommodate the stormwater runoff generated by building the additional hard surface area.