Driveway and Parking
Regardless of what their surface is made of, driveways and parking areas are generally impervious to stormwater. Rain and snowmelt can wash pollutants like sand and salt off of the driveway into nearby waterways, where they degrade water quality. This page includes best practices for stormwater management and winter snow/ice management.
Erosion and stormwater management
Regardless of what their surface is made of, driveways and parking areas are generally impervious to stormwater. Rain and snowmelt can wash pollutants like sand and salt off of the driveway into nearby waterways, where they degrade water quality.
Divert water off of your driveway and into adjacent vegetation
Diverting water to the side of the driveway prevents the water from gaining enough speed to create significant erosion.
Open-topped culverts: See rock aprons (page 2) or infiltration trench for ways to ensure the water diverted.
Crowned driveways: A method of grading a gravel or paved driveway so that water sheds off to the sides of the driveway, instead of running down the length of the drive. Intended for driveways with low to moderate slope (not steep). Can be paired with an infiltration trench.
Help water infiltrate after it has run off of your driveway
Vegetation or gravel (or stone) infiltration trenches are better able to absorb stormwater and prevent it from flowing across the landscape, picking up pollutants and creating erosion issues.
Driveway infiltration trench: Collects stormwater and allows it to soak into the ground instead of running off into surrounding areas. Useful if the soil and vegetation beside your driveway shows signs of erosion. See also rock aprons.
Do you have a steep driveway?
Consider installing one of these solutions to reduce erosion and prevent washouts:
Rubber razors (a type of water bar): particularly useful on steep gravel driveways, these flexible bars divert water off of a driveway into adjacent vegetation before that water can gather enough speed to cause erosion. Rubber water bars are flexible enough to be plowed over during winter.
Firehose diverters: a temporary or seasonal solution that intercepts stormwater and diverts it into vegetation or infiltration areas next to the driveway.
Winter Snow and Ice Management
Most ice melting products contain chloride which is toxic to aquatic life, damaging to trees and shrubs, corrosive to vehicles and bridges and harmful to pets and wildlife.
Here are best practices to reduce your impact on local waterbodies while maintaining safety.
If you hire someone to maintain your driveway:
Hire a Green Snow Pro Certified Contractor. To find a contractor, go to this page and scroll down to the grey box “Looking for a certified commercial applicator?”
If you apply salt to melt snow and ice:
Apply chloride-free ice melting products. See some options on our salt page.
Shovel and scrape regularly to minimize the need for salt.
Apply sparingly. You do not need to feel the crunch for it to be effective at preventing ice from forming.
Do not apply chloride products when the temperature is below 15 degrees. Their effectiveness drops significantly at lower temperatures.
Sweep up extra salt at the end of the season or after the storm event. This prevents it from washing into a lake or stream.
If you apply sand for traction:
Apply only where needed for traction.
Sweep up excess when no longer needed, and reuse it later.