Slide 95 of 119
Notes:
The term swale refers to a vegetated, open channel management practices designed specifically to treat and attenuate stormwater runoff for a specified water quality volume. As stormwater runoff flows through these channels, it is treated through filtering by the vegetation in the channel, filtering through a subsoil matrix, and/or infiltration into the underlying soils. Swales can either be dry or wet. The specific design features and methods of treatment differ in each of these designs, but all are improvements on the traditional drainage ditch. They incorporate modified geometry and other design features to use the swale as a treatment as well as conveyance practice.
Grassed swales can be applied in most situations with some restrictions. Swales are very well suited for treating highway or residential road runoff because they are linear practices.