Challenges and opportunities in Ohio's stormwater infrastructure: Insights from ASCE Report Card

Stormwater infrastructure recently earned a grade of “D” on the 2025 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Report Card for America’s infrastructure, the same score it received in 2021.

Overall, America’s infrastructure earned a grade of “C,” its highest score ever.

George Remias, PE, and Derek Vogel, PE, of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) presented at the 2025 Ohio Stormwater Conference in Sandusky, Ohio, where they talked about the ASCE Ohio stormwater report card.

In 2021 Ohio earned a “D+.” The 2025 Infrastructure Report Card for the state will be released on June 18, 2025.

Vogel stated that there wasn’t a ton of change in terms of grading for the to-be-released report card.

The Ohio stormwater report card was graded on eight categories:

• Capacity: Earned an “F” in 2021.
• Condition: Earned a “C-” in 2021.
• Funding: Earned a “D” in 2021.
• Future need: Earned an “F” in 2021.
• Operation and maintenance: Earned a “C” in 2021.
• Public safety: Earned a “D” in 2021.
• Resilience: Earned an “F” in 2021.
• Innovation: Earned a “C” in 2021.

“Even though we got federal funding, we need more funding to continue the work that we’re doing,” said Vogel. He also highlighted the influx of federal funding received over the past four years from funding sources like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

Remias stated that flooding is a large issue for Ohio and that approximately half of Ohio’s storm systems can handle a 5-year storm event. He gave three tools for improving resilience:

• Track severe storms
• Create flood alerts
• Notify staff

Remias also put together a list of actionable items the state can take to improve its stormwater infrastructure grade.

Recommendations to raise the grade include:

• Increase funding to advance stormwater management programs (SMPs)
• Upgrade stormwater infrastructure to retroactively meet today’s standards
• Find opportunities to add SCMs
• Evaluate impacts to infrastructure for a range of extreme weather events and climate conditions
• Invest in a proactive O&M program
• Utilize a GIS-based CMMS
• Collaborate regionally to improve public safety and support innovation