The updated plan will guide priorities and strategies for managing stormwater as Bend continues to develop and climate change creates more dramatic storm events. Development of this plan will help the City achieve the Council’s goal to “ensure water, wastewater and stormwater systems are aligned with the needs of a growing city,” and “Protect our watershed through conservation and water stewardship.” The last Stormwater Master Plan, from 2014, identified multiple stormwater flood control and water quality improvement projects. Some of the projects were implemented, but many were not due to limited resources, and in the ensuing 10 years the City has grown with some infrastructure conditions worsening.

The Stormwater Master Plan update will consider increasing urban density, climate change, our unique geology and high desert geography, and create an updated framework for mapping the City’s stormwater challenges. The Stormwater Master Plan update began in Spring 2024, with an anticipated adoption of the new plan by Bend City Council in early Summer 2025.

Stormwater Master Plan Update timeline 2024-2025

What is Stormwater? 

Stormwater is precipitation such as rain, snow, or sleet that collects on and runs off the land. The City’s Stormwater program works to prevent and minimize flooding and protect the quality of water resources, such as the Deschutes River and groundwater.

Community Values

The Deschutes River and surrounding natural environment are cherished resources in Central Oregon. High-quality water in the Deschutes River, Tumalo Creek, and in our underlying groundwater aquifer supports a high quality of life for Bend residents, visitors, businesses and fish and wildlife. Appropriate stormwater management is essential to protecting our water resources.

Protecting our waters... it's all connected

Stormwater Challenges

Several factors place increasing pressure on our community to improve our stormwater management system. Key stormwater challenges that will be addressed during the Stormwater Master Plan update will include:

  • Protecting water quality: Minimizing pollutants in stormwater runoff is one important way to protect our valuable water resources. The City implements protective measures in accordance with discharge permits from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Stormwater runoff can carry pollutants such as sediment, oils, herbicides, metals, pesticides, tire and brake pad particulates, and other chemicals from neighboring properties and streets.
  • Flooding: The City has made progress addressing and actively responding to chronic flooding issues, but certain areas such as the Franklin and Greenwood underpasses require major capital improvements to fully resolve chronic flooding. Many other new and smaller flooding issues cause inconvenience, safety concerns, and occasional property damage throughout Bend.
  • Development and densification: Bend’s population growth and increase in development means there is less native permeable landscape to infiltrate precipitation and less space on development sites to install stormwater management facilities, creating more stormwater runoff and a need for new strategies to manage stormwater runoff in an increasingly urbanized environment.
  • Aging infrastructure: Much of Bend was developed in the mid-20th Century, including much of Bend’s limited stormwater infrastructure. These pipes, underground infiltration facilities (drill holes, dry wells), ditches and swales are aging and some are damaged or under designed, leading to increased flooding and threats to water quality. Many of the systems that drain to the Deschutes River constructed in that era did not include adequate water quality treatment.
  • Climate change: Bend is already experiencing more intense summer storms that overwhelm drainage systems and cause flooding. With a predicted increase in frequency and intensity of storm events in the future, climate change threatens to exacerbate the City’s ongoing stormwater challenges.