Bartow County, GA Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Chapter 34, Article VII of the Bartow County Code requires a stormwater management plan for new development or redevelopment that creates 5,000 square feet or more of new impervious surface, or disturbs one acre or more of land, including projects that reach that threshold cumulatively as part of a larger subdivision. 2-inch rainfall event. Stream channel protection requires 24-hour extended detention of the one-year, 24-hour storm, plus erosion prevention measures and preservation of the applicable stream buffer. Downstream overbank flood protection must hold the post-development peak discharge rate to the pre-development rate for the 25-year, 24-hour storm, and extreme flood protection must keep the 100-year, 24-hour storm from worsening flooding.

Streams designated as trout waters get additional temperature protection: no elevation of natural stream temperature in primary trout waters, and no more than a two-degree Fahrenheit rise in secondary trout waters. Projects must go through a pre-submittal meeting, a stormwater concept plan, and a full stormwater management plan sealed by a Georgia-licensed engineer or landscape architect, and post a bond covering the full estimated construction cost of the system before a land disturbance permit issues.