Allegany County, MD Landscaping Rules: Rainwater Harvesting (2026)
Key Facts
- Where it's addressed
- Chapter 360 Part 3, § 360-50B(1)(b)
- Status for private homeowners
- Not separately regulated or required
- Status for regulated development
- One of 13 approved ESD practices
- Design standard
- 2000 Maryland Stormwater Design Manual
- Recording requirement
- Must be recorded in county land records
- Alteration rule
- Needs prior County approval to change
Summary
Allegany County doesn't separately regulate homeowners installing rain barrels or cisterns for their own yards, but its stormwater ordinance treats rainwater harvesting as an approved environmental site design (ESD) practice. Under County Code § 360-50, a developer subject to Chapter 360 Part 3 may use rainwater harvesting, designed to the Maryland Stormwater Design Manual, to help meet the county's minimum runoff-control requirements for new or redevelopment projects in the unincorporated area.
§ 360-50. Stormwater management criteria. ... ... B. Stormwater management measures. ... (1) ESD planning techniques and practices. ... (b) The following ESD treatment practices shall be designed according to the Design Manual to satisfy the applicable minimum control requirements established in Subsection A of this section: [1] Disconnection of rooftop runoff; [2] Disconnection of non-rooftop runoff; [3] Sheetflow to conservation areas; [4] Rainwater harvesting; [5] Submerged gravel wetlands; [6] Landscape infiltration; [7] Infiltration berms; [8] Dry wells; [9] Micro-bioretention; [10] Rain gardens; [11] Swales; [12] Enhanced filters; and [13] Any practices approved by the administration. ... (3) ESD planning techniques and treatment practices and structural stormwater management measures used to satisfy the minimum requirements in Subsection A of this section must be recorded in the land records of Allegany County and remain unaltered by subsequent property owners. Prior approval from Allegany County shall be obtained before any stormwater management practice is altered.
Full Breakdown
Rainwater harvesting appears in Chapter 360, Part 3, Stormwater Management, not as a stand-alone permit requirement for private homeowners, but as one of thirteen environmental site design (ESD) treatment practices a developer may design into a project under § 360-50B(1)(b), alongside disconnection of rooftop runoff, rain gardens, dry wells, micro-bioretention, swales and submerged gravel wetlands. Before any structural best-management practice, such as a pond or filtering system, is used, § 360-50B requires a developer to show that ESD techniques like rainwater harvesting have been implemented to the maximum extent practicable, following the sizing and design criteria in the 2000 Maryland Stormwater Design Manual.
This matters for anyone building, expanding or redeveloping property in the unincorporated area: a rainwater harvesting system installed to meet the county's minimum control requirements becomes part of the approved plan and, under § 360-50B(3), must be recorded in the Allegany County land records and left unaltered by later owners; changing or removing it requires prior County approval. The requirement traces back to § 360-49's applicability rule, which bars developing residential, commercial, industrial or institutional land without runoff-control measures unless the project is exempt, and to § 360-47's stated purpose of using ESD to the maximum extent practicable to keep post-development runoff as close as possible to predevelopment conditions.
A homeowner who simply wants a rain barrel for garden use, outside of a permitted development project, isn't independently regulated by this chapter; the ordinance only reaches rainwater harvesting when it's proposed to satisfy a stormwater plan the County must approve under § 360-52 before issuing a grading or building permit. The Land Use and Planning Engineer administers plan review and can approve alternative ESD practices under § 360-50B(4) if they meet the Design Manual's performance criteria.
Violations & Fines
Rainwater harvesting itself isn't separately penalized, but if it's part of an approved stormwater plan, altering or removing it without County approval, or failing to meet the recorded plan's ESD requirements, is a violation of Part 3. Under § 360-57, that's a misdemeanor carrying up to a $5,000 fine or a year in jail per violation, and the County can also suspend the grading or building permit under § 360-52C.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to install a rain barrel at my house in Allegany County?
Can rainwater harvesting count toward my stormwater plan?
Can I remove a rainwater harvesting system once it's approved?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Allegany County
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