Bethlehem, PA Landscaping Rules: Rainwater Harvesting (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing sections
- § 925.11 definition; § 925.15.O BMP list
- Adopted
- Ordinance 2019-20, passed July 2, 2019
- Approved BMP
- Cisterns and rain barrels (Capture/Reuse)
- Special status
- Sole BMP needed if it treats full WQv
- Enforcing office
- City Engineer, City of Bethlehem
- Penalty range
- $200 to $1,000 fines under § 925.99
- Coverage
- Regulated earth disturbance, both counties
Summary
Bethlehem's stormwater ordinance treats rain barrels and cisterns as an approved Capture/Reuse best management practice for regulated construction sites. Under Codified Ordinances Article 925, a Capture/Reuse system sized to treat the whole required Water Quality Volume is the only BMP a site needs, because the ordinance rates its performance above bioretention and other non-infiltration BMPs.
Capture/Reuse – Stormwater management techniques such as cisterns and rain barrels which direct runoff into storage devices, surface or sub-surface, for later re-use, such as for irrigation of gardens and other planted areas. Because this stormwater is utilized and no pollutant discharge results, water quality performance is superior to other non-infiltration BMPs. ... If this BMP is used to treat the entire WQv then it is the only BMP required because of this BMPs superior water quality performance.
Full Breakdown
Article 925, the City's stormwater management ordinance adopted by Ordinance 2019-20 on July 2, 2019, regulates any Regulated Earth Disturbance activity inside Bethlehem across both Lehigh and Northampton Counties. 11 defines Capture/Reuse as cistern and rain-barrel systems that store runoff for later re-use, such as garden irrigation, and states that because the water is used rather than discharged, its water-quality performance beats other non-infiltration BMPs. 25 inches of runoff over the site area. O requires that WQv to run through two acceptable BMPs chosen from a list including bioretention, constructed wetlands, vegetated buffers and Capture/Reuse.
Capture/Reuse alone carries a footnote no other listed BMP gets: if a rain-barrel or cistern system is sized to treat the entire WQv, it becomes the only BMP the applicant has to install. A Best Management Practice Operations and Maintenance Plan documenting how the system will be run and who is responsible must be filed with the Drainage Plan before the City Engineer will approve the project, and no earth-disturbance work covered by this Article may begin until that approval is granted.
Violations & Fines
Article 925 makes any violation a misdemeanor under Section 925.99: a first violation carries a $200 fine or up to 30 days in jail, a second violation $500 or 60 days, and a third or later violation $1,000 or 90 days, with each day of noncompliance counted as a separate offense. The City Engineer can also pull construction permits and stop work under Section 925.14 until a deficient BMP, including a failing Capture/Reuse system, is corrected.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Bethlehem require developers to use rain barrels or cisterns?
What makes a cistern or rain barrel system different from other approved BMPs?
What happens if a rainwater capture system isn't maintained?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bethlehem
Compare Bethlehem to another location·View the Pennsylvania landscaping rules overview
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