RAND: A Practical Guide to Vulnerability Assessments for Stormwater Agencies

A free 92-page guide that helps stormwater agencies run vulnerability assessments matched to their capacity so they can set investment priorities and plan for resilience.

This RAND guide gives stormwater agencies a step-by-step way to assess how vulnerable their infrastructure is, sized to the staff, budget and goals they actually have. It reviews assessment methods, helps agencies pick an approach that fits their capacity and draws lessons from published research and case studies. The aim is better investment priorities, stronger compliance and more realistic adaptation planning. Published in December 2025, it was presented to the Chesapeake Bay Program's local government workgroup in 2026 and is tagged for Pennsylvania and West Virginia. A good companion for MS4 communities working on stormwater plans.