For example, a literature search revealed the following terms to identify swales: grass swale, planted swale, vegetated roadside swale, grassy median, bioswale, biofiltration swale, bioretention swale, infiltration-swale trench, and stone-lined swale. These classifications consolidated multiple terminologies that practitioners use and identified the lack of standard swale terminology. (2019) developed a database of swale performance results from 59 studies and classified the types of swales in four different categories: standard, dry, wet, and bioswales.

However, terminology needs to include clear distinctions between such terms as grass swale, dry swale, infiltration swale, wet swale, and bioswale to improve clarity and avoid interchangeable use. In an urban landscape, grass swales can provide open space benefits and enhance the natural hydrological components of infiltration, evapotranspiration, and runoff, qualifying them as a low-impact development or green infrastructure practice (Dietz 2007).Ī regulatory demand for increased treatment of urban stormwater has resulted in the evolution of other swale types, including infiltration swales, wet swales, and bioswales. Grass swales are historically the most common stormwater control measure (SCM) for managing roadway runoff due to their distinctive application in linear environments with limited rights-of-way and their low construction and maintenance costs (Currier and Taylor 2004). Swales are one of the oldest and most common forms of urban drainage and stormwater conveyance in the world (Burian and Edwards 2002).

Stormwater conveyance