Services
Permeable Paving & Green Stormwater Infrastructure — Arizona
Jenterra builds low-impact development (LID) stormwater systems for Arizona sites — permeable interlocking concrete pavement (PICP) base preparation, bioswales, and water-harvesting basins and berms — that infiltrate or slow runoff on-site rather than pushing it downstream. These systems are built to the same compaction and drainage discipline as any other engineered base, with the added requirement that water has to move through them, not just off them.
Why green infrastructure fits Arizona sites
Arizona's rainfall is rare but intense — monsoon cells can drop an hour's worth of rain that a conventional curb-and-gutter system has to convey somewhere. Green infrastructure treats that runoff as a resource instead of a problem to move downstream: water-harvesting basins and berms direct flow to landscaping and recharge, bioswales filter and slow it, and permeable pavement lets it infiltrate through the surface it falls on instead of sheeting off.
Many Arizona municipalities now credit LID features toward stormwater detention requirements, which can reduce the size of a conventional detention basin a site would otherwise need.
Permeable paving base
PICP and other permeable pavement systems only work if the base underneath is built correctly — an open-graded aggregate base and subbase sized to store and infiltrate the design storm, over subgrade that's been evaluated for infiltration rate rather than assumed. We build the base to the compaction and gradation the pavement manufacturer and civil engineer specify, since a base built like a conventional road section will trap water instead of passing it through.
Bioswales and water-harvesting basins
Bioswales combine grading, an engineered soil mix, and vegetation to slow and filter runoff as it moves through a site; we grade the swale to the design slope, install underdrain and check structures where called for, and plant to the specified native or adapted species.
Water-harvesting basins and berms — a well-established Arizona landscape practice — capture roof and surface runoff and direct it to trees, native plantings or dedicated infiltration areas. Sized and graded correctly, they cut irrigation demand and reduce the volume leaving the site in smaller storms.
- PICP and permeable paving open-graded base installation
- Bioswale grading, soil media and vegetation
- Water-harvesting basins, berms and rock check structures
- Underdrain and overflow structures tied into existing storm systems
Frequently asked questions
- Does permeable pavement work with Arizona's clay and caliche soils?
- It depends on the subgrade's infiltration rate. Where caliche or clay limits infiltration, the base can be designed with an underdrain to daylight or connect to the storm system, so the pavement still functions even where the native soil won't fully absorb the water.
- Do LID features reduce the size of a required detention basin?
- Many Arizona jurisdictions allow volume credit for permeable pavement, bioswales and water harvesting toward stormwater retention/detention requirements. We recommend confirming the specific credit and calculation method with the local jurisdiction's drainage criteria.
- How much maintenance do bioswales and permeable pavement need?
- Permeable pavement needs periodic vacuum sweeping to keep the surface from clogging with fines, and bioswales need normal landscape maintenance plus occasional sediment removal. Both need far less than a conventional detention basin's structural upkeep.
Tell us your site. We'll send an estimate.
Scope, location, timeline — and whether you need materials, installation, or both. We respond with clear next steps.