Storm drain installation in Northern California means trenching a path for pipe, setting catch basins where water actually pools, and tying the whole system into a legal discharge point, and in Tehama, Butte, and Shasta counties that work almost always needs a grading or drainage permit before anyone breaks ground. Get it done while the ground is dry and the system has months to settle before the first real storm tests it in November.
Walberg, Inc. has been cutting drainage into ranch land, subdivision pads, and county road shoulders around Corning since 1999, and the calls follow the same pattern every year. Dry ground all summer, then a scramble in October when someone remembers the shop floor flooded last January and nothing's changed since.
What a storm drain system actually includes
A storm drain isn't one pipe. It's a system: catch basins or area drains set at the low points where water collects, solid pipe running on a slope to carry that water away, and a discharge point the water is legally allowed to go, whether that's a county storm sewer, a drainage easement, a retention basin, or a natural watercourse. Get the discharge point wrong and the rest of the system doesn't matter.
People often use "storm drain," "catch basin," and "French drain" like they're the same thing. They're not.
| System | What it moves | Where it's used |
|---|---|---|
| French drain | Groundwater and saturated soil, moved slowly through a perforated pipe wrapped in gravel and fabric | Soggy ground with no single low point, foundation perimeters |
| Catch basin / area drain | Surface runoff collected at one low spot and dropped into solid pipe | Yards, parking areas, driveway dips, ranch gates |
| Storm drain system | Runoff from multiple catch basins, moved fast through larger solid pipe to a legal discharge point | Subdivisions, commercial sites, county roads, larger ag operations |
A single soggy corner of a yard usually just needs a French drain or a catch basin tied to a short run of pipe. A property moving water off several acres, or a subdivision pad that has to satisfy a county drainage plan, needs the full system. Walberg's storm drain installation crews handle both, but we'll tell you straight if you're paying for more system than the site needs.
Why summer and early fall are the right time to dig
Northern California's wet season runs roughly November through March, and once the ground turns to mud, trenching gets slower, compaction gets worse, and equipment tears up a site that would've been fine in July. A pipe backfilled and compacted while the soil is dry has months to settle before it has to do its job. One put in during a break in December storms is still settling when the next storm hits it.
That's the same reason grading and house pad work slows down in the rainy months. Drainage is no different. If your property floods every winter, the fix has to go in the ground before the rain starts, not after the third time your driveway washes out.
Do you need a permit?
In most cases, yes. If the project disturbs an acre of soil or more, or is part of a larger development that adds up to an acre, California's Construction Stormwater Program requires coverage under the state's General Permit for Stormwater Discharges before work starts, administered through the State Water Resources Control Board. Smaller residential jobs usually fall under your county's grading or drainage permit process instead, and Tehama, Butte, and Shasta counties each run that through their own building or public works department.
Tying a new drain into an existing county storm sewer typically requires a separate connection permit on top of the grading permit. Skipping that step is how a homeowner ends up with a drain that has to be dug up and redone, and it's how a GC ends up with a red tag on a job that was otherwise ready for inspection.
What actually drives the cost
Every storm drain bid comes down to a handful of factors, and they don't all move the price the same amount. Trench depth and soil matter most: digging through clay is a different job than digging through rock, and required depth goes up fast if the pipe has to cross under a driveway or road. Pipe material and diameter come next, since a system moving runoff off several acres needs larger pipe than a short residential fix, and larger pipe costs more per foot.
Catch basins add up quicker than people expect. Each one is its own excavation and structure, not a spot where you just drop a grate on a pipe, so a system with four basins costs a lot more than one with two, even if the pipe run is similar. Distance to a legal discharge point counts too: tying into an existing county storm sewer thirty feet away costs a fraction of trenching two hundred feet to a drainage easement on the far side of the property. And on larger commercial or county work, engineering and permitting can add real time before a crew ever shows up, since many of those projects need a stamped drainage plan before the county issues anything.
We don't publish flat prices because two properties with the same square footage can need entirely different systems. Request a free estimate and we'll walk the site, figure out where the water actually wants to go, and price the system that fixes it instead of one that moves the problem to a different corner of the property.
Residential jobs vs. commercial and county work
A property owner dealing with a flooded backyard or a driveway that turns into a creek every winter is usually looking at a catch basin, a couple hundred feet of pipe, and a tie-in to an existing system. That's a days-long job, not a weeks-long one.
General contractors building a house pad or a commercial site are a different animal. Storm drain work there has to satisfy a county drainage plan before the pad is even poured, and it usually gets scheduled alongside grading and site preparation so the crew isn't trenching through finished work. Walberg coordinates that sequencing on GC jobs around Corning, Chico, and Red Bluff regularly, and the same crews that cut the pad can rough in the drainage before compaction. On sites that also need sewer or water service run, we handle sewer and water line installation alongside the storm drain work so the trenches get coordinated instead of dug twice.
County and municipal storm drain projects run on a different clock entirely. Public agencies typically budget and bid this kind of work against their fiscal year, and the contractors who show up ready with current licensing and equipment on hand are the ones who actually make the construction window before the rains close it. Walberg holds CSLB License #898860 (A, C-21, C-22) and keeps over 100 pieces of owned equipment on hand, which matters when a county job needs a crew mobilized fast, not three weeks after the bid clears. You can look up any California contractor's license status the same way before you sign a contract.
Common questions
Do I need an engineer to design a storm drain system?
Small residential fixes, like a catch basin and a short run of pipe to daylight, usually don't require a stamped engineering plan. Larger systems tied into a county storm sewer, or any project disturbing an acre or more, typically do need an engineered drainage plan before the county will issue a permit.
What's the difference between a French drain and a storm drain?
A French drain manages groundwater and saturated soil through a perforated pipe that lets water seep in along its length. A storm drain system collects surface runoff at catch basins and moves it fast through solid pipe to a discharge point. Most flooding problems on a property are a surface runoff issue, which points to a catch basin and storm drain, not a French drain.
Can storm drain work happen during the rainy season?
It can, but it's harder, slower, and more expensive. Wet soil compacts poorly, equipment causes more site damage, and a pipe backfilled in saturated ground doesn't settle the same way one does in dry conditions. Late spring through early fall is the window when the work goes fastest and holds up best.
How deep does a storm drain pipe need to be buried?
Depth depends on the pipe size, the slope needed to keep water moving, and whether it crosses under a driveway, road, or other load-bearing surface. A county drainage plan or grading permit will typically specify minimum cover requirements for your project.
Does Walberg, Inc. handle the permitting?
Walberg works within Tehama, Butte, Shasta, and the surrounding Northern California counties every year and can walk a property owner or GC through what their specific county requires. Contact us before design work starts and it saves a redesign after the county sends the plan back.
Bottom line
If your property floods every winter and you're reading this in July, you have the exact amount of time it takes to design, permit, and dig a system before the ground turns to mud again. Waiting until October means fighting wet soil, slower work, and a system that's still settling when the first storm arrives. Request a free estimate from Walberg, Inc. and get the drainage plan started while the dirt is still dry.