About
About this site
spawnusa.org is an independently operated reference on water around the home: rain gardens and stormwater, French drains and foundation water, and seawalls, bulkheads and riprap on the shoreline. The original salmon-habitat pages are kept as an archive.
What it is
A privately run publication. It produces guides, calculators, and reference material on parcel-scale stormwater management and the creek habitat that stormwater affects. It is a commercial website and may earn revenue from advertising, affiliate links, or referrals to contractors. Where that is the case it is disclosed on the page.
What it is not
It is not a nonprofit, does not solicit or accept donations, does not run volunteer events, and does not represent any organization.
Non-affiliation. This domain was previously used by the Salmon Protection and Watershed Network. That organization is now part of the Turtle Island Restoration Network and has no connection to this site. Nothing here should be read as coming from, endorsed by, or associated with either organization. For their current work, go to their own website directly.
How we price
Every cost on this site is a national range for installed work in 2026, broken into the line items a contractor quote is made of: material, labor, equipment, permits, the outlet or disposal, and surface restoration. The calculators work from the same line items, so you can see which part of an estimate is driving the total.
They are reference ranges, not quotes. Regional labor rates move them by roughly 30 percent either way, and access, soil and the condition of what is already there move them further. The useful way to read them is line by line: when a quote is far outside the range, the line that is out of range is usually where the question belongs.
How referrals work
Some pages carry a form that asks for a ZIP code and contact details. If you tick the consent box and send it, those details go to up to three independent local contractors, who may contact you about the project. Nothing is sent without that box ticked, the form is never required to use a calculator, and the site may be compensated for referrals.
Corrections
Technical guidance here is general reference material, not engineering advice. Verify sizing against your local stormwater code before building. Corrections are welcome through the contact page, and the get involved page covers other ways to contribute.