Integrity of the environmental systems and their beneficial uses (aquatic ecosystems and terrestrial resources) – stormwater management should contribute to the adequate protection of these systems with respect to their biodiversity (e.g., by protecting or creating habitat), land resources (limiting the extent of degraded lands), protecting water quality in the receiving waters for maintaining or upgrading beneficial uses (e.g., fishing and swimming), and preserving water balances of sub-watersheds (including discharges of runoff, affecting the fluxes of pollutants and sediment).