Abstract Stormwater control measures (SCMs) are designed according to different urban stormwater management criteria. These criteria are usually the basis for the conception of SCM typologies. Although these typologies are useful, there is currently no typology that can generically describe all the diversity of SCMs and that is adapted for modeling. Thus, a new typology is proposed here. This typology is based on two criteria commonly used in stormwater management: the hydrological function and the type of structure. These two criteria are combined through a cross table. This combination yields the identification of 16 groups of SCMs represented graphically by physical compartments. These groups make it possible to represent a large diversity of existing SCMs. The new typology also allows a more adequate identification and conceptualization – via a reservoir-type approach – of the different hydrological and reactive processes occurring at the SCM level.