Go Green New Infrastructure

Posted on January 18, 2008 | Filed Under Green Infrastructure, Healthy Waters, Rain Gardens 

baerKatherine Baer, Director
Healthy Waters Campaign

Buffers, wetlands, and green roofs, hooray! Green infrastructure, the use of soil and plants to filter and treat water on-site, is really catching on. This includes preserving natural landscape features like streamside buffer zones as well as well as recreating landscape features by using techniques like raingardens and swales.

denver EPA HQ green roof2Green infrastructure works to help keep stormwater runoff from causing flooding problems and sewer overflows and can save energy and cool buildings, as well as providing an aesthetic benefit for communities. Additionally, these natural systems provide communities with added resilience to mitigate the changes we’ll face in a warming world.

As a way to translate these ideas into action, EPA just released their Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure Action Strategy of which American Rivers is a partner. The strategy includes goals for how to incorporate green infrastructure into permit requirements for combined sewer overflows and stormwater - Washington D.C. has already incorporated these measures into their new stormwater permit, including tree planting and green roofs. New federal buildings will also be using more green infrastructure as a result of a new provision of the Energy Act.

And just in time, too. The recent Clean Watershed Needs Survey shows that $9.0 billion is needed for storm water management nationwide alone - green infrastructure is looking like a smart investment as well a good looking one.

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Comments

4 Responses to “Go Green New Infrastructure”

  1. In the end… — John Sawhill : American Rivers Blog on January 24th, 2008 6:06 am

    [...] and can save energy and cool buildings, as well as providing an aesthetic benefit for communities. More River Quotes are posted weekday mornings. Want to see your favorite river quote here? Email it to [...]

  2. Ring Around the (Green) Collar : American Rivers Blog on January 24th, 2008 11:05 am

    [...] “green jobs.” I looked up from my unmatched socks - were the candidates really talking green infrastructure, like using natural techniques to reduce polluted stormwater [...]

  3. Where Has All the Money Gone? : American Rivers Blog on February 29th, 2008 5:54 pm

    [...] Green infrastructure approaches are gathering momentum and create jobs that cannot be exported. Hopefully, this will be combined with the increased recognition that failing infrastructure is a national problem that will only worsen in the face of global warming forcing us to make smart investments in our water infrastructure for the future. Instead of promoting sprawl and creating more problems (as documented in a new report by Environmental Advocates of New York), federal money should be used to fix existing problems and fund infrastrcuture that can best adapt to emerging ones. As the Senate look to reauthorize the federal clean water revolving fund and a new clean water trust fund is being proposed it will be key to keep sustainability at the forefront. [...]

  4. Great Lakes - An environmental history lesson : American Rivers Blog on April 2nd, 2008 12:03 pm

    [...] rain gardens, rain barrels, the importance of addressing stormwater pollution, and in general using green infrastructureto improve our rivers, I think it’s important to keep in mind why we do this. Ask anybody who [...]

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