In the engineering industry, we keep our eyes focused on trade magazines for reporting on infrastructure design trends. Over the last year, green stormwater infrastructure has been featured in multiple major national newspapers and "morning drive" radio shows.

The City of Philadelphia made national news when it officially approved Green City, Clean Waters—a 25-year, $2-billion plan to manage Philadelphia's stormwater through green infrastructure. Additionally, the New York City Department of Environmental Conservation and New York City Department of Environmental Protection announced a $2.4-billion investment in green stormwater infrastructure over the next 20 years. The improvement programs promise to create green neighborhoods, restore waterways, improve outdoor recreation spaces, and enhance quality of life while saving public funds in the long term.

What is Green Stormwater Infrastructure?

Green stormwater infrastructure is an approach to managing stormwater that uses natural systems—or those that mimic nature—to capture rainwater where it falls. This is a challenge in cities and suburbs where rain that once soaked into fields and forests now runs off onto hard surfaces like roads, sidewalks, rooftops, and parking lots. By retaining rainwater where it falls, we can reduce flooding, improve water quality, create green areas, and decrease spending on traditional piping and treatment-based infrastructure systems.

For a more detailed description of green stormwater infrastructure techniques and an analysis on their benefits, I recommend reading this report released by the American Society of Landscape Architects, American Rivers, Water Environment Federation, and ECONorthwest, "Banking on Green: How Green Infrastructure Saves Municipalities Money and Provides Economic Benefits Community-wide."