Managing Wet Weather with
Green Infrastructure
a periodic update on activities
Volume 2007, Issue 2 October 2007
EPA has begun compiling examples of enforcement actions in which Contacts
green infrastructure activities are being implemented. Currently,
EPA Headquarters
summaries of five supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) have Jenny Molloy, OW/OWM
been posted on the website. Practices include open space conserva- Robert Goo, OW/OWOW
tion, greenways, rain gardens, green roofs, buffers and downspout dis- Gary Hudiburgh, OECA
connection. Contact: Gary Hudiburgh,
[email protected] EPA Regions
Jackie LeClair, R1
A research forum is planned for January 2008 in Stephen Venezia, R2
Washington D.C. at the American Institute of Ar- Dominique Leuckenhoff, R3
chitects (AIA), to develop an action plan for fill- Jim Giattina, R4
ing important research gaps. The forum is pri- Joan Karnauskas, R5
marily for organizations and individuals undertak- Brent Larsen, R6
ing and funding research. Areas of research to Pradip Dalal, R7
be discussed are: protocols for assessing green Elaine Lai, R8
infrastructure (including monitoring); perform- John Tinger, R9
ance of management practices, and models. Con- Krista Mendelman, R10
Bioretention in Portland tact: Jenny Molloy,
[email protected] Steering Committee
Partners
On September 17, 2007 the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) Nancy Stoner, NRDC
passed resolution 07-10 supporting green infrastructure, resolving: Nathan Gardner-Andrews,
NACWA
“ECOS hereby encourages the use of green infrastructure to mitigate Chris Kloss & Neil
the impacts of sewer overflows and as a tool to protect public health Weinstein, LID Center
and the environment, and Katherine Baer,
American Rivers
ECOS supports the objectives of the USEPA’s Green Infrastructure Linda Eichmiller, ASIWPCA
Statement of Intent and endorses the Stakeholder Statement of Sup-
port for Green Infrastructure including the development of models for Upcoming Forums &
all components of green infrastructure; exploration of the use of incen- Events:
tives for the use of green infrastructure in MS4 permits and CSO Long
Term Control Plans; development of memoranda and guidance materi- New Partners for Smart
als for the use of green infrastructure in meeting Clean Water Act re- Growth, February 7-9,
2008, Washington, D.C.
quirements; and provision of technical assistance, training and out-
reach to potential users of green infrastructure.” Green Practices for the
Water Environment, Water
For more information on managing wet weather with green infrastruc- Environment Federation,
ture see the website at: www.epa.gov/npdes/greeninfrastructure. To June 22-25, 2008, National
be added to an e-mail distribution list for future issues of this bulletin Harbor, MD. Abstracts due:
and other notices, send an e-mail request to
[email protected]. November 12, 2007
EPA is in early discussions with two large format
(or “big box”) retailers, plus a third retail chain, Partner Features
regarding green infrastructure partnerships. The
partnerships will result in the use of green infra- In 2006, American Society of
structure practices for managing stormwater at Landscape Architechts (ASLA)
big box retail facilities. EPA will offer connec- replaced the conventional roof
tions with certified installers and technical ex- on its downtown Washington,
perts, cost-benefit information where possible, DC headquarters with a green
and help advising state and local governments roof, installing equipment to
that green infrastructure is compatible with gather data on stormwater
NPDES stormwater permits. Big box retailers are runoff, water quality, and temperature. From
focal points in a community and can serve as July 2006 to May 2007, ASLA’s green roof pre-
models in demonstrating the feasibility of green vented nearly 75 percent of all precipitation on
infrastructure in retail applications. As large for- the roof from flowing into Washington, DC’s
mat retail companies recognize the economic overburdened sewer and stormwater system.
and other benefits, green infrastructure corpo- Except during repeated heavy rains, the roof
rate design standards can become the preferred only created runoff during rainfalls that ex-
method of stormwater management. Contact: ceeded one inch. The water runoff itself con-
Katherine Telleen,
[email protected] tained fewer pollutants than typical water run-
and Jenny Biddle,
[email protected]. off.
Stormwater wetland, Portland ASLA’s green roof lowered air temperature by
as much as 32 degrees in the summer when
compared to a neighboring tarred roof, helping
mitigate the urban heat island effect. The roof
also reduced the building’s energy costs—
especially in the winter. Engineering analysis
showed that the green roof’s extra insulation
lowered energy usage in the winter by 10 per-
EPA has a project underway to review existing cent with a potential of two to three percent in
funding strategies used by municipalities with the summer. Contact: Jim Lapides,
well-established green infrastructure policies. A
[email protected]compilation of case studies from cities with insti-
tutionalized green infrastructure programs, in-
cluding examples of stormwater fee structures, The Center for Neighborhood Technology
taxes, interagency contributions, and other fund- (CNT) has published a web-based Green Values
ing and incentive mechanisms, is planned for re- Stormwater Calculator. The calculator ap-
lease in 2008. Contact: Abby Hall, proximates hydrologic and financial costs and
[email protected] benefits based on user inputs, for a range of
green infrastructure management practices.
Planning level analyses at both the site and
New Publications neighborhood scales can be undertaken. The
calculator is available on-line at: http://
greenvalues.cnt.org/calculator. The CNT
Traver, Robert G., Davis, Allen P., Hunt, William Green Values website also
F. (2007). Bioretention and Bioinfiltration BMPs; has other information on
Three Researchers’ Experience. Stormwater. green infrastructure in their
Vol. 8(7). on-line toolbox, including
this field guide From Trou-
Dietz, Michael E. (2007). Low Impact Develop- ble to Treasure on green
ment Practices: A Review of Current Research stormwater management.
and Recommendations for Future Directions. Contact: Steve Wise,
Water, Air & Soil Pollution.
[email protected]
