Managing Wet Weather with

Green Infrastructure
a periodic update on activities
Volume 2008, Issue 5 November 2008

A number of communities across the country, at various Contacts

stages of combined sewer overflow (CSO) abatement plan-
ning and implementation, are making significant commit- EPA Headquarters

ments to green infrastructure solutions. New York City re- Jenny Molloy, OW/OWM

cently public noticed their molloy.jennifer@epa.gov

Robert Goo, OW/OWOW

PlaNYC for sustainable storm-

goo.robert@epa.gov

water management. Louisville

KY and Kansas City MO are EPA Regions

both preparing to soon submit Katie Connors, R1

long-term control plans to connors.katie@epa.gov

regulatory agencies; both are Right-of-way bioinfiltration Stephen Venezia, R2

venezia.stephen@epa.gov

planning to make commit- bump out, Kansas City MO

Dominique Lueckenhoff, R3

ments to significant green ele- leuckenhoff.dominique@epa.gov

ments in their plans. Indianapolis estimates a reduction of Jim Giattina, R4

20-30% of flows to the combined sewer system using green giattina.jim@epa.gov

measures, including creating wetlands and planting 5,000 Bob Newport, R5

trees. Other cities, counties and utilities are also working newport.bob@epa.gov

on plans to enhance their wet weather management plans Brent Larsen, R6

with more green infrastructure approaches because of cost larsen.brent@epa.gov

savings and the other benefits that more green space brings Mandy Whitsitt, R7

to their communities. whitsitt.mandy@epa.gov

Gregory Davis, R8

davis.gregory@epa.gov

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation

John Tinger, R9

is partnering with the Tennessee Department of Transporta- tinger.john@epa.gov

tion, Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Storm- Krista Mendelman, R10

water Association to offer a grant program designed to help mendelman.krista@epa.gov

local governments fund green infrastructure projects. Grants

ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 will be awarded to local Steering Committee Partners

governments through a competitive process for projects in- Nancy Stoner, NRDC

cluding rain gardens, green roofs, pervious concrete applica- Nathan Gardner-Andrews &

tions, trees and tree boxes, as well as outreach and educa- Keith Jones, NACWA

tion efforts designed to promote green development in Ten- Chris Kloss & Neil Weinstein,

LID Center

nessee communities. The grants require a 20 percent local

Katherine Baer, American Rivers

match. Applications were due October 31, and grant an- Linda Eichmiller, ASIWPCA

nouncements are expected in December 2008.

For more information on managing wet weather with green infrastructure, and to see back issues
of this bulletin, see: www.epa.gov/greeninfrastructure. To be added to an e-mail distribution list
for future issues of this bulletin, or if you have items of interest to be considered for inclusion in
future issues send an e-mail request to molloy.jennifer@epa.gov.
Volume 2008, Issue 5 November 2008

A series of short documents addressing pivotal

issues related to municipal
implementation of green in-
frastructure for managing
wet weather will be released
over the next couple of
years. Collectively, the Mu-
nicipal Handbook will cover
topics such as design, policy,
incentives, and operation
and maintenance. The first
document, Funding Options, has been released.
Planned for release before the end of the year
are Urban Retrofit Policies and Green Streets
and Right of Way Design. Link►
Emeryville CA
On October 15, 2008 the National Research Coun-
cil released Urban Stormwater Management in
the United States. The report was commissioned
by U.S. EPA to evaluate several facets of the fed-
eral stormwater permitting program, and to
make recommendations on several specific issues
as well as on the overall program. The report
contains a number of significant findings and rec-
ommendations, including support for managing
wet weather, concluding that control measures
“that harvest, infiltrate and evapotranspirate
stormwater are critical to reducing the volume
and pollutant loadings of small storms”. EPA
plans to evaluate the study recommendations,
and produce an implementation strategy.
New Publications
Partner Features
American Rivers has just released Using Green
Infrastructure in Karst Regions, a 5-page guide
on how to maxi-
mize use of non-
infiltrative green
infrastructure
practices, and
also modify de-
signs of bioreten-
tion measures.
The guide notes that green infrastructure is still
a widely applicable and desirable approach in
areas with karst geology.
American Rivers, in collaboration with Midwest
Environmental Advocates, has also released
Local Water Policy Innovation: A Road Map for
Community Based Stormwater Solutions. The
report explains how to improve stormwater
policies in local communities and capture the
attention of policy makers.
Upcoming Forums & Events
Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastruc-
ture. Kentucky Division of Water & U.S. EPA.
November 6-7, 2008. Louisville KY. Link►
New Partners for Smart Growth. Local Govern-
ment Commission. January 22-24, 2009. Albu-
querque NM. Link►
Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communi-
ties. Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. June 2-5,
2009. Atlanta GA. Link►

Green Works to Reduce Flood Losses, Associa-

tion of State Floodplain Managers. June 7-12,
Green Cities, Great Lakes: Using Green Infra- 2009. Orlando FL. Link►
structure to Reduce Combined Sewer Overflows.
Ecojustice. 2008. Link► Demonstration
of porous con-
Green roofs are not created equal: the hydrologic crete and per-
and thermal performance of six different exten- vious asphalt
sive green roofs and reflective and non-reflective at Villanova
roofs in a sub-tropical climate. Simmons et al, University
Urban Ecosystems, 2008. Link►