HRWC recently completed work with local government partners in Washtenaw County to better understand how to use and plan for Green Infrastructure to capture and treat stormwater. Green Infrastructure (GI) is the collective natural areas (like woods, wetlands, and even gardens) in our watershed that provide ecological benefits to the river. This is in contrast to the gray infrastructure (like roads and pipes) that is traditionally used in municipal development. Funded by a grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the project focused on the ability of GI to capture and treat stormwater runoff.
At the beginning of the project, HRWC staff conducted interviews and workshops to gather information about how local communities were using GI. Over the course of two years HRWC produced the products below to help municipalities utilize GI practices to reduce stormwater costs and improve the quality and volume of stormwater discharge to our natural water resources:
- “Barriers to Green Infrastructure” report – details key barriers that are limiting the use of Green Infrastructure and ways to overcome them;
- Growing Green Infrastructure Forums — summary and presentations from three educational and planning forums;
- Green Infrastructure Project Inventory – a map of projects by type across the county;
- Green Infrastructure Opportunities Map – assesses available geographic information to highlight the most effective locations to use Green Infrastructure for stormwater treatment;
- Comparative Project Design – illustrates the use of conventional and Green Infrastructure designs for a road project along with projected costs and benefits;
- Green Infrastructure Communications Strategy — establishes a plan for educating and communicating the use and value of the GI approach to relevant stakeholders; and
- Web Resources – organized by topics such as economics and funding, and operations and maintenance.
A fact sheet was also produced that summarizes the efforts and outcomes. HRWC also participated in the Southeast Michigan Council of Government’s (SEMCOG) regional Green Infrastructure Vision development. Finally, HRWC will be presenting at the DEQ’s Green Infrastructure Conference on May 8 and 9 (www.michigan.gov/deq. Search “green infrastructure”). Join us!