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"Putting Green to Work" Report Supplemental Case Studies
Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), 20 percent ($1.2 billion) of the $6 billion in funding for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) was dedicated to green infrastructure, water and energy efficiency, and environmentally innovative projects. This became known as the Green Project Reserve, providing dedicated funding for 21st century approaches to water management from green roofs to restored wetlands.
In American Rivers’ new report, "Putting Green to Work: Economic Recovery Investments for Clean and Reliable Water," we analyzed the implementation of the Green Project Reserve in 19 states across the country. Throughout the report, we highlighted the best "Bright Green" projects that protect, restore, and replicate the natural hydrology of the landscape, achieve real reductions in water use, and provide a range of environmental benefits.
The following projects build upon the "Bright Green" examples provided in the report to highlight further the innovative technologies funded under the Green Project Reserve that will sustainably manage and protect clean water supplies for communities.
Pennsylvania | California | North Carolina | Utah | Kansas | Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
In the Borough of Ohiopyle, located in the center of Ohiopyle State Park in southwestern Pennsylvania, funding from the green reserve will be used to disconnect downspouts, install rain barrels and cisterns, and construct 22,780 square feet of pervious pavement and sidewalks. It is estimated that this project could store up to 225,592 gallons of stormwater during rain events, reducing the amount of stormwater that must be treated by the local wastewater treatment plant, thus freeing up infrastructure capacity available for further economic development.
Dr. Jim Segedy, Director of Community Planning for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council described how this project is “a great push for the Ohiopyle community to move forward with their plans to be more sustainable and protect the resources, especially the Youghiogheny River, that make it such a unique and special place.”
California
In Hunter’s Point in San Francisco, the Literacy for Environmental Justice Eco Center received funding to construct San Francisco’s first completely “off-the-grid” building that will include a green roof, solar panels and a wind turbine, native landscaping to improve stormwater infiltration and promote water conservation, and a series of wetlands and ultraviolet lights to treat wastewater and recycle it for use in landscape irrigation.
This project not only will improve stormwater management in an area with flooding problems, but will serve as an education center for community members about the benefits of low impact development and green infrastructure. While the building may be disconnected from sewer lines and power grids, it certainly won’t be disconnected from its community. More than 400 high school students were involved in the planning and design of the Eco Center, where the focus continues to remain on engaging and educating the surrounding community.
North Carolina
The City of Raleigh and Wake County partnered to retrofit 10 firehouses and one Emergency Medical Service (EMS) station with large capacity cisterns and rain gardens. Each facility will get two to four cisterns with a capacity of 2,000-4,000 gallons.
These projects will reduce the demand on Raleigh’s drinking water supply because the fire stations can use the captured rainwater to clean fire trucks, irrigate lawns and gardens, and even fight fires. Water records from the City show that each station typically uses more than 4,000 gallons of highly treated water every month for washing equipment and training purposes. Together, the combination of these 11 projects can save the City of Raleigh more than 100,000 gallons of clean drinking water every year.
Utah
Ogden City received funding through the Green Project Reserve to restore 1.1 miles of a degraded section of the Ogden River that flows through the downtown industrial section of the city. The city developed a “property boundary” to protect the land surrounding the river and released a portion of its municipal surface water rights from the upstream reservoir to better manage the flow of the Ogden River. In addition, physical restoration of the river banks and surrounding area will improve the health of the river and the aesthetic value to the community.
This project focuses on turning a blighted section of river, lined by old industrial buildings and broken down cars, into the revitalized heart of the city. Not only will this restoration project improve the health of the river itself, but by directly creating an estimated 80 jobs and contributing to hundreds more indirectly, this project will help to restore and revitalize the community.
Kansas
The City of Lenexa, highlighted by the Environmental Protection Agency for its innovative Rain to Recreation program, used funding from the Green Project Reserve to implement a constructed wetland, incorporate native plantings, and establish a water reuse irrigation system. At Kansas State University, porous pavement, bioretention cells, and a rainwater harvesting system will be installed at the Center for Child Development to manage and treat stormwater onsite.
A project at Johnson County Community College will manage the stormwater runoff from the large parking lots on campus by using a combination of bio swales, constructed wetlands, infiltration basins, and native landscaping. Not only will this project help control stormwater runoff, but it will be used as an educational tool for students and community members to learn more about green infrastructure and low impact development strategies.
Oklahoma
As part of the Tulsa City-County Library System, a library in downtown Tulsa will construct a new green roof and reclaim abandoned reflecting pools. In Sperry, a rain garden will be installed to manage 50 percent of the stormwater runoff from the library site that will be used as an educational tool for the community as well as to create habitat and recharge groundwater supplies.
At the University of Oklahoma, green reserve funding is being used to construct a 1,280 square foot green roof on the National Weather Center on campus that will capture and treat rainwater. Built as part of a collaboration between the University of Oklahoma colleges of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences and Architecture, the Oklahoma Water Resource Board, and the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, the green roof will be used as an educational and research tool for students.
