WHAT IS STORMWATER?

Stormwater runoff is a major cause of water pollution in urban areas. When rain falls on our roofs, streets, and parking lots in cities, the water cannot soak into the ground like it does in parks, meadows, forests, and other natural areas. Conventionally, stormwater drains through gutters, storm sewers, and other engineered collection systems, then travels into nearby water bodies unfiltered.

 

Although these conventional methods, often referred to as “gray infrastructure”, help remove stormwater from roads quickly, they don’t provide any stormwater filtration benefit. In fact, substances like road salt, sediment, animal waste, trash, and exhaust are all relayed into nearby water bodies by this gray infrastructure, contributing to water quality issues.

 

Green stormwater infrastructure is an alternative to these traditional stormwater management methods and provides a nature-based approach to improving water quality. Green stormwater infrastructure are soil-water-plant systems that intercept stormwater, infiltrate a portion of it into the ground, evaporate a portion of it into the air, and in some cases release a portion of it slowly back into the sewer system or nearby water body. In addition to improved water quality, green stormwater infrastructure provides benefits such as beautified communities, improved public health, and the creation of wildlife habitat.