The State of Public Sector Green Stormwater Infrastructure

Purpose: This session will provide an overview of a survey and related report documenting the state of public sector green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) in the United States in 2022 and providing recommendations for what the public and private sectors, NGOs, and community leaders can do to create successful pathways to scale in coming years. Benefits of Presentation: This is the first study of the state of public sector GSI ever conducted in the U.S. The presentation would provide participants with an understanding of: (1) What jurisdictions are spending and what the expectations are for future project types and GSI budgets across the United States; (2) Where GSI is being built and what is known about the percentage of funding being directed to projects in disadvantaged and/or socially/environmentally vulnerable communities; (3) What the survey results indicate as to the breadth and type of GSI being built and trends in how much is being invested by the public sector; (4) The levers, such as strong political leadership, stormwater fees, and incentive programs, that are driving adoption and how widely they are being employed; (5) The drivers behind GSI implementation (e.g., regulatory compliance, flood resilience) and how they influence the type of GSI that receives public support and funding; (6) The extent to which certain best practices, such as maintenance, regular inspection, provision of multiple benefits, emphasis of vegetative practices, centering community, and assessment of impact, are being followed; and (6) The recommendations that the report contains for various sectors, including design professionals. Status of Completion: The report was vetted with officials from federal and local governments, large national foundations, and the private and nonprofit sectors before being officially published in the spring of 2023. Conclusion: The research provides a baseline for understanding the State of Public Sector GSI in the U.S., including the following: (1) Regulation is the primary driver of GSI implementation. (2) Financial, legal, and regulatory barriers continue to hinder the ability of stormwater agencies to implement green infrastructure at scale, but progress is being made. (3) Supportive elected decision makers, strong senior management champions, and interdepartmental coordination are the most essential levers for scaling green infrastructure. (4) Stormwater agencies are using a diverse array of procurement approaches for green infrastructure planning, design, construction, and maintenance activities, which may reflect the experimentation that is happening nationwide. (5) Gathering apples-to-apples green infrastructure spending data remains a challenge, however preliminary findings suggest that investment in green infrastructure, while highly variable, is increasing overall. (6) The majority of green infrastructure built to date by stormwater agencies has been on public property. (7) Nearly half of respondents were unable to estimate the portion of their cumulative green infrastructure funding directed to projects in disadvantaged, socially vulnerable, and/or environmentally vulnerable communities. (8) More work needs to be done for stormwater agencies to align on a shared set of high impact standards. According to green infrastructure industry leaders, high impact green infrastructure centers community, provides multiple benefits, emphasizes vegetative practices, is maintained over the long-term, is regularly inspected for performance and is regularly evaluated for impact.