The Evolution of Sustainability Through the Development and Implementation of the Omaha CSO Control Program

The City of Omaha has made sustainability a priority since the inception of the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Program. The development and implementation of the Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) has been guided by the City of Omaha's desire to develop a plan that meets regulatory compliance, is economically affordable, and is acceptable to the community. These three goals align with the traditional triple“bottom”line analysis of sustainability that incorporates environmental stewardship, economic growth, and social progress. Sustainability has been incorporated into the design and construction through the Sustainability and Green Solutions Refinement tasks, tracking of local jobs and materials, implementation of green infrastructure projects, extensive stakeholder outreach, emphasizing feasible community enhancements, generation of a Sustainability Benefits Table for use by project teams, program standard specifications addressing sustainability objectives, and, most recently, the implementation of the draft ISI Envision™ Rating System (version 1.0) on several of the major CSO projects.