Green Infrastructure Planning and Implementation in Camden, New Jersey

Camden is home to nearly 80,000 residents living in an area totaling 10.6 square miles. The median household income is $23,421, less than half of the New Jersey median household income. Over 35% of the population lives below the poverty level and many neighborhoods contain multiple vacant properties that have been abandoned by commerce and industry over the past century. These industries have left behind aging infrastructure and a questionable environmental legacy. City residents experience impacts to their quality of life from deteriorating sewer infrastructure, polluting industrial facilities, high diesel emissions, and multiple contaminated sites. Camden is one of 24 communities in New Jersey that has combined sewer systems (CSOs). Camden has a total of 28 CSO points discharging to three waterways.In July 2010 the Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) Water Resources Program entered into a partnership with the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA) to pilot a community-based initiative to implement green infrastructure projects throughout Camden to address issues of stormwater management and combined sewer overflows in neighborhoods throughout the city.