WATERSHED APPROACH TO INTEGRATING GREEN AND HARD INFRASTRUCTURE: NEW YORK CITY'S STATEN ISLAND BLUEBELT

The Staten Island Bluebelt, one of the largest watershed-level stormwater best management practice (BMP) programs in the U.S., employs waterways and wetlands as a sustainable means of providing stormwater management, flood control, and water quality improvement over a 12,000-acre region of Staten Island, N.Y. By preserving and enhancing the natural ecology of the watershed area, the Bluebelt Program has transformed existing degraded areas into ecological gems, while providing the much-needed drainage infrastructure. Since the construction of the first BMPs by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) in 1997, the performance of the Bluebelt System has been exemplary and demonstrates that large-scale “green” stormwater infrastructure is cost-effective and environmentally sustainable.