Environmental Issues: Water

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All Documents in Water Tagged green infrastructure

A Major Opportunity: Preventing Runoff Pollution and Flooding
Fact Sheet

Runoff from streets and parking lots after it rains is a significant cause of flooding and a leading cause of pollution to our streams, rivers, and lakes nationwide. Communities across the country have proved that there are cost-effective solutions for ensuring clean water: green infrastructure has emerged as the most reliable and cost-effective path toward achieving clean water while providing multiple community benefits.

Creating Private Markets for Green Stormwater Infrastructure
Report

To turn back the tides of polluted stormwater, many cities are launching ambitious plans to develop green infrastructure -- effectively unpaving city land and using practices that help rain absorb and be better used near where it falls.

Financing Stormwater Retrofits in Philadelphia and Beyond
Report

Philadelphia encourages property owners to install green infrastructure techniques with a flagship stormwater billing structure. This report -- a joint product of NRDC's Water Program and Center for Market Innovation -- uses Philadelphia as a test case to explore how cities can attract billions of dollars in private investment in stormwater retrofits, saving on public infrastructure costs while cleaning waterways and greening communities.

Rooftops to Rivers II
Green Strategies for Controlling Stormwater and Combined Sewer Overflows
Report

This November 2011 report is a policy guide for decision makers looking to implement green stormwater strategies to stop water pollution at its source. It includes case studies of cities that have successfully used green infrastructure techniques to reduce runoff and combined sewer overflow (CSO) pollution to create a healthier urban environment.

Stormwater Runoff
Challenges and Solutions for American Communities
Overview

Water from rain and melting snow runs off roofs and roads into our rivers, picking up toxic chemicals, dirt, trash and disease-carrying organisms on its way. But there are ways to control it.

After the Storm
How Green Infrastructure Can Effectively Manage Stormwater Runoff from Roads and Highways
Report

Stormwater runoff from roads and highways pollutes and erodes our nation's water bodies, imposing health, financial, and environmental costs on local communities. These costs can be avoided or significantly reduced by ensuring that our roadways incorporate runoff controls that retain stormwater onsite. Green infrastructure, in particular, is an especially effective method for retaining stormwater that also generates a wide range of economic and social benefits beyond improved water quality. To ensure that these benefits are enjoyed by communities across the United States, legislative and administrative decision makers at the federal and state levels should provide incentives and requirements for these controls to be implemented at all road and highway facilities.

For additional policy documents, see the NRDC Document Bank.
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