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EPA's Ongoing Green Infrastructure Research
Citation:
BORST, M. EPA's Ongoing Green Infrastructure Research. Presented at EWRI CONFERENCE, HONOLULU, HI, May 12 - 16, 2008.
Impact/Purpose:
to present information
Description:
Green Infrastructure is a concept originating in the United States in the mid-1990's that highlights the importance of the natural environment in decisions about land use planning. In particular there is an emphasis on the “life support” functions provided by the natural environment for example; clean water and healthy soils, as well as the more anthropocentric functions such as recreation and providing shade and shelter in and around our towns and cities. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended the concept to apply to the management of stormwater runoff at the local level through the use of natural systems, or engineered systems that mimic natural systems, to treat polluted runoff. The Green Infrastructure approach analyses the natural environment in a way that highlights its function and subsequently seeks to put in place, through regulatory or planning policy, mechanisms that safeguard critical natural areas. Where life support functions are found to be lacking, plans may propose how these can be put in place through landscaped and/or engineered improvements.