Citation:

Shifflett, S., Tamara Newcomer Johnson, T. Yess, AND S. Jacobs. Interdisciplinary Collaboration on Green Infrastructure for Urban Watershed Management: An Ohio Case Study. WATER. MDPI, Basel, Switzerland, 11(4):738-757, (2019). https://doi.org/10.3390/w11040738

Impact/Purpose:

A workshop was held to seek input from key decision makers regarding obstacles inherent to watershed-scale planning of green infrastructure. To guide this discussion a local GI project and site, Congress Run, was considered as an example. At Congress Run investments are being made in stream restoration and stream daylighting by an NGO in partnership with the local Sewer District. Monitoring of this stream daylighting effort is ongoing under a separate project and QAPP. The effort detailed here is intended to inform similar watershed planning efforts throughout the midwest.

Description:

Abstract: Many older Midwestern cities of the United States are challenged by costly aging water infrastructure while working to revitalize urban areas. These cities developed much of their water infrastructure before the Clean Water Act became law and have struggled to mitigate contaminant loading to surface waters. An increasingly common approach to resolve these challenges is the integration of resilient green infrastructure with gray infrastructure improvements to manage point and non-point source pollution. Stakeholder engagement and collaboration during green infrastructure planning can help address impairments and promote ecosystem services. Mill Creek watershed in Cincinnati, OH, USA has seen improvement in watershed integrity indicators after being impaired for many decades by flashy hydrology, combined sewer overflows, and water quality degradation. A workshop was conducted to examine how integrated green and gray infrastructure has contributed to improvements in Mill Creek over the past several decades. Translational science approaches were used to examine internal and external factors that influence a multi-stakeholder watershed approach to planning, implementing, and evaluating green infrastructure techniques. Community investment and physical infrastructure, access to datasets, and skills and knowledge exchange were essential in improving use attainment in the Mill Creek. Future work should consider collaborative approaches to address scaling challenges and workforce development to maximize green infrastructure benefits.

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