With approximately 1,900 miles of public alleys, Chicago has one of the most extensive and important pieces of infrastructure of any city in the world. That’s approximately 3,500 acres of paved impermeable surface that provides an opportunity to better manage resources and improve the environment.
Chicago’s Green Alley Handbook, 2010 | Chicago.gov
Tag: green infrastructure
How green is your alley?
In 2014, Detroit’s second-heaviest single-day rainfall ever caused flooding so major that people abandoned cars on the highway. The green alley didn’t hold a single puddle. Ever since, it’s been inspiring urban environmentalists.
Sierra, The national magazine of the Sierra Club
Types of Green Infrastructure
“Green infrastructure is a cost-effective, resilient approach to managing wet weather impacts that provides many community benefits.” EPA.gov
- downspout disconnection
- rainwater harvesting
- rain gardens
- planter boxes
- bioswales
- permeable pavements
- green streets and alleys
- green parking
- green roofs
- urban tree canopy
- land conservation
Image: Berwyn, IL “Tree City USA“
Bioswales are vegetated, mulched, or xeriscaped channels that provide treatment and retention as they move stormwater from one place to another.
EPA.gov
What is a bioswale?
State Revolving Funds for Water
State Revolving Funds (SRFs) provide critical support for a variety of water and wastewater projects, including drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities and stormwater pollution management.
NRDC | Image: Canva
Benefits: “SRFs involve federal, state, and local partnerships, thereby helping to support local economies. Every dollar invested in water infrastructure generates roughly $2.62 in the private economy, and every new job added in the water sector adds 3.68 jobs to the national economy due to the benefits of clean water.”
History: “The Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) was created in 1987 and its success spurred the subsequent creation of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) in 1996.”
- CWSRFs fund projects for water quality protection projects (e.g., nonpoint source pollution, watershed protection, municipal wastewater treatment).
- DWSRFs fund projects for drinking water projects (e.g., source water, treatment, transmission and delivery).
How it works: “Both the CWSRF and the DWSRF are administered by the states, but they are subject to oversight and programmatic regulations and guidance issued by the EPA. Each state is provided with a proportionate share of the annual Congressional appropriation (which is augmented by a required state match amount) to capitalize these revolving loan funds. States provide loans to communities from these funds, and the loan repayments are returned to the funds.”
Learn more:
- NRDC Issue Paper: Using State Revolving Funds to Build Climate-Resilient Communities
- NRDC Issue Paper: Go Back to the Well: States and the Federal Government are Neglecting a Key Funding Source for Water Infrastructure
Water Literacy Primer 