Natural Resources News
Friday, May 25th, 2012
Urban rainstorms frequently result in flooded streets and yards, puddled parking lots, and wet, disgusting basements. Stormwater may eventually wash debris from roadways, clear up that annoying oil slick in the parking lot, and give the city a fresh-washed feeling, but this renewed cleanliness comes with a steep environmental cost: the oil, debris, and dirt washed off roads by rain is subsequently returned, often bypassing sewage treatment systems, to local water sources. Communities can reduce the incidence of this stormwater pollution by installing small-scale green infrastructure features—such as bioswales, permeable pavers, and rain gardens—that are commonly referred to as stormwater best management practices (BMPs).
Green landscape features - like this bioswale at Our Lady Gate of Heaven Parish - can and should be installed amidst large impervious surfaces (parking lots).
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Friday, May 11th, 2012
CNT welcomes our newest staff member in our Water program, Ryan Wilson. As stormwater program manager, Ryan will promote the value of using green infrastructure—trees, rain gardens, and native plants—to soak up raindrops where they fall and alleviate pressure on traditional grey infrastructure systems that lead to flooding. Ryan will also lead CNT’s effort to establish a one-stop Wetrofit service that will provide advocacy tools, technical assistance, and education to property owners looking to install and upgrade systems that reduce on-site flooding and improve property values.
“CNT’s Water program is embarking on very exciting and very important work over the next two years, and we’re extremely pleased to have Ryan on board to shape and implement our initiatives,” said Harriet Festing, CNT Water program director.
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Monday, April 2nd, 2012
A Green Infrastructure Portfolio Standard would help cities scale up their green infrastructure, especially in urbanized areas in need of stormwater management methods.
For the past year, CNT, in partnership with American Rivers and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, has been working with officials in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Grand Rapids, Michigan to develop a new way to manage stormwater in developed urban settings: the Green Infrastructure Portfolio Standard (GIPS). The GIPS pilot program takes a cue from the popular Renewable Portfolio Standard and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard policies enacted in many states across the country to encourage renewable energy and energy efficiency use, respectively. The GIPS is intended specifically to help developed areas scale up green infrastructure practices relatively quickly, since stormwater regulations that apply only to new developments or redeveloped sites are inadequate for this purpose. Read more »
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Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is moving forward this week with its plan to make green infrastructure a mainstay of stormwater management programs across the state. IEPA has convened a working group of stormwater policy stakeholders, including CNT, to devise statewide performance standards for stormwater management. At the working group’s inaugural meeting on March 29th, CNT Stormwater Program Manager Ryan Wilson will present a review of exemplary state programs from across the country that already have stormwater performance standards in place.
Communities that use water efficiently are communities that are more economically and environmentally resilient. That’s why effective use of our water resources is a cornerstone of CNT’s work.
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Wednesday, March 14th, 2012
Photo credit, Thirteen of Clubs, http://www.flickr.com/photos/thirteenofclubs/3105615966/
Did you know that minor water leaks in a typical home can account for more than 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year, or enough water to wash nearly 10 months’ worth of laundry? To address this surprising problem, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared this week as “Fix a Leak Week” to remind Americans to check household plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems for leaks.
In cities across the country, Delta Faucet and EPA’s WaterSense program (CNT is a partner) are providing free water-efficiency retrofits to homes. Here in Chicago, more than 100 affordable homes—more than any other city in the country—are receiving water saving improvements. Read more »
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Monday, January 23rd, 2012
CNT, as a partner in Livability Solutions, has been selected to provide technical assistance to the Lower Eastside Action Plan (LEAP) of Detroit, Michigan, and the Toledo-Lucas County Sustainability Commission of Maumee, Ohio. CNT will assist both communities in learning how to use CNT-designed tools to quantify and advocate for the benefits of green infrastructure as a means of stormwater management. CNT’s tools—the Green Infrastructure Valuation Guide and the Green Values® National Stormwater Management Calculator—were designed to assist communities in promoting sustainability to improve their quality of life and implement local development plans.
“We are pleased to be working with these two community organizations which are committed to improving the quality of life of their residents,” said Scott Bernstein, CNT’s president. “Each of these communities have specific challenges to address—from developing and implementing plans to address vacant land and blighted property to engaging residents in sustainability planning.” Read more »
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Thursday, December 15th, 2011
The US EPA and other federal and state agencies have announced a legal settlement with the Chicago area’s Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) to address the problem of raw sewage being released into Chicago area waterways during rain storms. The settlement includes a requirement to complete the Deep Tunnel by 2029 to increase its capacity to handle wet weather events and address combined sewer overflow discharges. It also requires the agency to implement a $25 million to $50 million green infrastructure program that will reduce stormwater runoff in communities.
“We are pleased to see green infrastructure included in the overall plan to manage our stormwater in the Chicago region,” said Kathryn Tholin, CEO of the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT), which has worked for more than a decade to demonstrate the myriad benefits of green infrastructure and foster its widespread use. “The additional investment in green infrastructure dwarfs previous investment in the proven, cost-effective practice, and it will allow the district and others to measure its benefits at a regionwide scale.”
“Despite the positive step forward, the 15-year timeframe for implementing green infrastructure is far too long and should be accelerated,” said Tholin. “Philadelphia and St. Louis, cities smaller than Chicago, have invested much more money in green infrastructure in a much shorter period of time. The beauty of green infrastructure is that we can implement these solutions now and begin seeing positive results in communities long before the Deep Tunnel is complete. Deploying green infrastructure in communities is the quickest, cheapest way to address costly flooding in homes and businesses.” Read more »
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Wednesday, October 26th, 2011
A new CNT study shows that Portland is well-positioned to pilot a tree asset management program that would lay the groundwork for turning its tree canopy into a bondable asset, similar to bridges and roads. The study identified six steps through which Portland—and other cities—can create an effective tree asset management program. The study also provides several case studies of other cities that are attempting to turn their trees into assets.
Tree Asset Management in Portland, Oregon is available here.
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Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
CNT welcomes Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s move to modernize Chicago’s water infrastructure through increased, and arguably fairer, rate prices. The decision will reduce the amount of water lost through leaks in crumbling pipes, and improve the system’s ability to deal with intense storms that cause flooding and wreak costly havoc on property owners.
The decision was unveiled in the city budget proposal for 2012 to the Chicago City Council today. Among the new initiatives it puts forward is an increase in the annual fee for water and sewer services. The water fee for property owners would increase by 25 percent next year and would begin to charge institutions, such as CNT, for water services that have historically received those services for free. Read more »
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Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
Wangari Maathai speaks at the Al Raby School for Community and Environment on September 22, 2007 about the importance of rain gardens like the one CNT helped to plant at the school.
We at CNT are saddened to learn of the passing of 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement. CNT was honored to have Ms. Maathai join us at the dedication of one of our first green infrastructure projects, located at the Al Raby School for Community and Environment and named in her honor.
CNT worked with the Al Raby School and the East Garfield Park community in 2007 to install the Wangari Maathai Natural Garden, a native woodland garden at the entrance of the school, located at 3545 West Fulton Boulevard. The project was not only beautiful; it also connected the students to nature by providing a hands-on experience in landscape design, creation, and maintenance. Read more »
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