Green Infrastructure
A Powerful Tool to Mitigate Climate Change
What Is Green Infrastructure?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. says …
Runoff from stormwater continues to be a major cause of water pollution in urban areas. It carries trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants through storm sewers into local waterways. Heavy rainstorms can cause flooding that damages property and infrastructure.
Historically, communities have used gray infrastructure—systems of gutters, pipes, and tunnels—to move stormwater away from where we live to treatment plants or straight to local water bodies. The gray infrastructure in many areas is aging, and its existing capacity to manage large volumes of stormwater is decreasing in areas across the country. To meet this challenge, many communities are installing green infrastructure systems to bolster their capacity to manage stormwater. By doing so, communities are becoming more resilient and achieving environmental, social and economic benefits.
Basically, green infrastructure filters and absorbs stormwater where it falls. Green infrastructure has been described as "the range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pavement or other permeable surfaces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters."
Green infrastructure elements can be woven into a community at several scales. Examples at the small scale could include a rain barrel up against a house, a row of trees along a major city street, or greening an alleyway.
Neighbourhood scale green infrastructure could include acres of open park space outside the centre of a city, planting rain gardens or constructing a wetland near a residential housing complex.
At the landscape or watershed scale, examples could include protecting large open natural spaces, riparian areas, wetlands or greening steep hillsides.
When green infrastructure systems are installed throughout a community, city or across a regional watershed, they can provide cleaner air and water as well as significant value for the community with flood protection, diverse habitat, and beautiful green spaces.
The EPA offers great examples of how green infrastructure works in various settings.
Runoff from stormwater continues to be a major cause of water pollution in urban areas. It carries trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants through storm sewers into local waterways. Heavy rainstorms can cause flooding that damages property and infrastructure.
Historically, communities have used gray infrastructure—systems of gutters, pipes, and tunnels—to move stormwater away from where we live to treatment plants or straight to local water bodies. The gray infrastructure in many areas is aging, and its existing capacity to manage large volumes of stormwater is decreasing in areas across the country. To meet this challenge, many communities are installing green infrastructure systems to bolster their capacity to manage stormwater. By doing so, communities are becoming more resilient and achieving environmental, social and economic benefits.
Basically, green infrastructure filters and absorbs stormwater where it falls. Green infrastructure has been described as "the range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pavement or other permeable surfaces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters."
Green infrastructure elements can be woven into a community at several scales. Examples at the small scale could include a rain barrel up against a house, a row of trees along a major city street, or greening an alleyway.
Neighbourhood scale green infrastructure could include acres of open park space outside the centre of a city, planting rain gardens or constructing a wetland near a residential housing complex.
At the landscape or watershed scale, examples could include protecting large open natural spaces, riparian areas, wetlands or greening steep hillsides.
When green infrastructure systems are installed throughout a community, city or across a regional watershed, they can provide cleaner air and water as well as significant value for the community with flood protection, diverse habitat, and beautiful green spaces.
The EPA offers great examples of how green infrastructure works in various settings.
Rain Garden
Permeable pavement or permeable pavers - Great for streets, parking lots, walkways, etc.
Roadside bioswale takes stormwater runoff from roads, slows its pace and filters it.
Oakville's Dismal Record
AND YET…
We constantly find ourselves having to police the Town of Oakville, which continues to choose old, outdated practices over those that will advance our fight against the ravages of global warming.
As a positive local example, we offer Conservation Halton which has just undergone a "Greening" of its office buildings and surroundings. Here's what CH's Project Manager had to say. "During an intense storm event – which we’re seeing more of with climate change – rainwater at our office had nowhere to go but down, across the road, and right into a valley that feeds Bronte Creek. When water hits these hard, nonporous surfaces – paved roads and sidewalks, for example – it can pick up chemical residues from vehicle traffic, bacteria, and other debris, and all of this gets mixed in with the stormwater that enters our rivers and lakes.”
We constantly find ourselves having to police the Town of Oakville, which continues to choose old, outdated practices over those that will advance our fight against the ravages of global warming.
As a positive local example, we offer Conservation Halton which has just undergone a "Greening" of its office buildings and surroundings. Here's what CH's Project Manager had to say. "During an intense storm event – which we’re seeing more of with climate change – rainwater at our office had nowhere to go but down, across the road, and right into a valley that feeds Bronte Creek. When water hits these hard, nonporous surfaces – paved roads and sidewalks, for example – it can pick up chemical residues from vehicle traffic, bacteria, and other debris, and all of this gets mixed in with the stormwater that enters our rivers and lakes.”
Our Latest Example
The Town of Oakville made a decision to renew the eastern parking lot at Sir John Colborne Seniors Centre on Lakeshore Road West. The existing parking lot was not in bad shape and was quite serviceable.
When a Coronation Park Residents Association member saw the work underway and it became obvious the Town intended to replace the parking surface with asphalt, we contacted senior administrators immediately to call their attention to the need for a green solution. Their answer to us was that options would be reviewed.
Unfortunately, just days later, the repaving of the parking lot continued, using impervious asphalt which will result in an increase of runoff from the lot.
The request we made for green infrastructure and a solid recognition of the serious need to change our outdated ways was totally ignored by our municipality.
When a Coronation Park Residents Association member saw the work underway and it became obvious the Town intended to replace the parking surface with asphalt, we contacted senior administrators immediately to call their attention to the need for a green solution. Their answer to us was that options would be reviewed.
Unfortunately, just days later, the repaving of the parking lot continued, using impervious asphalt which will result in an increase of runoff from the lot.
The request we made for green infrastructure and a solid recognition of the serious need to change our outdated ways was totally ignored by our municipality.
We could have had this - a parking lot with permeable pavers, for instance.
Instead, we get this - an impervious surface that will increase the runoff, act as a heat island in the sun and add to the pollution that is sent directly to Lake Ontario - the source of our drinking water.
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