About Green Infrastructure
Stormwater is one of the biggest threats to water quality in the United States. It can transport trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants through storm sewers and into local waterways. Heavy rainstorms can cause flooding that damages property and infrastructure. EPA, states, and municipalities have made noteworthy progress protecting our nation’s waters through the implementation of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Green infrastructure may be used to comply with CWA requirements, treat stormwater, improve water quality, and mitigate flooding while also beautifying our communities.
Historically, communities have used systems of gutters, pipes, and tunnels to quickly carry stormwater downstream to wastewater treatment plants or untreated to local water bodies. This approach prevents stormwater from being managed at its source. Existing storm sewer infrastructure in many areas of the United States is aging, and its capacity is often not big enough to manage the increasingly large volumes of stormwater flowing to it. EPA’s 2022 Clean Watershed Needs Survey reported $115 billion of future stormwater investment needs. To meet these challenges, many communities are installing green infrastructure to complement existing infrastructure and bolster their capacity to manage stormwater. With this type of stormwater management approach, communities can improve their health and enjoy a range of other benefits.
There are many programs across EPA that support green infrastructure. EPA also partners with other federal agencies, states, municipalities, tribes, national associations, nonprofits, watershed associations, and other interested stakeholders to overcome barriers to advancing types of green infrastructure that can achieve multiple benefits.
EPA encourages municipalities to implement green infrastructure to manage wet weather. EPA aims to assist communities while they plan, install, maintain, and seek funding for green infrastructure by providing online resources, tools, and webinars. EPA also offers funding and technical assistance opportunities to plan, design, and implement green infrastructure projects that improve water quality, reduce flooding, and contribute to other public health and community goals.
As defined by the Clean Water Act, "the term ‘green infrastructure (pdf)’ means 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.
What Is Green Infrastructure?
Green infrastructure uses FiltrationThe act of removing pollutants from stormwater by passing it through a media such as soil, gravel, compost, or engineered material., InfiltrationThe act of stormwater soaking into the ground and underlying soils., and EvapotranspirationThe act of water entering the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration. to treat and soak up rainwater where it falls. It can deliver multiple environmental, social, and economic benefits beyond stormwater management alone. Terms such as nature-based solutions, green stormwater infrastructure, and low-impact development are also used to describe green infrastructure installations, and there is overlap between these concepts.
When green infrastructure systems are thoughtfully designed to fit the site-specific, local, or regional needs of the community and environment, they can provide cleaner air and water, protect against flooding and excessive heat exposure, provide diverse habitat, and create beautiful green spaces for all to enjoy. Learn more on our Types of Green Infrastructure webpage.
This Basics of Green Infrastructure (pptx) presentation can be downloaded and then customized for your intended audience. It presents background information about stormwater and the benefits that installing green infrastructure can bring to your community.