Via Medium, an article on Milwaukee’s 2035 Vision aims to scale up green infrastructure using natural processes to improve water quality and manage water quantity by restoring the hydrologic function of the urban landscape:

Urban development typically retains little or none of the original vegetation and landscape, with impervious surfaces, including buildings, roads, gardens and parks, impacting the natural hydrology of an area as well as freshwater habitats for species. Green infrastructure provides an ability to restore natural environmental features to urban environments, thus helping to alleviate floods. Green infrastructure can contribute to flood alleviation by delaying the downstream passage of water flows, reducing the volume of runoff through interception and promoting rainfall infiltration into soils.

Green infrastructure can remove pollutants directly from stormwater. Using natural processes, green infrastructure can filter pollutants and degrade them biologically or chemically, both of which are particularly beneficial for separate stormwater sewer systems that do not provide additional treatment before discharging stormwater. Green infrastructure can also improve the health of waterways by reducing erosion and sedimentation and reducing pollutant concentrations in rivers, lakes and streams. This in turn leads to overall riparian health and aesthetics.

Milwaukee’s Green Infrastructure 2035 Vision

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s (MMSD) 2035 Vision aims to scale up and mainstream integrated watershed management and enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation. The 2035 Vision aims to create enough green infrastructure in its service area to capture 740 million gallons of water each time it rains. In support of the 2035 Vision, the Green Infrastructure Partnership Program (GIPP), launched in 2021, is inviting public, non-profit, and private sector organisations within eligible municipalities to apply for funding to create new green infrastructure, including rain gardens, bioswales, green roofs, and other techniques, to help capture stormwater runoff. The GIPP provides incentive funding on a per-gallon-captured, reimbursement basis for green infrastructure strategies that capture and purify water where it falls. Applications are scored against a set of criteria, with the focus on the applicant’s ability and commitment to implement, maintain, and promote their project.

The take-out

Organisations can be incentivised to develop green infrastructure on their land, helping to quickly realise strategic visions.