New York Municipal Officials to Benefit from Green Infrastructure Webinars
Grand Isle, VT – As recent spring rains and winter snowmelt have driven Lake Champlain water levels to flood stage, municipalities continue to work to slow the flow of water downstream. The Lake Champlain Basin Program has released a new Green Infrastructure guidance manual and will host a series of webinars that will help municipal officials in New York with this effort.
Watershed Consulting Associates, Inc. and Hirschman Water & Environment developed the manual and will lead the six-part series, which will begin on June 1st. An in-person training on operation and maintenance of green infrastructure practices will also be held in Plattsburgh, NY on June 15.
Participants will learn about the use of green infrastructure in environments typically encountered by municipalities—village (developed) streets, rural roads, parking lots and hardscapes, and buildings. The manual highlights planning, implementation, operation and maintenance, and how to fund green infrastructure projects.
Green infrastructure is a toolbox of methods and practices to manage stormwater runoff from developed land. Traditional stormwater management practices use catch basins, storm drains, and pipes to convey runoff to nearby water bodies as quickly as possible with no treatment of pollutants. Green infrastructure can complement traditional systems by capturing stormwater as close to its source as possible (i.e. where the rain drop falls) and infiltrating, filtering, or storing the water for reuse to reduce runoff and improve water quality. The Green Infrastructure Manual is intended to supplement the New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual.
Please visit the Lake Champlain Basin Program website (https://www.lcbp.org/2017/05/green-infrastructure-webinar-series/) for details about the webinars and the manual. This project is supported by funds awarded to the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in support of the Lake Champlain Basin Program.
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