Case Study

Innovative Green Infrastructure Project Has Diverse Funding And Financing Portfolio

Once a defunct golf course, Exploration Green is now a 200-acre urban green space providing the community with an innovative solution for their stormwater flooding and recreational needs.

Year

2022

Details

Hazards

Flooding – General

Assets

Natural Areas and Wildlife

Urban Landscape and Tree Canopy

Sources

NOAA Office for Costal Management Digital Coast

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Organizations

NOAA Office for Costal Management Digital Coast

Relevant Options

Minimize the impact to natural floodplains from future development by controlling the alteration of natural floodplains and stream channels. Increase the amount of ground cover and understory plantings for their water retention capacity. Encourage residents to re-establish natural floodplains.

Encourage the use of rain gardens, vegetation, landscaping, or other techniques that can “Soak Up the Rain” and manage stormwater runoff.
Increase floodplain and channel roughness to help dissipate the anticipated increase in runoff. Install bioengineered surfaces (e.g., vegetation incorporated with wood and rock to harden channels) along
Align flood mitigation and open space investments.
Use natural bank stabilization techniques or revetments or hardened materials atop riverbanks or slopes to protect against floods.
Adopt low-impact development (LID) standards, add incentives and remove regulatory barriers (e.g., in the zoning ordinance) to encourage green infrastructure, especially in low lying areas. Green infrastructure
Expand the detention capacity of bayou corridors.
Review existing legal, regulatory and policy frameworks that govern floodplain mapping, flood insurance and flood mitigation. Identify opportunities to improve their usefulness to reduce risks and increase
Develop a free rain garden program using fees and grants that provides materials and training.
Encourage and promote the use of vegetative buffers around streams, channels and water sources to absorb and manage runoff.
Increase and improve stream buffers with cross-community collaboration and watershed plans.
Integrate natural buffer requirements, such as wetlands and soft shorelines, into new development or redevelopment.
Install rain gardens and develop parks with a purpose to help mitigate nuisance flooding.
Revise and update land acquisition priorities in a regional setting to protect, preserve and enhance water storage.
Require increased buffers and stream flooding capacity for stream restoration projects.
Establish or enhance programs to link, manage and expand existing parks and preserves to help manage stormwater.
Create a targeted public education program about watersheds and shared responsibility.
Plant dense vegetation along riparian corridors to create a buffer from intensely flowing waters during floods.
Use flood walls, levees, floodways or diversions to control and direct floodwaters. Adopt holistic strategies that minimize upstream and downstream impacts.
Collaborate with state floodplain managers and mitigation officials to incorporate Integrated Flood Management (IFM) approaches that consider entire basins or watersheds into local plans. IFM considers
Create a plan for timely clean-up pre- and post-event to avoid impacts on natural areas and water bodies.
Create a green infrastructure and fee credit program for water retention. Consider expanding the program to include water treatment incentives.
Consider prohibiting or limiting development or economic development activities in high-risk areas, such as along steep river bluffs that may erode with heavy precipitation or flooding.
Restore natural flow and decrease flooding and recreational risks by removing antiquated low-head dams.
Study water system to identify manmade obstructions in water flow. Intersections, such as railway crossings and roadways, can create choke points in drainage
Set a goal to become stormwater neutral by increasing the ability of the jurisdiction to capture, infiltrate, retain or evapotranspirate the first inch of rainwater. This achievement would benefit local
Develop a program to remove invasive plants to avoid competition during extreme drought or wet periods.
Create incentives for developers to maintain riparian corridors.
Encourage daylighting streams — restoring above-ground water flow to a stream that is diverted below ground — to reduce polluted runoff and address flash flooding.
Conduct habitat, stream and floodplain restoration on properties purchased through floodplain buyouts.
Identify open space that could function as water storage areas.
To help manage floodwaters, integrate natural buffer requirements, such as wetlands and soft shorelines, into new development or redevelopment for all properties. Ideally, design would go beyond open
When developing a long-term watershed management plan, include the results of ecological assessments.
Identify and implement strategies to fund wetland restoration.
Pilot approaches to bring landowners and key agencies together to plan and implement runoff management, erosion management and riparian restoration activities. Identify models and best practices for joint
Restore existing wetlands to provide resilient habitats, improve water quality and slow floodwaters.
Evaluate the flooding potential of creeks in the jurisdiction. Monitor water flow to improve natural creek conditions and to improve floodwater flow, reduce erosion, improve habitat and protect adjacent
Designate the flood zone as green space that can be used for trails and recreation or to augment small scale agriculture or flood water retention.
Develop a land bank program to preserve the natural and beneficial functions of flood hazard areas.
Encourage nonprofits to hold land conservation easements. Encourage them to use those easements in ways that help manage climate change impacts.

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Innovative Green Infrastructure Project Has Diverse Funding And Financing Portfolio

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