Rain or Shine Spotlight | CWH Green Infrastructure Collaboration
As we approach our Rain or Shine: Soaking Up Success Symposium Series Panel 2 on October 15, 2020, we want to highlight our current green infrastructure projects and the multi-benefits they will bring for communities. We are excited to share how our involvement in green infrastructure projects has grown since our first Green Street in 2010! Read on to learn more about our current projects, their benefits, and how we are using lessons learned over the years to inform and adapt them.
1. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Markham Middle School Low Impact Development Project (LID) LAUSD integrated LID Best Management Practices (BMPs) into the Markham Middle School campus. Rain gardens, vegetated swales, permeable asphalt and pavers increase the capture, water quality, and infiltration of runoff. The LID BMPs are used to educate students about water pollution and watershed stewardship. CWH monitored the water quality during the pre- and post-construction of the LID BMPs, trained maintenance staff on proper operations and landscape maintenance, trained teachers on utilizing the BMPs to connect to curricula, and collaborated with the Friends of the LA River to introduce teachers to their curricula resources.
2. Proposition 1 Stormwater Technical Assistance (2016-Present) Through the State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) Proposition 1 Stormwater Program, CWH provided technical assistance (TA) to several small DACs interested in multi-benefit green infrastructure projects. CWH put together technical assistance teams which collaborated with small DACs to develop green infrastructure projects and complete Prop 1 Stormwater Implementation grant applications.This project presented a unique opportunity for CWH to expand on lessons learned leading the SWRCB’s Drought Response Outreach Program for Schools (DROPS) Technical Assistance Team by developing a project process that met small DAC needs related to project planning, engineering, analyses, community engagement, and capacity building. The Prop 1 Stormwater TA resulted in the development of six multi-benefit green infrastructure projects (see map for proposed project locations) that will improve water quality and volume capture, increase the sustainability of their communities, and build capacity of their agencies to implement green infrastructure projects.
3. Merced Avenue Green Street (2018-Present) - Merced Avenue Greenway Project is a Green Infrastructure planning and design project with goals to improve stormwater management and water quality, decrease flood risk, increase vegetative restoration, improve pedestrian and bike access, and reduce urban heat island effects. CWH leads the site development and technical aspects of this project including pre- and post- construction monitoring, sustainable landscape design assistance, and operations and management approaches for the proposed green infrastructure features. A diverse team of partners have greatly contributed to a comprehensive and successful community engagement process.
4. Garvey School District School Greening (2019 -Present) - In collaboration with the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Valley Water District, CWH is currently providing technical assistance to Garvey School District to help develop concept level stormwater management projects for Hillcrest Elementary School and Monterey Vista Elementary School. We’re excited to apply our lessons learned on school campuses and look forward to identifying Green Infrastructure opportunities at these San Gabriel Valley schools.
We are eager to learn and share more of lessons learned, best practices, and strategies from regional Green Infrastructure projects during our Rain or Shine: Soaking Up Success Symposium Series on the Benefits of Green Infrastructure - Now Online! To register and learn more information about our panels and speakers, please visit our webpage.
Special thank you to our generous Symposium partners and e-communication sponsors!
PLEASE NOTE: These sponsors are receiving the E-communication & Blog benefit from our 2020 Rain or Shine Sponsorship Packet! Click here to view a full list of Symposium sponsors. Interested in being featured on the Symposium web page and in future emails and blogs? Request a sponsor packet from eeberhard@watershedhealth.org today.
