Great Ways to Create Green Infrastructure and Receive Grants From Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
Sourced from Cleveland.com
Permeable pavement, bioretention areas and vegetative roofs are just some types of green infrastructure that can reduce the amount of stormwater flowing into the region’s problematic combined-sewer system.
And all three are examples of projects that the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District might help pay for if they pass muster.
The sewer district is already spending billions of dollars on seven storage tunnels to reduce the combined-sewer overflow problem, but it also encourages efforts to reduce the massive amount of stormwater that rolls off roads, parking lots and other paved surfaces when it rains.
At a recent board meeting, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District agreed to make $1.5 million in grant money available for green infrastructure projects for 2023. They will be limited to areas in Cleveland and nine close-in suburbs that have combined sewers.
Combined sewers carry both storm and sanitary sewage through the same pipe, which isn’t a problem when it’s dry. But heavy downpours can quickly overload the antiquated system, forcing untreated flows to be discharged at relief points to prevent backups in homes and businesses.
There is no shortage of ideas for the sewer district grants, said Matt Scharver, deputy director of watershed programs at the sewer district, and the applicants get more than funding. They also are taught how to maintain their projects and generate revenue to do so.
That way the projects “have as long a life expectancy as possible,” he said.
From the Living Architecture Monitor
