WATER + STORMWATER
priorities that were identified through interviews and focus groups dur- ing the last year and provided the impetus to form the collaborative. Victoria Pebbles, program director at the Great Lakes Commission, noted the importance of the new group. “In 2014, 22 billion gallons of untreated sewage and stormwater were released into the Great Lakes,” she said. “Innovative stormwater management like green infrastructure can be a cost-effective way to address this crisis, but only if Great Lakes communities know about and can access the appropriate tech- nology. This collaborative will be a powerful resource for communities struggling to implement sustainable solutions to address stormwater management needs.” Donald Carpenter, professor of practice in civil engineering at LTU and director of the university’s Great Lakes Stormwater Manage- ment Institute, is working with the collaborative to spread sustainable stormwater management practices and technologies. Carpenter said implementing green infrastructure in communities can greatly reduce pressure on existing “gray” infrastructure — the pipes and pumps that move stormwater to treatment plants or directly to rivers — especially in locales where these systems are outdated or degraded.
“We have an opportunity to share some really innovative solutions with communities throughout the region and have an impact on how infrastructure is developed and sustained into the future,” Carpenter said. “This group will connect a lot of the dots to make it easier for lo- cal governments to access and implement the appropriate technologies for their communities’ stormwater management needs.” Establishment of the collaborative is supported by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation. A sister project, the Green Infra- structure Champions Pilot Program, also supported by the Erb Family Foundation, will create a mentoring network of “green infrastructure champions” and emerging communities across the Great Lakes. The two efforts will work in tandem to reduce physical and institutional barriers to a greener approach to stormwater management.
More information is available at www.glc.org/work/stormwater-tech and www.ltu.edu/water .
Information provided by the Great Lakes Commission (www.glc.org).
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