Cost of Maintaining Green Infrastructure

Reports findings from a survey and literature review to capture and quantify the expenses associated with operating and maintaining sustainable stormwater-management technologies. Green infrastructure practices use processes found in the natural environment to manage stormwater with the end goal of reducing stormwater runoff volumes and corresponding pollutant loading from urban surfaces.

Sponsored by the Municipal Water Infrastructure Council of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of ASCE

Cost of Maintaining Green Infrastructure reports findings from a survey and literature review to capture and quantify the expenses associated with operating and maintaining sustainable stormwater-management technologies. Green infrastructure (GI) practices use processes found in the natural environment to manage stormwater with the end goal of reducing stormwater runoff volumes and corresponding pollutant loading from urban surfaces. Because GI installations require ongoing maintenance to remain effective, the authors set out to compile data to support whole-life cost estimates for a suite of small-scale, distributed GI technologies, with a particular emphasis on maintenance costs. To develop this report, they contacted 30 state and local agencies to gather information on GI program structure, types and frequency of maintenance activities, maintenance program costs, data tracking approach, and budgeting.

Topics include:

• Survey results from 10 communities that provided data on GI maintenance costs;
• Descriptions of GI programs in 11 communities not yet able to provide cost data;
• Resources on GI practices available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency;
• Descriptions of nine readily available cost-estimating tools and resources; and
• Recommendations to standardize GI cost reporting.

This book is a vital resource for environmental engineers and managers, urban planners, and government officials working with states and communities interested in planning and developing green stormwater infrastructure to manage urban runoff.