Philadelphia makes major “green” investment

Philadelphia is making a major commitment to storm water—a $1.6 billion commitment. Dealing with a sewage system that cannot handle the millions of gallons of rainwater the city receives annually, city officials have proposed a 20-year plan that would divert the water to other outlets. The 3,000+ page plan would establish rain gardens and green roofs in both public and commercial locations along with the installation of thousands of trees and porous pavement. Although the proposed plan is currently under review by regulators and environmental groups, the initial comments have been positive.

Jon Capacasa, regional director of water protection at EPA, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the plan “is the most significant use of green infrastructure” that he has ever seen, as well as being the largest.

Patrick Starr, senior vice president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, told the newspaper that the plan is the most significant investment to transform the city ever proposed. He expects that it will change the look of neighborhoods, city blocks and streets.

It is estimated that the city has to deal with 14 million gallons of storm water overflow a year. Rather than trying to manage the storm water, city officials decided to look for ways to deal with rain water where it lands. The plan is to replace the city’s concrete and asphalt with plants including rain gardens, green roofs, landscapes curb extensions, vegetative swales in parking lots and mini wetlands. Streets and parking lots would be repaved with porous asphalt that lets the rainwater flow through to prevent the formation of puddles.

The city has already begun to require commercial developments that disturb 15,000 square feet or more of land to install capture systems for runoff. For some projects this will mean the installation of green roofs, similar to the one on the city’s Museum of Art parking garage.

The city’s Water Department has also begun phasing in storm water rates for commercial customers based on the amount of impervious surface area they maintain rather than on how much water they use.