Green Infrastructure Models and Tools

Project Title: Green Infrastructure Models and Tools

Problem Statement

The current state of America's stormwater management tools needs a wide range of frameworks to solve the issues that our communities are facing today. The concerns consist of sewer overflows, aging drainage infrastructures, controlling pollution in agricultural areas, and become accustomed to climate change associated with water stress. Affected communities need infrastructure and models to estimate merits and trade-offs, systems to protect services related to the ecosystem, and help in utilizing practical information to appropriately choose proper actions. Appropriate adaption of green infrastructure either engineered or natural is a sensible approach to control these issues. Green infrastructure is an effective measure to create a green infrastructure model and tools environment both in rural and urban regions. It is an appropriate approach that meets water quality and quantity principles and procedures. Concerning the management of stormwater, green infrastructure provides recreational opportunities, mitigation of urban heat island, protects a habitat, treatment of pollution, supports ecosystem and hydraulic functions, saves management costs, and enhances aesthetics.

Green belt models vary from gray infrastructure approaches for stormwater management more so in urban regions. The green infrastructure supports the maintenance of a natural ecosystem to a greater degree. For example, it enhances recharging of the local water table, relative to the collection and channeling to treatment plants. The green infrastructure consists of the spatial deployment of engineered stormwater, and controls of flooding. Besides, it entails naturally decreasing landscape features. Improved approaches and tools will help in predicting their usage and functionality, thus helping victim communities to better evaluate green infrastructure options. At the define-level, process-level, and large-scale implementation of green infrastructure units, poor understanding introduces complexity and uncertainty, thus providing no contemporary solution. Access to practical information and the application of green infrastructure will help to achieve cost-effectiveness and management objectives that drive metropolitan decisions.

Project Objectives

The project objects to increase the application of green infrastructure to community stormwater management plans. It also seeks to improve watershed sustainability goals and objectives through developing modern green infrastructure models and tools. The project will constitute gap analysis, development, and improvement of models and tools, evaluation of approaches, and application of green models that are concurrent with stakeholders' needs. In essence, the project is aiming to improve the infrastructure and models of stormwater management systems and assimilate their applications into stormwater management progressions and decision-making procedures. 

The major objective of the project will object is the necessities and perspectives of the users of green infrastructure approaches and tools.

Project Significance

The green infrastructure project has a divergent method for its model utilization and application. The green infrastructure project framework will use models and tools that support significant policy decisions. The framework will also leverage models and tools that aid appropriate programs that result from policy inventiveness. The project will advance technically comprehensive models and also develop scientifically enhanced tools towards achieving the project objectives. The developed green infrastructure models and tools will apply to sustainable activities and will be appropriately used by the project stakeholders.

Project Scope

The project will consist of the following primary elements:

1. Finding probable civic stakeholders and considering their desires
2. Establishing an account for implementing modern green infrastructure approaches
3. Developing and advancing current green infrastructure systems and tools that stakeholders need.
4. Developing systematic models and tools to advise the appropriate communities, private sector, and federal about the significance and trade-off of green infrastructure options.

The project will entail an evaluative framework of stormwater management and relevant external approaches and tools for implementing the green infrastructure practices at a broad scale including basins, watersheds, and project sites, and at a temporal scale including annual and seasonal. The appraisal is a cross-cutting practice that will be synchronized with research programs. A section of the process will involve a detailed gap analysis which will contemplate how diverse green infrastructure exercises are combined with additional tools and model structures for assessing the efficiencies of these activities, and equations to better understand water and hydrological feedbacks to green infrastructure practices. The project will integrate the existing models and evaluate their significant uses and implementation.

The implementation of green infrastructure models and tools will be embraced as a significant water management option when the users are informed. Users responsible for financing, selecting, installing, monitoring, and maintaining green infrastructure should have a clear knowledge of applying the green infrastructure models and tools to balance direct and indirect costs and effectively achieve its valuable significances such as job opportunities. Therefore, further research of green infrastructure's economic and societal aspects will accompany its environmental benefits upon implementation.

The project workflow will be guided by the following structure.

1. Green infrastructure nature definite process review.
2. Green infrastructure development and algorithm review.

Development and evaluation of the green infrastructure modeling methods.

1. Creating a newly aligned green infrastructure modeling toolbox.
2. Conducting exchange with appropriate stakeholders.
3. Modeling application of green infrastructure at demonstration sites.