Minnesota Stormwater Manual test page 5

Warning: This page is an edit and testing page use by the wiki authors. It is not a content page for the Manual. Information on this page may not be accurate and should not be used as guidance in managing stormwater.

Raj test page

Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) and sustainable stormwater management

Green infrastructure encompass a wide array of practices, including stormwater management. Water management using green infrastructure practices mimics the natural water cycle. Examples of green infrastructure practices include planting trees, restoring wetlands, enhancing biodiversity, and restoring floodplains. Green infrastructure incorporates both the natural environment and engineered systems to provide clean water, conserve ecosystem values and functions, and provide a wide array of benefits to people and wildlife. Green infrastructure can be applied on different scales, from the house or building level, to the broader landscape level. On the local level, green infrastructure practices include rain gardens, permeable pavements, green roofs, infiltration planters, trees and tree boxes, and rainwater harvesting systems. At the largest scale, the preservation and restoration of natural landscapes (such as forests, floodplains and wetlands) are critical components of green infrastructure.

Stormwater management using green infrastructure practices involves keeping and using water close to its point of origin (i.e. keeping the raindrop where it falls). Practices include those local practices mentioned above - rain gardens, permeable pavements, green roofs, infiltration planters, trees and tree boxes, and rainwater harvesting systems. Because there multiple benefits of these practices, in addition to stormwater management, the manual includes a variety of topics related to green infrastructure as illustrated below.

Green Infrastructure: Throughout this manual, these green alert boxes identify a stormwater practice that is considered a green infrastructure practice.

Green Stormwater Infrastructure and sustainable stormwater management

• Overview for Green Stormwater Infrastructure
• Overview for sustainable stormwater management
• Planning Green Stormwater Infrastructure projects and practices
• Designing Green Stormwater Infrastructure projects and practices
• Maintaining and assessing Green Stormwater Infrastructure projects and practices

Green Stormwater Infrastructure Best Management Practices

• Overview of Green Stormwater Infrastructure Best Management Practices - comment
• Design considerations for Green Stormwater Infrastructure Best Management Practices - <span title="I envision this being a page in the wiki that summarizes design elements specific to GSI. There would be links to the existing design pages for each BMP, where the user can get all the design info for a specific BMP." comment
• Operation and maintenance of Green Stormwater Infrastructure Best Management Practices - comment
• Assessing the performance of Green Stormwater Infrastructure Best Management Practices - comment
• Multiple benefits of Green Stormwater Infrastructure - comment

Other suggestions or questions

• Within each BMP design, O&M, and assessment page in the manual, add a section on GSI considerations
• Do we need to add construction to the above items

Additional information on Green Stormwater Infrastructure

Green Stormwater Infrastructure case studies Links for Green Stormwater Infrastructure