Green infrastructure manual “Construction” chapter work session in Rochester, NY. Credit: Mary Austerman, NYSG.

A NYSG collaboration addressing localized green infrastructure education and implementation received national recognition in 2019

Contact:

Mary Austerman, Great Lakes Coastal Community Specialist, P: 315-331-8415, E: mp357@cornell.edu

Newark, NY, March 4, 2019 -In 2019, a project that partnered New York Sea Grant (NYSG) with the City of Rochester, Monroe County, and the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) to develop a locally-focused green infrastructure (GI) retrofit manual was recognized with a design award.

The City of Rochester & Monroe County Green Infrastructure Retrofit Manual was judged as an American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Merit Award of Achievement winner in the Research & Communication category.

The award recognizes professional work of significant quality, innovation or professional impact. Entries were judged by a multi-disciplinary jury established by the Pennsylvania/Delaware Chapter of the ASLA. The entry was submitted by the NY Upstate Chapter of ASLA.

This project filled an information gap specifically focused on local guidance for GI retrofits by communities in New York State. To support development of the guide, NYSG gathered stakeholder input through discussions focused on designing a manual that would help planners, municipal staff, design engineers, and maintenance personnel successfully incorporate green infrastructure practices in retrofit and redevelopment projects within the City of Rochester and Monroe County.

The 189-page GI Retrofits Manual for the City of Rochester & Monroe County is accompanied by a 109-page appendices document with such items as the pollutant removal efficiencies of GI practices; construction inspection, operation and maintenance forms; cost calculator; infiltration and soil testing protocols; sample maintenance agreement; recommended plants for green infrastructure installations; and case studies.

Implementing the manual’s GI planning and design recommendations, best practices, and maintenance and monitoring protocols leads to increased resiliency to nuisance flooding, improved water quality and community design, and other localized benefits.

Partners:

• City of Rochester
• Monroe County
• NOAA
• The Association of State Floodplain Managers
• Barton & Loguidice, D.P.A.

Funding:

Provided by NYSG through the Environmental Protection Fund under the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act and the Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through NOAA.

More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly. Our program also produces an occasional e-newsletter,"NOAA Sea Grant's Social Media Review," via its blog, www.nyseagrant.org/blog.