Green Infrastructure Implementation in Urban Parks for Stormwater Management

Abstract

A newly constructed rain garden in Shoelace Park in Bronx, New York, USA, was monitored between October 2014 and July 2015 as a pilot study aimed at testing the effectiveness of using urban park space to manage adjacent street runoff. Street inlet capture efficiency and rain garden retention were assessed through inflow and outflow monitoring and quantification. During the monitoring campaign consisting of 26 storms, the rain garden retained an average of 78% of all inflows, with full retention for storms under 10 mm (65% of monitored storms). New York City (NYC) is 72% impervious and 19.5% parkland in surface area. If only 4% of NYC parkland space were retrofitted with green infrastructure performing similarly to the Shoelace Park rain garden, the municipal goal of managing runoff from 10% of combined sewer-served impervious surfaces could be achieved, at least at the municipal scale. Additional spatial analyses are needed to determine whether potential parks are positioned ideally for stormwater capture given the variable conveyance capacities of the city's many combined sewersheds, and the desired pollutant load reductions for each of its receiving water bodies. As suitable right-of-way GI sites become rarer, parklands represent a new exciting opportunity for expanding the extent of distributed stormwater management in cities.

Urban stormwater characterization, control, and treatment

“…The authors suggest this demonstrates the potential for storage and reuse of bioretention outflows as a secondary nonpotable water source in dense urban areas. A rain garden in a high-density area in New York that intercepted street runoff retained 78% of all inflow volume, with 100% of retention of storm flow volumes associated with 26 rainfall events less than 10 mm (Feldman, Foti, & Montalto, 2019). The authors make the case that by retrofitting just 4% of the green space with green infrastructure, a 10% lowering of storm flow might be achieved.…”

Beyond the Backyard: GIS Analysis of Public Green Space Accessibility in Australian Metropolitan Areas

“…Green open spaces provide multiple services to human beings, including ecological, social, economic, and health benefits. Previous studies have demonstrated that green open space can provide a wide range of services such as the alleviation of urban heat [8,9], mitigating stormwater [10,11], conserving soil [12], enhancing biodiversity [13,14] and filtering pollutants [15,16]. Wu et al [17] found that proximity to parks significantly increased real estate prices and led to economic growth.…”

Monitoring of an urban level spreader as part of the collaborative adaptive management process

“…Use of a relatively small amount of greenspace for siting level spreaders and other GSI may have an outsized benefit for stormwater management in a city. Feldman, Foti, and Montalto (2019) , 2019). This may facilitate permitting of level spreader construction.…”