The State of Public Sector Green Infrastructure
2022
In 2022, the Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange (Exchange), a peer learning network of public sector practitioners, conducted the inaugural State of Public Sector Green Stormwater Infrastructure survey to:
1
Understand the current state of green infrastructure implementation, and to assess the drivers, barriers, and levers affecting adoption.
2
Move the industry toward a shared standard for green infrastructure that’s inclusive of equity, community engagement, co-benefits, and long term maintenance and fits within the national One Water framework.
3
Offer recommendations for the public sector, and those that seek to support scaling of green stormwater infrastructure that serves communities.
These are the key findings.
Advancing toward a more equitable national standard
Green infrastructure industry leaders have elevated six characteristics that together define high-impact green infrastructure; it centers community, achieves multiple benefits, emphasizes vegetative practices where feasible, is maintained for the long-term, is regularly inspected for performance, and is evaluated for impact. The survey indicates there is significant work needed to achieve this emerging standard.
Although nearly all respondents prioritize all of these characteristics at least “sometimes,” clear gaps remain. For example, more than half of respondents center community (the central recommendation of the Equity Guide for Green Stormwater Infrastructure Practitioners) half the time or less. And in fact, nearly half (45%) of respondents were unable to estimate the portion of their cumulative green infrastructure funding directed to projects in disadvantaged, socially vulnerable, and/or environmentally vulnerable communities.
GRAPH: Percentage GSI Funding Directed to High Equity Value Communities
Unveiling central drivers
Regulation, inclusive of Consent Decrees and MS4 Permits, is the number one driver for green infrastructure across the country. In fact, nearly 9 out of 10 respondents described it as a “very important” driver. However, a variety of benefits that go beyond Clean Water Act regulations such as flood resilience, community quality of life, and equity were rated “somewhat important” or “very important” for the vast majority of respondents.
GRAPH: GSI Support Drivers
Revealing barriers
The US Water Alliance identified key barriers to green infrastructure in their 2011 study, Barriers and Gateways to Green Infrastructure. A broad literature review undertaken for this report found that those same financial, legal, and regulatory barriers continue to persist. However, there is also evidence that investments by public, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors have made headway in reducing barriers.
Analyzing the most effective levers
The most widely used and effective levers relate to buy-in from, and engagement with, elected officials, senior SMO staff, other departments/agencies and the public. (See Graph).
A second group of levers, used by 70% of respondents, require funding and policy alignment. Examples include classifying green infrastructure as a capital investment, funding maintenance, new development regulation and enforcement, and staff training.
A final group of “emerging” levers used by 30-50% of respondents support scale. These include standardizing design, using asset management systems, diversifying funding, investing in workforce development, and incentivizing private property retrofits.
GRAPH: Effectiveness of the Most Frequently Used Levers to Scale GSI
Understanding where green infrastructure is built
Nationwide, green infrastructure projects built to date are close to evenly distributed between parcels (37% of gallons managed), new development/redevelopment projects (33% of gallons managed), and right-of-way (31% of gallons managed. The majority are on public land.
More than half of respondents reported increases in green infrastructure development over the last five years on private new development/redevelopment (60%), public parcel retrofits (62%), and publicly developed right-of-way retrofits (65%).
And more than half of respondents expect this trend to continue with increases in green infrastructure development over the next five years through: private and public parcel retrofits (56% and 61% respectively), and publicly developed right-of-way projects (75%).
Very few SMOs expect to decrease their current green infrastructure development in any of the land profiles included on the survey.
GRAPH: Five Year Forecast
Sharing green infrastructure spending and cost data
Nationwide, green infrastructure accounts for 10% of stormwater-related capital expenditures. In the most recently completed fiscal year, green infrastructure capital expenditures ranged from $75,000 to $90,414,000 with a median of $280,000. Annual spending on green infrastructure operations and maintenance ranged from $25,000 to $5,300,000, with a median of $100,000.
Over the past five years, two-thirds of SMOs “increased” green infrastructure spending and over the next five years, nearly three-quarters of SMOs plan to increase green infrastructure spending. The cost per unit of green infrastructure also varies widely. The range of reported cost per gallon was from $0.23 to $45.67 (national median was $1.07) and cost per acre managed ranged from $10,000 to $930,000 (national median was $38,168).
GRAPH:
Jurisdiction Service Population vs Total Current Annual Capital Expenditures (Stormwater, GSI, GSI-Related O&M)
Where do we go from here?
Access the full findings, analysis, and sector-specific recommendations by downloading the Full Report and Data Dashboard