City Seeking Public Input on Green Infrastructure: Take the Survey

Through a grant from the Commonwealth’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program, and to continue the City’s commitment to implement the climate action plan known as NB Resilient, the City of New Bedford is developing a Green Infrastructure Master Strategy and Implementation Roadmap.

The effort is headed by the City’s Department of Environmental Stewardship. A key element of the public input process is the department’s online New Bedford Green Infrastructure Strategy Survey. The survey enables residents to become better acquainted with green infrastructure and the benefits it can provide to New Bedford, provide initial feedback and preferences, and prepare questions or concerns for the City and its green infrastructure team to address.

“New Bedford has been a leader among cities in its response to climate change,” Mayor Jon Mitchell said. “We will continue to strengthen our resilience the more we can engage our residents in the effort, and this survey is an important step in that general direction.”

Green infrastructure refers to a collection of natural solutions that infiltrate, store, or absorb stormwater to reduce runoff into existing stormwater and sewer infrastructure.

It is a solution that improves water quality, reduces urban flooding, mitigates extreme heat, enhances neighborhood livability, and delivers environmental justice if prioritized in historically marginalized neighborhoods.

“Through this project we will realize multiple benefits, including natural alternatives to traditional stormwater collection,” said Michele Paul, the City’s director of resilience and environmental stewardship. “Green Infrastructure creates conditions to allow for more infiltration of rain into the ground, where it undergoes natural treatment and results in less discharge to surface waters through underground piping. With more street trees and ‘greener’ drainage alternatives throughout the city, we’ll add shade and reduce the amount of asphalt, as well, to lessen flash flooding and mitigate heat in the summer.”

Green infrastructure elements look much different than traditional and largely hidden “gray infrastructure,” such as the collection and discharge pipes beneath our roads. Over the next few months, the City will be reaching out to neighborhood groups and other community-based organizations to provide education and information about green infrastructure and answer questions and concerns.

For more information about the City’s climate action and resilience plan, and environmental stewardship efforts, programs, and resources, visit: nbresilient.com.