Economic Framework and Tools for Quantifying and Monetizing the Triple Bottom Line Benefits of Green Stormwater Infrastructure

Many cities throughout the United States and Canada have adopted ambitious green infrastructure (GI) programs to reduce polluted stormwater runoff and meet water quality standards related to combined sewer overflows, polluted runoff from municipal separate storm sewer systems, and total maximum daily load targets. GI practices can also yield many important co-benefits, including beautifying neighborhoods, reducing flooding, improving air quality, reducing respiratory and heat-related illnesses, creating “green-collar” jobs, and more.

As more communities consider how to best integrate GI into stormwater management planning efforts and/or expand existing GI programs, they have expressed a need for information to help them better quantify and monetize these benefits through a “triple bottom line” (TBL) approach. This project aims to develop a systematic approach to help utilities quantify the financial, social, and environmental benefits of GI at the community level.

A fact sheet on this project, providing an overview of the Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Co-benefits Framework and Tool, is available below under Resources.

Originally funded as WERF project SIWM4T17.