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EPA Provides $100,000 to Support Green Infrastructure Development for City of Omaha, Neb.

Release Date: 05/12/2014
Contact Information: Kris Lancaster, 913-551-7557, lancaster.kris@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Lenexa, Kan., May 12, 2014) - EPA is providing $100,000 applied research funding for the City of Omaha, Neb., to establish a water monitoring network around the installation of green infrastructure systems.

“Green infrastructure provides many community benefits, including the reduction of storm water runoff and reduction of pollution in local streams,” said Karl Brooks, EPA regional administrator. “The funds will assist in water quality monitoring and implementation of storm water management strategies.”

In collaboration with the City of Omaha, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Nebraska Water Science Center, EPA scientists are analyzing soils and preparing a monitoring network strategy. Both Omaha and the State of Nebraska asked EPA’s Office of Research and Development and EPA Region 7 to provide scientific research assistance.

Monitoring will be installed before the green infrastructure is fully implemented, and will continue for at least three years after the installation, to determine how well it performs with respect to water capture and infiltration. Through this collaboration with community and state partners, the impact of the EPA research support will extend far beyond Omaha, showing other communities how they can approach green infrastructure.

In July 2012, a team of EPA researchers collected soil samples from 14 potential green infrastructure installation locations. By analyzing sample cores of both topsoil and subsoil, Omaha now is better able to determine the ability of those sites to effectively capture storm water.