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Street-side swale and adjacent pervious concrete sidewalk in Seattle, US. Stormwater is infiltrated through these features into soil, thereby reducing levels of urban runoff to city storm sewers.

Green infrastructure or blue-green infrastructure refers to a network that provides the "ingredients" for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature. The main components of this approach include stormwater management, climate adaptation, the reduction of heat stress, increasing biodiversity, food production, better air quality, sustainable energy production, clean water, and healthy soils, as well as more anthropocentric functions, such as increased quality of life through recreation and the provision of shade and shelter in and around towns and cities. Green infrastructure also serves to provide an ecological framework for social, economic, and environmental health of the surroundings. More recently scholars and activists have also called for green infrastructure that promotes social inclusion and equality rather than reinforcing pre-existing structures of unequal access to nature-based services.

Green infrastructure is considered a subset of "Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure", which is defined in standards such as SuRe, the Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure. However, green infrastructure can also mean "low-carbon infrastructure" such as renewable energy infrastructure and public transportation systems (See "low-carbon infrastructure"). Blue-green infrastructure can also be a component of " sustainable drainage systems" or " sustainable urban drainage systems" (SuDS or SUDS) designed to manage water quantity and quality, while providing improvements to biodiversity and amenity.

Nature can be used to provide important services for communities by protecting them against flooding or excessive heat, or helping to improve air, soil and water quality. When nature is harnessed by people and used as an infrastructural system it is called "green infrastructure". Many such efforts take as their model prairies, where absorbent soil prevents runoff and vegetation filters out pollutants. Green infrastructure occurs at all scales. It is most often associated with green stormwater management systems, which are smart and cost-effective. However, green infrastructure is really a larger concept and is closely associated with a variety of other ideas. Green infrastructure also serves to provide an ecological framework for social, economic, and environmental health of the surroundings.

"Blue infrastructure" refers to urban infrastructure relating to water. Blue infrastructure is commonly associated with green infrastructure in urban environments and may be referred to as "blue-green infrastructure" when being viewed in combination. Rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes may exist as natural features within cities, or be added to an urban environment as an aspect of its design. Coastal urban developments may also utilize pre-existing features of the coastline specifically employed in their design. Harbours, quays, piers, and other extensions of the urban environment are also often added to capture benefits associated with the marine environment. Blue infrastructure can support unique aquatic biodiversity in urban areas, including aquatic insects, amphibians, and water birds. There may considerable co-benefits to the health and wellbeing of populations with access to blue spaces in the urban context. Accessible blue infrastructure in urban areas is also referred as to blue spaces.

Some people might expect that green spaces are extravagant and excessively difficult to maintain, but high-performing green spaces can provide tangible economic, ecological, and social benefits. For example:

As a result, high-performing green spaces work to create a balance between built and natural environments. A higher abundance of green space in communities or neighbourhoods, for example, has been observed to promote participation in physical activities among elderly men, while more green space around one's house is associated with improved mental health.

A 2012 study focusing on 479 green infrastructure projects across the United States found that 44% of green infrastructure projects reduced costs, compared to the 31% that increased the costs. The most notable cost savings were due to reduced stormwater runoff and decreased heating and cooling costs. Green infrastructure is often cheaper than other conventional water management strategies. The city of Philadelphia, for example, discovered that a new green infrastructure plan would cost $1.2 billion over a 25-year period, compared to the $6 billion that would have been needed to finance a grey infrastructure plan.

Ideas for green urban structures began in the 1870s with concepts of urban farming and garden allotments. Alternative terminology includes stormwater best management practices, source controls, and low impact development (LID) practices.

Green infrastructure concepts originated in mid-1980s proposals for best management practices that would achieve more holistic stormwater quantity management goals for runoff volume reduction, erosion prevention, and aquifer recharge. In 1987, amendments to the U.S. Clean Water Act introduced new provisions for management of diffuse pollutant sources from urban land uses, establishing the regulatory need for practices that unlike conventional drainage infrastructure managed runoff "at source." The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its initial regulations for municipal separate storm sewer systems ("MS4") in 1990, requiring large MS4s to develop stormwater pollution prevention plans and implement "source control practices". EPA's 1993 handbook, Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention and Control Planning, identified best management practices to consider in such plans, including vegetative controls, filtration practices and infiltration practices (trenches, porous pavement). Regulations covering smaller municipalities were published in 1999. MS4s serve over 80% of the US population and provide drainage for 4% of the land area.

Green infrastructure is a concept that highlights the importance of the natural environment in decisions about land-use planning. However, the term does not have a widely recognized definition. Also known as "blue-green infrastructure", or "green-blue urban grids" the terms are used by many design-, conservation- and planning-related disciplines and commonly feature stormwater management, climate adaptation and multifunctional green space.

The term "green infrastructure" is sometimes expanded to "multifunctional" green infrastructure. Multifunctionality in this context refers to the integration and interaction of different functions or activities on the same piece of land.

However, it is apparent that the term "blue-green infrastructure" is applied in an urban context and places a greater emphasis on the management of stormwater as an integral part of creating a sustainable, multifunctional urban environment. At the building level, the term "blue-green architecture" is used, which implements the same principles on a smaller scale. The focus here is on building greening with water management from alternative water resources such as grey water and rainwater.

Green Infrastructure as a term did not appear until the early 1990s, although ideas of Green Infrastructure had been used long before that. The first coined use of the term was seen in a 1994 report by Buddy MacKay, chair of the Florida Greenways Commission, to Florida governor Lawton Chiles about a Green Infrastructure project undertaken in 1991: Florida Greenways Project. MacKay states, "Just as we carefully plan the infrastructure our communities need to support the people who live there-the roads, water and electricity-so must we begin to plan and manage Florida's green infrastructure".

In Medieval Europe, lawns rich with flowers and herbaceous plants known as 'flower meads' are a good example of a more sustainable lawn. Since then, this idea has been used. In the Edwardian Era, lawns full of thyme, whose flowers attracted insects and pollinators, created biodiversity. A 20th century take on this lawn, the 'enamelled mead', has been used in England, and has the purpose of both aesthetics and for stormwater management.

During the height of the Renaissance, public areas became more common in new cities and infrastructure. These areas were carefully selected and would often be urban parks and gardens for the public to converse and relax at. Other than social uses, urban parks and gardens were used to improve the aesthetic of the urban environment they were present in. Urban spaces had environmental uses for the implementation of fresh air and reduced urban heating.

Green Infrastructure can be traced as far back as the 17th century in European society beginning in France. France used the presence of nature to provide social and spatial organization to their towns. Originally, nature in cities was used to provide social areas to interact, and plants were grown in these spaces to provide food in close proximity to the inhabitants. In this period, Large open spaces were used to provide a calm setting that could give "sites of power with sites of sanctity" across France. These sites were used by the French elites to bring rural country town house beauty to their new urban houses in a showcase of power and elaborate display of wealth. The French implemented many different types of infrastructure throughout the 17th century that involved incorporating nature in some shape or form. Another example would be the use of promenades that were used by the French elites to flee the unhealthy living conditions of the cities and to avoid the filthy public areas available to the common folks. These areas were lush gardens that had a wide variety of vegetation and foliage that kept the air clean for the wealthy while allowing them to relax away from the poorer members of French society. Again, Mathis goes on to state, "The first cours [or promenades] were established in the capital at the instigation of Marie de Medici: the Mail de l'Arsenal (1604) and above all the Allée du Cours-la-Reine (1616), 1300 mètres long and lined with elms, running along the Seine, from the Tuileries Garden to the high ground of Chaillot," establishing the use of nature as a symbol of power and achievement amongst French royalty and the common people at the time.

Keeping and making cities green were at the forefront for city planners in France. They often incorporated design elements blending urbanism and nature, forming a relationship that showcased how the French grew alongside nature and often made it a key aspect of their expansion.

In 1847, a speech by George Perkins Marsh called attention to negative human impacts such as deforestation. Marsh later wrote Man and Nature in 1864 based on his idea for conserving forests. Around the same time, Henry David Thoreau's of 1860 discussed preservation of nature and applied these ideas to urban planning saying, "I think every town should have a park," and stated the "importance of preserving some portions of nature herself unimpaired." Frederick Law Olmsted, a landscape architect, agreed with these ideas and planned many parks, areas of preserved land, and scenic roads, and in 1887, The Emerald Necklace of Boston, MA. The Emerald Necklace is a system of public parks linked by parkways that serves as a home to diverse wildlife and provides environmental benefits such as flood protection and water storage.

The US government became more involved in conservation and land preservation in the late 1800s. This was seen in the 1864 legislation to preserve the Yosemite Valley as a California public park, and 8 years later, the United States' first national park.

Many industrial leaders in the 19th century had the goal of increasing worker's quality of life through quality sanitation and outdoor activity, which would in turn create increased productivity in the workforce. These ideas carried into the 20th century where efforts in green infrastructure were seen in industrial parks, integrated landscaping, and suburban gardens.

The Anaconda Copper Mining Company was responsible for environmental damage in Montana, but a refinery in Great Falls saw this impact and used the surrounding land to create a green open space that was also used for recreation. This natural haven included a golf course, flower beds, picnic areas, a lily pond, and pedestrian paths.

Proximity and access to water have been key factors in human settlement through history. Water, along with the spaces around it, create a potential for transport, trade, and power generation. They also provide the human population with resources like recreation and tourism in addition to drinking water and food. Many of the world's largest cities are located near water sources, and networks of urban "blue infrastructure", such as canals, harbors and so forth, have been constructed to capture the benefits and minimize risks. Globally, cities are facing severe water uncertainties such as floods, droughts, and upstream activities on trans-boundary rivers. The increasing pressure, intensity, and speed of urbanization has led to the disappearance of any visible form of water infrastructure in most cities. Urban coastal populations are growing, and many cities have seen an extensive post-industrial transformation of canals, riversides, docks, etc. following changes in global trading patterns. The potential implications of such waterside regeneration in terms of public health have only recently been scientifically investigated. A systematic review conducted in 2017 found consistent evidence of positive associations between exposure of people to blue space and mental health and physical activity.

Urban forests are forests located in cities. They are an important component of urban green infrastructure systems. Urban forests use appropriate tree and vegetation species, instead of noxious and invasive kinds, which reduce the need of maintenance and irrigation. In addition, native species also provide aesthetic value while reducing cost. Diversity of plant species should also be considered in design of urban forests to avoid monocultures; this makes the urban forests more durable and resilient to pests and other harms.

Air pollution: Trees hold carbon, which improves air quality in cities.

Property values: Having more trees increases property value, which suggests that people value greenery and trees wherever they are. This implies that trees contribute to the preferred living conditions of people.[citation needed ]

Creating urban forests affects public health in many ways. Urban heat islands are created by the condensation of heat due to the materials and infrastructure used in metropolitan areas, which can negatively impact human health. Urban forests provide natural shading structures at a fraction of the cost of artificial shading structures and it counters the negative health impacts of increasing global temperatures. Beyond countering the negative impacts of man-made infrastructure, green infrastructure has the potential to enhance existing ecosystems and make them more stable, which has been historically done in traditional Japanese agriculture. Green infrastructure in an urbanized area can help restore and enhance the resiliency of an ecosystem to natural disturbances and disasters that disrupt the lives of residents. Building new urban forests in an existing metropolitan area creates new labor jobs that do not require a high level of education, which can decrease unemployment in the working class which benefits society. Furthermore, green infrastructure helps states to implement the principles of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development that was designed to alleviate the social and economic consequences of environmental degradation.

Constructed wetlands are manmade wetlands, which work as a bio-filtration system. They contain wetland vegetation and are mostly built on uplands and floodplains. Constructed wetlands are built this way to avoid connection or damage to natural wetlands and other aquatic resources. There are two main categories of constructed wetlands: subsurface flow system and free water surface system. Proper planning and operating can help avoid possible harm done to the wetlands, which are caused by alteration of natural hydrology and introduction of invasive species.

Water efficiency: Constructed wetlands try to replicate natural wetland ecosystems. They are built to improve water efficiency and water quality. They also create wildlife habitats by using natural processes of plants, soils, and associated microorganisms. In these types of wetlands, vegetation can trap parts of suspended solids and slow down water flow; the microorganisms that live there process some other pollutants.

Cost-effective: Wetlands have low operating and maintenance costs. They can also help with fluctuating water levels. Aesthetically, constructed wetlands are able to add greenery to its surrounding environment. It also helps to reduce unpleasing odors of wastewater.

Green roofs improve air and water quality while reducing energy cost. The plants and soil provide more green space and insulation on roofs. Green and blue roofs also help reducing city runoff by retaining rainfall providing a potential solution for the stormwater management in highly concentrated urban areas. The social benefit of green roofs is the rooftop agriculture for the residents.

Green roofs also sequester rain and carbon pollution. Forty to eighty percent of the total volume of rain that falls on green roofs are able to be reserved. The water released from the roofs flow at a slow pace, reducing the amount of runoff entering the watershed at once.

Blue roofs, not technically being green infrastructure, collect and store rainfall, reducing the inrush of runoff water into sewer systems. Blue roofs use detention ponds, or detention basins, for collecting the rainfall before it gets drained into waterways and sewers at a controlled rate. As well as saving energy by reducing cooling expenses, blue roofs reduce the urban heat island effect when coupled with reflective roofing material.

Rain gardens are a form of stormwater management using water capture. Rain gardens are shallow depressed areas in the landscape, planted with shrubs and plants that are used to collect rainwater from roofs or pavement and allows for the stormwater to slowly infiltrate into the ground.

Downspout disconnection is a form of green infrastructure that separates roof downspouts from the sewer system and redirects roof water runoff into permeable surfaces. It can be used for storing stormwater or allowing the water to penetrate the ground. Downspout disconnection is especially beneficial in cities with combined sewer systems. With high volumes of rain, downspouts on buildings can send 12 gallons of water a minute into the sewer system, which increases the risk of basement backups and sewer overflows. In attempts to reduce the amount of rainwater that enters the combined sewer systems, agencies such as the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District amended regulations that require downspout disconnection at residential areas.

Bioswales are stormwater runoff systems providing an alternative to traditional storm sewers. Much like rain gardens, bioswales are vegetated or mulched channels commonly placed in long narrow spaces in urban areas. They absorb flows or carry stormwater runoff from heavy rains into sewer channels or directly to surface waters. Vegetated bioswales infiltrate, slow down, and filter stormwater flows that are most beneficial along streets and parking lots.

The Trust for Public Land is working in partnership with the City of Los Angeles' Community Redevelopment Agency, Bureau of Sanitation, the University of Southern California's Center for Sustainable Cities, and Jefferson High School by converting the existing 900 miles of alleys in the city to green alleys. The concept is to re-engineer existing alleyways to reflect more light to mitigate heat island effect, capture storm water, and make the space beautiful and usable by the neighboring communities. The first alley, completed in 2015, saved more than 750,000 gallons in its first year. The Green alleys will provide open space on top of these ecological benefits, converting spaces which used to feel unsafe, or used for dumping into a playground, and walking/biking corridor.

The Trust for Public Land has completed 183 green school yards across the 5 boroughs in New York. Existing asphalt school yards are converted to a more vibrant and exciting place while also incorporating infrastructure to capture and store rainwater: rain garden, rain barrel, tree groves with pervious pavers, and an artificial field with a turf base. The children are engaged in the design process, lending to a sense of ownership and encourages children to take better care of their school yard. Success in New York has allowed other cities like Philadelphia and Oakland to also convert to green school yards.

Low-impact development (also referred to as green stormwater infrastructure) are systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes that result in the infiltration, evapotranspiration or use of stormwater in order to protect water quality and associated aquatic habitat. LID practices aim to preserve, restore and create green space using soils, vegetation, and rainwater harvest techniques. It is an approach to land development (or re-development) that works with nature to manage stormwater as close to its source as possible. Many low impact development tools integrate vegetation or the existing soil to reduce runoff and let rainfall enter the natural water cycle.

The Green Infrastructure approach analyses the natural environment in a way that highlights its function and subsequently seeks to put in place, through regulatory or planning policy, mechanisms that safeguard critical natural areas. Where life support functions are found to be lacking, plans may propose how these can be put in place through landscaped and/or engineered improvements.

The multi-functionality of this approach is key to the efficient and sustainable use of land, especially in a compact and bustling country such as England where pressures on land are particularly acute. An example might be an urban edge river floodplain which provides a repository for flood waters, acts as a nature reserve, provides a recreational green space and could also be productively farmed (probably through grazing). There is growing evidence that the natural environment also has a positive effect on human health.

In the United Kingdom, Green Infrastructure planning is increasingly recognised as a valuable approach for spatial planning and is now seen in national, regional and local planning and policy documents and strategies, for example in the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Growth area.

In North West England the former Regional Spatial Strategy had a specific Green Infrastructure Policy (EM3 - Green Infrastructure) as well as other references to the concept in other land use development policies (e.g. DP6). The policy was supported by the North West Green Infrastructure Guide. The Green Infrastructure Think Tank (GrITT) provides the support for policy development in the region and manages the web site that acts as a repository for information on Green Infrastructure.

The Natural Economy Northwest programme has supported a number of projects, commissioned by The Mersey Forest to develop the evidence base for green infrastructure in the region. In particular work has been undertaken to look at the economic value of green infrastructure, the linkage between grey and green infrastructure and also to identify areas where green infrastructure may play critical role in helping to overcome issues such as risks of flood or poor air quality.

In 2012, the Greater London Authority published the All London Green Grid Supplementary Planning Guidance (ALGG SPG) which proposes an integrated network of green and open spaces together with the Blue Ribbon Network of rivers and waterways. The ALGG SPG aims to promote the concept of green infrastructure, and increase its delivery by boroughs, developers, and communities, to benefit areas such as sustainable travel, flood management, healthy living and the economic and social uplift these support.

Green Infrastructure is being promoted as an effective and efficient response to projected climate change.

Alley renovated with permeable paving located in Chicago, Illinois.

Green infrastructure programs managed by EPA and partner organizations are intended to improve water quality generally through more extensive management of stormwater runoff. The practices are expected to reduce stress on traditional water drainage infrastructure-- storm sewers and combined sewers-which are typically extensive networks of underground pipes and/or surface water channels in U.S. cities, towns and suburban areas. Improved stormwater management is expected to reduce the frequency of combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows, reduce the impacts of urban flooding, and provide other environmental benefits.

Though green infrastructure is yet to become a mainstream practice, many US cities have initiated its implementation to comply with their MS4 permit requirements. For example, the City of Philadelphia has installed or supported a variety of retrofit projects in neighborhoods throughout the city. Installed improvements include:

Some of these facilities reduce the volume of runoff entering the city's aging combined sewer system, and thereby reduce the extent of system overflows during rainstorms.

Another U.S. example is the State of Maryland's promotion of a program called "GreenPrint." GreenPrint Maryland is the first web-enabled map in the nation that shows the relative ecological importance of every parcel of land in the state. Combining color-coded maps, information layers, and aerial photography with public openness and transparency, Greenprint Maryland applies the best environmental science and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to the urgent work of preserving and protecting environmentally critical lands. A valuable new tool not only for making land conservation decisions today, but for building a broader and better informed public consensus for sustainable growth and land preservation decisions into the future. The program was established in 2001 with the objective to "preserve an extensive intertwined network of lands vital to the long-term protection of the State's natural resources, in concert with other Smart Growth initiatives."

In April 2011, EPA announced the Strategic Agenda to Protect Waters and Build More Livable Communities through Green Infrastructure and the selection of the first ten communities to be green infrastructure partners. The communities selected were: Austin, Texas; Chelsea, Massachusetts; the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (Cleveland, Ohio); the City and County of Denver, Colorado; Jacksonville, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; Los Angeles, California; Puyallup, Washington; Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse, New York; and Washington, D.C.

Since 2009, two editions of the ABC (Active, Beautiful, Clean) Waters Design Guidelines have been published by the Public Utilities Board, Singapore. The latest version (2011) contains planning and design considerations for the holistic integration of drains, canals and reservoirs with the surrounding environment. The Public Utilities Board encourages the various stakeholders - landowners, private developers to incorporate ABC Waters design features into their developments, and the community to embrace these infrastructures for recreational & educational purposes.

The main benefits outlined in the ABC Waters Concept include:

Treating stormwater runoff closer to the source naturally, without the use of chemicals through the use of plants and soil media, so that cleaner water is discharged into waterways and eventually our reservoirs.

Enhancing biodiversity and site aesthetics.

Bringing people closer to water, and creating new recreational and community spaces for people to enjoy.[104]

A tram running on green tracks in Adelaide, Australia. Replacing paved area with permeable green surfaces has numerous environmental benefits.

A 2012 paper by the Overseas Development Institute reviewed evidence of the economic impacts of green infrastructure in fragile states.

Whilst there are examples of GI investments creating new jobs in a number of sectors, it is unclear what the employment opportunities advantages are in respect to traditional infrastructure investments. The correct market conditions (i.e. labour regulations or energy demand) are also required in order to maximise employment creation opportunities.

Currently, an international standard for green infrastructure is developed: SuRe - The Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure is a global voluntary standard which integrates key criteria of sustainability and resilience into infrastructure development and upgrade. SuRe is developed by the Swiss Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation and the French bank Natixis as part of a multi-stakeholder process and will be compliant with ISEAL guidelines. The foundation has also developed the SuRe SmartScan, a simplified version of the SuRe Standard which serves as a self-assessment tool for infrastructure project developers. It provides them with a comprehensive and time-efficient analysis of the various themes covered by the SuRe Standard, offering a solid foundation for projects that are planning to become certified by the SuRe Standard in the future. Upon completion of the SmartScan, project developers receive a spider diagram evaluation, which indicates their project's performance in the different themes and benchmarks the performances with other SmartScan assessed projects.

A good example of green infrastructure principles being applied at landscape scale is the Beijing Olympic site. First developed for the 2008 Summer Olympics but used also for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Beijing Olympic site covers a large area of brownfield redevelopment in the northern sector of the city between the 4th and 5th ring roads. The central green infrastructure feature of the Olympic site is the "Dragon-shaped river" - a complex of retention basins and wetlands covering more than a half million square metres configured to look from the air like a traditional Chinese dragon.

In addition to referencing Chinese culture, the system is capable of significantly reducing nutrient loads from influent waters, which are provided by a nearby wastewater recycling facility.

Since 1991, the city of Zürich has had a law stating all flat roofs (unless used as terraces) must be greened roofed surfaces. The main advantages as a result of this policy include increased biodiversity, rainwater storage and outflow delay, and micro-climatic compensation (temperature extremes, radiation balance, evaporation and filtration efficiency). Roof biotopes are stepping stones which, together with the earthbound green areas and the seeds distributed by wind and birds, make an important contribution to the urban green infrastructure.

In the old industrial area of the Ruhr District in Germany, Duisburg-Nord is a landscape park which incorporates former industrial structures and natural biodiversity. The architects Latz + Partner developed the water park which now consists of the old River Emscher, subdivided into five main sections: Klarwasserkanal (Clear Water Canal), the Emschergraben (Dyke), the Emscherrinne (Channel), the Emscherschlucht (Gorge) and the Emscherbach (Stream). The open waste water canal of the "Old Emscher" river is now fed gradually by rainwater collection through a series of barrages and water shoots. This gradual supply means that, even in lengthy dry spells, water can be supplied to the Old Emscher to replenish the oxygen levels. This has allowed the canalised river bed to become a valley with possibilities for nature development and recreation. As a key part of the ecological objectives, much of the overgrown areas of the property were included in the plan as they were found to contain a wide diversity of flora and fauna, including threatened species from the red list. Another important theme in the development of the plan was to make the water system visible, in order to stimulate a relationship between visitors and the water.

The Greenhouse Project was started in 2008 by a small group of public school parents and educators to facilitate hands-on learning, not only to teach about food and nutrition, but also to help children make educated choices regarding their impact on the environment. The laboratory is typically built as a traditional greenhouse on school rooftops and accommodates a hydroponic urban farm and environmental science laboratory. It includes solar panels, hydroponic growing systems, a rainwater catchment system, a weather station and a vermi composting station. Main topics of education include nutrition, water resource management, efficient land use, climate change, biodiversity, conservation, contamination, pollution, waste management, and sustainable development. Students learn the relationship between humans and the environment and gain a greater appreciation of sustainable development and its direct relationship to cultural diversity.

In the early 1990s, Hammarby Sjöstad had a reputation for being a run-down, polluted and unsafe industrial and residential area. Now, it is a new district in Stockholm where the City has imposed tough environmental requirements on buildings, technical installations and the traffic environment. An 'eco-cycle' solution named the Hammarby Model, developed by Fortum, Stockholm Water Company and the Stockholm Waste Management Administration, is an integral energy, waste and water system for both housing and offices. The goal is to create a residential environment based on sustainable resource usage. Examples include waste heat from the treated wastewater being used for heating up the water in the district heating system, rainwater runoff is returned to the natural cycle through infiltration in green roofs and treatment pools, sludge from the local wastewater treatment is recycled as fertiliser for farming and forestry. This sustainable model has been a source of inspiration to many urban development projects including the Toronto (Canada) Waterfront, London's New Wembley, and a number of cities/city areas in China.

Reducing the need, space and stormwater impact of motor vehicle parking by way of increased densities, height limits and floor area ratios; shared, stacked, indoor and unbundled automobile parking; making the best use of on-street parking and pricing strategies; car-sharing; free citywide mass transit; requiring one secure indoor bicycle parking space per bedroom and better bicycle and pedestrian roadway infrastructure.

Sustainable landscape design features, such as tree preservation and minimum rootable soil volumes for new tree planting, use of structural soils, suspended paving systems, bioretention and biofiltration strategies and requiring the use of the holistic practices of Bay-Friendly Landscaping.

Water storage and harvesting through cisterns and rooftop containers.

Other strategies to handle or infiltrate water on development and redevelopment sites.

The Gowanus Canal, in Brooklyn, New York, is bounded by several communities including Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Red Hook. The canal empties into New York Harbor. Completed in 1869, the canal was once a major transportation route for the then separate cities of Brooklyn and New York City. Manufactured gas plants, mills, tanneries, and chemical plants are among the many facilities that operated along the canal. As a result of years of discharges, storm water runoff, sewer outflows, and industrial pollutants, the canal has become one of the nation's most extensively contaminated water bodies. Contaminants include PCBs, coal tar wastes, heavy metals, and volatile organics. On March 2, 2010, EPA added the canal to its Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). Placing the canal on the list allows the agency to further investigate contamination at the site and develop an approach to address the contamination.

After the NPL designation, several firms tried to redesign the area surrounding the canal to meet EPA's principles. One of the proposals was the Gowanus Canal Sponge Park, suggested by Susannah Drake of DLANDstudio, an architecture and landscape architecture firm based in Brooklyn. The firm designed a public open space system that slows, absorbs, and filters surface water runoff with the goal of remediating contaminated water, activating the private canal waterfront, and revitalizing the neighborhood. The unique feature of the park is its character as a working landscape that means the ability to improve the environment of the canal over time while simultaneously supporting public engagement with the canal ecosystem. The park was cited in a professional award by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), in the Analysis and Planning category, in 2010.[citation needed ]

The Lafitte Greenway in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a post- Hurricane Katrina revitalization effort that utilizes green infrastructure to improve water quality as well as support wildlife habitat. The site was previously an industrial corridor that connected the French Quarter to Bayou St. John and Lake Pontchartrain. Part of the revitalization plan was to incorporate green infrastructure for environmental sustainability. One strategy to mitigate localized flooding was to create recreation fields that are carved out to hold water during times of heavy rains. Another strategy was to restore the native ecology of the corridor, giving special attention to the ecotones that bisect the site. The design proposed retrofitting historic buildings with stormwater management techniques, such as rainwater collection systems, which allows historic buildings to be preserved. This project received the Award of Excellence from the ASLA in 2013.

A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer system for that allows users to capture, store, display, and analyze all kinds of spatial data on Earth. GIS can gather multiple layers of information on one single map regarding streets, buildings, soil types, vegetation, and more. Planners can combine or calculate useful information such as impervious area percentage or vegetation coverage status of a specific region to design or analyze the use of green infrastructure. The continued development of geographic information systems and their increasing level of use is particularly important in the development of Green Infrastructure plans. The plans frequently are based on GIS analysis of many layers of geographic information.

According to the "Green Infrastructure Master Plan" developed by Hawkins Partners, civil engineers use GIS to analyze the modeling of impervious surfaces with historical Nashville rainfall data within the CSS (combined sewer system) to find the current rates of runoff. GIS systems are able to help planning teams analyze potential volume reductions at the specific region for green infrastructures, including water harvesting, green roofs, urban trees, and structural control measures.

Lack of funding is consistently cited as a barrier to the implementation of green infrastructure. One advantage that green infrastructure projects offer, however, is that they generate so many benefits that they can compete for a variety of diverse funding sources. Some tax incentive programs administered by federal agencies can be used to attract financing to green infrastructure projects. Here are two examples of programs whose missions are broad enough to support green infrastructure projects:

The U.S. Department of Energy administers a range of energy efficiency tax incentives, and green infrastructure could be integrated into project design to claim the incentive. An example of how this might work is found in Oregon's Energy Efficiency Construction Credits. In Eugene, Oregon, a new biofuel station built on an abandoned gas station site included a green roof, bioswales and rain gardens. In this case, nearly $250,000 worth of tax credits reduced income and sales tax for the private company that built and operated the project.

The U.S. Department of Treasury administers the multibillion-dollar New Markets Tax Credit Program, which encourages private investment for a range of project types (typically real estate or business development projects) in distressed areas. Awards are allocated to non-profit and private entities based on their proposals for distributing these tax benefits.

Some people might expect that green spaces are excessive to maintain and extravagant in nature, but high-performing green spaces can provide real economic, ecological and social benefits. For example:

Urban forestry in an urban environment can supplement managing storm water and reduce the energy usage costs and runoff in result.

Bio-retention systems can work to create a green transportation system.

Stormwater Curb Extensions can increase pedestrian safety by increasing visibility and reducing crossing distances at intersections.

Lawn grass is not an answer to runoff, so an alternative is required to reduce urban and suburban first flush (highly toxic) runoff and to slow the water down for infiltration. In residential applications, water runoff can be reduced by 30% with the use of rain gardens in the homeowner's yard. A minimum size of 150 sq. ft. up to a range of 300 sq. ft. is the usual size considered for a private property residence. The cost per square foot is about $5-$25, depending on the type of plants you use and the slope of your property. Native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials of the wetland and riparian zones being the most useful for runoff detoxification.

As a result, high performing green spaces work to create a balance between built and natural environments.

A comprehensive green infrastructure in Philadelphia is planned to cost just $1.2 billion over the next 25 years, compared to over $6 billion for "grey" infrastructure (concrete tunnels created to move water). Under the new green infrastructure plan it is expected that:

250 people will be employed annually in green jobs.

Up to 1.5 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emission to be avoided or absorbed through green infrastructure each year (the equivalent of removing close to 3,400 vehicles from roadways)

Air quality will improve due to all the new trees, green roofs, and parks

Communities will benefit on the social and health side

About 20 deaths due to asthma will be avoided

250 fewer work or school days will be missed

Deaths due to excessive urban heat could also be cut by 250 over 20 years.

The new greenery will increase property values by $390 million over 45 years, also boosting the property taxes the city takes in.

A green infrastructure plan in New York City is expected to cost $1.5 billion less than a comparable grey infrastructure approach. Also, the green stormwater management systems alone will save $1 billion, at a cost of about $0.15 less per gallon. The sustainability benefits in New York City range from $139-418 million over the 20 year life of the project. This green plan estimates that "every fully vegetated acre of green infrastructure would provide total annual benefits of $8.522 in reduced energy demand, $166 in reduced CO2 emissions, $1,044 in improved air quality, and $4,725 in increased property value."

One program that has integrated green infrastructure into construction projects worldwide is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. This system offers a benchmark rating for green buildings and neighborhoods, credibly quantifying a project's environmental responsibility. The LEED program incentivizes development that uses resources efficiently. For example, it offers specific credits for reducing indoor and outdoor water use, optimizing energy performance, producing renewable energy, and minimizing or recycling project waste. Two LEED initiatives that directly promote the use of green infrastructure include the rainwater management and heat island reduction credits. An example of a successfully LEED-certified neighborhood development is the 9th and Berks Street transit-oriented development (TOD) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which achieved a Platinum level rating on October 12, 2017.

Another approach to implementing green infrastructure has been developed by the International Living Future Institute. Their Living Community Challenge assesses a community or city in twenty different aspects of sustainability. Notably, the Challenge considers whether the development achieves net positive water and energy uses and utilizes replenishable materials.

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Green infrastructure or blue-green infrastructure refers to a network that provides the "ingredients" for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature.

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Source: Wikipedia

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Street-side swale and adjacent pervious concrete sidewalk in Seattle, US. Stormwater is infiltrated through these features into soil, thereby reducing levels of urban runoff to city storm sewers.

Green infrastructure or blue-green infrastructure refers to a network that provides the "ingredients" for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature. The main components of this approach include stormwater management, climate adaptation, the reduction of heat stress, increasing biodiversity, food production, better air quality, sustainable energy production, clean water, and healthy soils, as well as more anthropocentric functions, such as increased quality of life through recreation and the provision of shade and shelter in and around towns and cities. Green infrastructure also serves to provide an ecological framework for social, economic, and environmental health of the surroundings. More recently scholars and activists have also called for green infrastructure that promotes social inclusion and equality rather than reinforcing pre-existing structures of unequal access to nature-based services.

Green infrastructure is considered a subset of "Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure", which is defined in standards such as SuRe, the Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure. However, green infrastructure can also mean "low-carbon infrastructure" such as renewable energy infrastructure and public transportation systems (See "low-carbon infrastructure"). Blue-green infrastructure can also be a component of " sustainable drainage systems" or " sustainable urban drainage systems" (SuDS or SUDS) designed to manage water quantity and quality, while providing improvements to biodiversity and amenity.

Nature can be used to provide important services for communities by protecting them against flooding or excessive heat, or helping to improve air, soil and water quality. When nature is harnessed by people and used as an infrastructural system it is called "green infrastructure". Many such efforts take as their model prairies, where absorbent soil prevents runoff and vegetation filters out pollutants. Green infrastructure occurs at all scales. It is most often associated with green stormwater management systems, which are smart and cost-effective. However, green infrastructure is really a larger concept and is closely associated with a variety of other ideas. Green infrastructure also serves to provide an ecological framework for social, economic, and environmental health of the surroundings.

"Blue infrastructure" refers to urban infrastructure relating to water. Blue infrastructure is commonly associated with green infrastructure in urban environments and may be referred to as "blue-green infrastructure" when being viewed in combination. Rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes may exist as natural features within cities, or be added to an urban environment as an aspect of its design. Coastal urban developments may also utilize pre-existing features of the coastline specifically employed in their design. Harbours, quays, piers, and other extensions of the urban environment are also often added to capture benefits associated with the marine environment. Blue infrastructure can support unique aquatic biodiversity in urban areas, including aquatic insects, amphibians, and water birds. There may considerable co-benefits to the health and wellbeing of populations with access to blue spaces in the urban context. Accessible blue infrastructure in urban areas is also referred as to blue spaces.

Some people might expect that green spaces are extravagant and excessively difficult to maintain, but high-performing green spaces can provide tangible economic, ecological, and social benefits. For example:

As a result, high-performing green spaces work to create a balance between built and natural environments. A higher abundance of green space in communities or neighbourhoods, for example, has been observed to promote participation in physical activities among elderly men, while more green space around one's house is associated with improved mental health.

A 2012 study focusing on 479 green infrastructure projects across the United States found that 44% of green infrastructure projects reduced costs, compared to the 31% that increased the costs. The most notable cost savings were due to reduced stormwater runoff and decreased heating and cooling costs. Green infrastructure is often cheaper than other conventional water management strategies. The city of Philadelphia, for example, discovered that a new green infrastructure plan would cost $1.2 billion over a 25-year period, compared to the $6 billion that would have been needed to finance a grey infrastructure plan.

Ideas for green urban structures began in the 1870s with concepts of urban farming and garden allotments. Alternative terminology includes stormwater best management practices, source controls, and low impact development (LID) practices.

Green infrastructure concepts originated in mid-1980s proposals for best management practices that would achieve more holistic stormwater quantity management goals for runoff volume reduction, erosion prevention, and aquifer recharge. In 1987, amendments to the U.S. Clean Water Act introduced new provisions for management of diffuse pollutant sources from urban land uses, establishing the regulatory need for practices that unlike conventional drainage infrastructure managed runoff "at source." The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its initial regulations for municipal separate storm sewer systems ("MS4") in 1990, requiring large MS4s to develop stormwater pollution prevention plans and implement "source control practices". EPA's 1993 handbook, Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention and Control Planning, identified best management practices to consider in such plans, including vegetative controls, filtration practices and infiltration practices (trenches, porous pavement). Regulations covering smaller municipalities were published in 1999. MS4s serve over 80% of the US population and provide drainage for 4% of the land area.

Green infrastructure is a concept that highlights the importance of the natural environment in decisions about land-use planning. However, the term does not have a widely recognized definition. Also known as "blue-green infrastructure", or "green-blue urban grids" the terms are used by many design-, conservation- and planning-related disciplines and commonly feature stormwater management, climate adaptation and multifunctional green space.

The term "green infrastructure" is sometimes expanded to "multifunctional" green infrastructure. Multifunctionality in this context refers to the integration and interaction of different functions or activities on the same piece of land.

However, it is apparent that the term "blue-green infrastructure" is applied in an urban context and places a greater emphasis on the management of stormwater as an integral part of creating a sustainable, multifunctional urban environment. At the building level, the term "blue-green architecture" is used, which implements the same principles on a smaller scale. The focus here is on building greening with water management from alternative water resources such as grey water and rainwater.

Green Infrastructure as a term did not appear until the early 1990s, although ideas of Green Infrastructure had been used long before that. The first coined use of the term was seen in a 1994 report by Buddy MacKay, chair of the Florida Greenways Commission, to Florida governor Lawton Chiles about a Green Infrastructure project undertaken in 1991: Florida Greenways Project. MacKay states, "Just as we carefully plan the infrastructure our communities need to support the people who live there-the roads, water and electricity-so must we begin to plan and manage Florida's green infrastructure".

In Medieval Europe, lawns rich with flowers and herbaceous plants known as 'flower meads' are a good example of a more sustainable lawn. Since then, this idea has been used. In the Edwardian Era, lawns full of thyme, whose flowers attracted insects and pollinators, created biodiversity. A 20th century take on this lawn, the 'enamelled mead', has been used in England, and has the purpose of both aesthetics and for stormwater management.

During the height of the Renaissance, public areas became more common in new cities and infrastructure. These areas were carefully selected and would often be urban parks and gardens for the public to converse and relax at. Other than social uses, urban parks and gardens were used to improve the aesthetic of the urban environment they were present in. Urban spaces had environmental uses for the implementation of fresh air and reduced urban heating.

Green Infrastructure can be traced as far back as the 17th century in European society beginning in France. France used the presence of nature to provide social and spatial organization to their towns. Originally, nature in cities was used to provide social areas to interact, and plants were grown in these spaces to provide food in close proximity to the inhabitants. In this period, Large open spaces were used to provide a calm setting that could give "sites of power with sites of sanctity" across France. These sites were used by the French elites to bring rural country town house beauty to their new urban houses in a showcase of power and elaborate display of wealth. The French implemented many different types of infrastructure throughout the 17th century that involved incorporating nature in some shape or form. Another example would be the use of promenades that were used by the French elites to flee the unhealthy living conditions of the cities and to avoid the filthy public areas available to the common folks. These areas were lush gardens that had a wide variety of vegetation and foliage that kept the air clean for the wealthy while allowing them to relax away from the poorer members of French society. Again, Mathis goes on to state, "The first cours [or promenades] were established in the capital at the instigation of Marie de Medici: the Mail de l'Arsenal (1604) and above all the Allée du Cours-la-Reine (1616), 1300 mètres long and lined with elms, running along the Seine, from the Tuileries Garden to the high ground of Chaillot," establishing the use of nature as a symbol of power and achievement amongst French royalty and the common people at the time.

Keeping and making cities green were at the forefront for city planners in France. They often incorporated design elements blending urbanism and nature, forming a relationship that showcased how the French grew alongside nature and often made it a key aspect of their expansion.

In 1847, a speech by George Perkins Marsh called attention to negative human impacts such as deforestation. Marsh later wrote Man and Nature in 1864 based on his idea for conserving forests. Around the same time, Henry David Thoreau's of 1860 discussed preservation of nature and applied these ideas to urban planning saying, "I think every town should have a park," and stated the "importance of preserving some portions of nature herself unimpaired." Frederick Law Olmsted, a landscape architect, agreed with these ideas and planned many parks, areas of preserved land, and scenic roads, and in 1887, The Emerald Necklace of Boston, MA. The Emerald Necklace is a system of public parks linked by parkways that serves as a home to diverse wildlife and provides environmental benefits such as flood protection and water storage.

The US government became more involved in conservation and land preservation in the late 1800s. This was seen in the 1864 legislation to preserve the Yosemite Valley as a California public park, and 8 years later, the United States' first national park.

Many industrial leaders in the 19th century had the goal of increasing worker's quality of life through quality sanitation and outdoor activity, which would in turn create increased productivity in the workforce. These ideas carried into the 20th century where efforts in green infrastructure were seen in industrial parks, integrated landscaping, and suburban gardens.

The Anaconda Copper Mining Company was responsible for environmental damage in Montana, but a refinery in Great Falls saw this impact and used the surrounding land to create a green open space that was also used for recreation. This natural haven included a golf course, flower beds, picnic areas, a lily pond, and pedestrian paths.

Proximity and access to water have been key factors in human settlement through history. Water, along with the spaces around it, create a potential for transport, trade, and power generation. They also provide the human population with resources like recreation and tourism in addition to drinking water and food. Many of the world's largest cities are located near water sources, and networks of urban "blue infrastructure", such as canals, harbors and so forth, have been constructed to capture the benefits and minimize risks. Globally, cities are facing severe water uncertainties such as floods, droughts, and upstream activities on trans-boundary rivers. The increasing pressure, intensity, and speed of urbanization has led to the disappearance of any visible form of water infrastructure in most cities. Urban coastal populations are growing, and many cities have seen an extensive post-industrial transformation of canals, riversides, docks, etc. following changes in global trading patterns. The potential implications of such waterside regeneration in terms of public health have only recently been scientifically investigated. A systematic review conducted in 2017 found consistent evidence of positive associations between exposure of people to blue space and mental health and physical activity.

Urban forests are forests located in cities. They are an important component of urban green infrastructure systems. Urban forests use appropriate tree and vegetation species, instead of noxious and invasive kinds, which reduce the need of maintenance and irrigation. In addition, native species also provide aesthetic value while reducing cost. Diversity of plant species should also be considered in design of urban forests to avoid monocultures; this makes the urban forests more durable and resilient to pests and other harms.

Air pollution: Trees hold carbon, which improves air quality in cities.

Property values: Having more trees increases property value, which suggests that people value greenery and trees wherever they are. This implies that trees contribute to the preferred living conditions of people.[citation needed ]

Creating urban forests affects public health in many ways. Urban heat islands are created by the condensation of heat due to the materials and infrastructure used in metropolitan areas, which can negatively impact human health. Urban forests provide natural shading structures at a fraction of the cost of artificial shading structures and it counters the negative health impacts of increasing global temperatures. Beyond countering the negative impacts of man-made infrastructure, green infrastructure has the potential to enhance existing ecosystems and make them more stable, which has been historically done in traditional Japanese agriculture. Green infrastructure in an urbanized area can help restore and enhance the resiliency of an ecosystem to natural disturbances and disasters that disrupt the lives of residents. Building new urban forests in an existing metropolitan area creates new labor jobs that do not require a high level of education, which can decrease unemployment in the working class which benefits society. Furthermore, green infrastructure helps states to implement the principles of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development that was designed to alleviate the social and economic consequences of environmental degradation.

Constructed wetlands are manmade wetlands, which work as a bio-filtration system. They contain wetland vegetation and are mostly built on uplands and floodplains. Constructed wetlands are built this way to avoid connection or damage to natural wetlands and other aquatic resources. There are two main categories of constructed wetlands: subsurface flow system and free water surface system. Proper planning and operating can help avoid possible harm done to the wetlands, which are caused by alteration of natural hydrology and introduction of invasive species.

Water efficiency: Constructed wetlands try to replicate natural wetland ecosystems. They are built to improve water efficiency and water quality. They also create wildlife habitats by using natural processes of plants, soils, and associated microorganisms. In these types of wetlands, vegetation can trap parts of suspended solids and slow down water flow; the microorganisms that live there process some other pollutants.

Cost-effective: Wetlands have low operating and maintenance costs. They can also help with fluctuating water levels. Aesthetically, constructed wetlands are able to add greenery to its surrounding environment. It also helps to reduce unpleasing odors of wastewater.

Green roofs improve air and water quality while reducing energy cost. The plants and soil provide more green space and insulation on roofs. Green and blue roofs also help reducing city runoff by retaining rainfall providing a potential solution for the stormwater management in highly concentrated urban areas. The social benefit of green roofs is the rooftop agriculture for the residents.

Green roofs also sequester rain and carbon pollution. Forty to eighty percent of the total volume of rain that falls on green roofs are able to be reserved. The water released from the roofs flow at a slow pace, reducing the amount of runoff entering the watershed at once.

Blue roofs, not technically being green infrastructure, collect and store rainfall, reducing the inrush of runoff water into sewer systems. Blue roofs use detention ponds, or detention basins, for collecting the rainfall before it gets drained into waterways and sewers at a controlled rate. As well as saving energy by reducing cooling expenses, blue roofs reduce the urban heat island effect when coupled with reflective roofing material.

Rain gardens are a form of stormwater management using water capture. Rain gardens are shallow depressed areas in the landscape, planted with shrubs and plants that are used to collect rainwater from roofs or pavement and allows for the stormwater to slowly infiltrate into the ground.

Downspout disconnection is a form of green infrastructure that separates roof downspouts from the sewer system and redirects roof water runoff into permeable surfaces. It can be used for storing stormwater or allowing the water to penetrate the ground. Downspout disconnection is especially beneficial in cities with combined sewer systems. With high volumes of rain, downspouts on buildings can send 12 gallons of water a minute into the sewer system, which increases the risk of basement backups and sewer overflows. In attempts to reduce the amount of rainwater that enters the combined sewer systems, agencies such as the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District amended regulations that require downspout disconnection at residential areas.

Bioswales are stormwater runoff systems providing an alternative to traditional storm sewers. Much like rain gardens, bioswales are vegetated or mulched channels commonly placed in long narrow spaces in urban areas. They absorb flows or carry stormwater runoff from heavy rains into sewer channels or directly to surface waters. Vegetated bioswales infiltrate, slow down, and filter stormwater flows that are most beneficial along streets and parking lots.

The Trust for Public Land is working in partnership with the City of Los Angeles' Community Redevelopment Agency, Bureau of Sanitation, the University of Southern California's Center for Sustainable Cities, and Jefferson High School by converting the existing 900 miles of alleys in the city to green alleys. The concept is to re-engineer existing alleyways to reflect more light to mitigate heat island effect, capture storm water, and make the space beautiful and usable by the neighboring communities. The first alley, completed in 2015, saved more than 750,000 gallons in its first year. The Green alleys will provide open space on top of these ecological benefits, converting spaces which used to feel unsafe, or used for dumping into a playground, and walking/biking corridor.

The Trust for Public Land has completed 183 green school yards across the 5 boroughs in New York. Existing asphalt school yards are converted to a more vibrant and exciting place while also incorporating infrastructure to capture and store rainwater: rain garden, rain barrel, tree groves with pervious pavers, and an artificial field with a turf base. The children are engaged in the design process, lending to a sense of ownership and encourages children to take better care of their school yard. Success in New York has allowed other cities like Philadelphia and Oakland to also convert to green school yards.

Low-impact development (also referred to as green stormwater infrastructure) are systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes that result in the infiltration, evapotranspiration or use of stormwater in order to protect water quality and associated aquatic habitat. LID practices aim to preserve, restore and create green space using soils, vegetation, and rainwater harvest techniques. It is an approach to land development (or re-development) that works with nature to manage stormwater as close to its source as possible. Many low impact development tools integrate vegetation or the existing soil to reduce runoff and let rainfall enter the natural water cycle.

The Green Infrastructure approach analyses the natural environment in a way that highlights its function and subsequently seeks to put in place, through regulatory or planning policy, mechanisms that safeguard critical natural areas. Where life support functions are found to be lacking, plans may propose how these can be put in place through landscaped and/or engineered improvements.

The multi-functionality of this approach is key to the efficient and sustainable use of land, especially in a compact and bustling country such as England where pressures on land are particularly acute. An example might be an urban edge river floodplain which provides a repository for flood waters, acts as a nature reserve, provides a recreational green space and could also be productively farmed (probably through grazing). There is growing evidence that the natural environment also has a positive effect on human health.

In the United Kingdom, Green Infrastructure planning is increasingly recognised as a valuable approach for spatial planning and is now seen in national, regional and local planning and policy documents and strategies, for example in the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Growth area.

In North West England the former Regional Spatial Strategy had a specific Green Infrastructure Policy (EM3 - Green Infrastructure) as well as other references to the concept in other land use development policies (e.g. DP6). The policy was supported by the North West Green Infrastructure Guide. The Green Infrastructure Think Tank (GrITT) provides the support for policy development in the region and manages the web site that acts as a repository for information on Green Infrastructure.

The Natural Economy Northwest programme has supported a number of projects, commissioned by The Mersey Forest to develop the evidence base for green infrastructure in the region. In particular work has been undertaken to look at the economic value of green infrastructure, the linkage between grey and green infrastructure and also to identify areas where green infrastructure may play critical role in helping to overcome issues such as risks of flood or poor air quality.

In 2012, the Greater London Authority published the All London Green Grid Supplementary Planning Guidance (ALGG SPG) which proposes an integrated network of green and open spaces together with the Blue Ribbon Network of rivers and waterways. The ALGG SPG aims to promote the concept of green infrastructure, and increase its delivery by boroughs, developers, and communities, to benefit areas such as sustainable travel, flood management, healthy living and the economic and social uplift these support.

Green Infrastructure is being promoted as an effective and efficient response to projected climate change.

Alley renovated with permeable paving located in Chicago, Illinois.

Green infrastructure programs managed by EPA and partner organizations are intended to improve water quality generally through more extensive management of stormwater runoff. The practices are expected to reduce stress on traditional water drainage infrastructure-- storm sewers and combined sewers-which are typically extensive networks of underground pipes and/or surface water channels in U.S. cities, towns and suburban areas. Improved stormwater management is expected to reduce the frequency of combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows, reduce the impacts of urban flooding, and provide other environmental benefits.

Though green infrastructure is yet to become a mainstream practice, many US cities have initiated its implementation to comply with their MS4 permit requirements. For example, the City of Philadelphia has installed or supported a variety of retrofit projects in neighborhoods throughout the city. Installed improvements include:

Some of these facilities reduce the volume of runoff entering the city's aging combined sewer system, and thereby reduce the extent of system overflows during rainstorms.

Another U.S. example is the State of Maryland's promotion of a program called "GreenPrint." GreenPrint Maryland is the first web-enabled map in the nation that shows the relative ecological importance of every parcel of land in the state. Combining color-coded maps, information layers, and aerial photography with public openness and transparency, Greenprint Maryland applies the best environmental science and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to the urgent work of preserving and protecting environmentally critical lands. A valuable new tool not only for making land conservation decisions today, but for building a broader and better informed public consensus for sustainable growth and land preservation decisions into the future. The program was established in 2001 with the objective to "preserve an extensive intertwined network of lands vital to the long-term protection of the State's natural resources, in concert with other Smart Growth initiatives."

In April 2011, EPA announced the Strategic Agenda to Protect Waters and Build More Livable Communities through Green Infrastructure and the selection of the first ten communities to be green infrastructure partners. The communities selected were: Austin, Texas; Chelsea, Massachusetts; the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (Cleveland, Ohio); the City and County of Denver, Colorado; Jacksonville, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; Los Angeles, California; Puyallup, Washington; Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse, New York; and Washington, D.C.

Since 2009, two editions of the ABC (Active, Beautiful, Clean) Waters Design Guidelines have been published by the Public Utilities Board, Singapore. The latest version (2011) contains planning and design considerations for the holistic integration of drains, canals and reservoirs with the surrounding environment. The Public Utilities Board encourages the various stakeholders - landowners, private developers to incorporate ABC Waters design features into their developments, and the community to embrace these infrastructures for recreational & educational purposes.

The main benefits outlined in the ABC Waters Concept include:

Treating stormwater runoff closer to the source naturally, without the use of chemicals through the use of plants and soil media, so that cleaner water is discharged into waterways and eventually our reservoirs.

Enhancing biodiversity and site aesthetics.

Bringing people closer to water, and creating new recreational and community spaces for people to enjoy.[104]

A tram running on green tracks in Adelaide, Australia. Replacing paved area with permeable green surfaces has numerous environmental benefits.

A 2012 paper by the Overseas Development Institute reviewed evidence of the economic impacts of green infrastructure in fragile states.

Whilst there are examples of GI investments creating new jobs in a number of sectors, it is unclear what the employment opportunities advantages are in respect to traditional infrastructure investments. The correct market conditions (i.e. labour regulations or energy demand) are also required in order to maximise employment creation opportunities.

Currently, an international standard for green infrastructure is developed: SuRe - The Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure is a global voluntary standard which integrates key criteria of sustainability and resilience into infrastructure development and upgrade. SuRe is developed by the Swiss Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation and the French bank Natixis as part of a multi-stakeholder process and will be compliant with ISEAL guidelines. The foundation has also developed the SuRe SmartScan, a simplified version of the SuRe Standard which serves as a self-assessment tool for infrastructure project developers. It provides them with a comprehensive and time-efficient analysis of the various themes covered by the SuRe Standard, offering a solid foundation for projects that are planning to become certified by the SuRe Standard in the future. Upon completion of the SmartScan, project developers receive a spider diagram evaluation, which indicates their project's performance in the different themes and benchmarks the performances with other SmartScan assessed projects.

A good example of green infrastructure principles being applied at landscape scale is the Beijing Olympic site. First developed for the 2008 Summer Olympics but used also for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Beijing Olympic site covers a large area of brownfield redevelopment in the northern sector of the city between the 4th and 5th ring roads. The central green infrastructure feature of the Olympic site is the "Dragon-shaped river" - a complex of retention basins and wetlands covering more than a half million square metres configured to look from the air like a traditional Chinese dragon.

In addition to referencing Chinese culture, the system is capable of significantly reducing nutrient loads from influent waters, which are provided by a nearby wastewater recycling facility.

Since 1991, the city of Zürich has had a law stating all flat roofs (unless used as terraces) must be greened roofed surfaces. The main advantages as a result of this policy include increased biodiversity, rainwater storage and outflow delay, and micro-climatic compensation (temperature extremes, radiation balance, evaporation and filtration efficiency). Roof biotopes are stepping stones which, together with the earthbound green areas and the seeds distributed by wind and birds, make an important contribution to the urban green infrastructure.

In the old industrial area of the Ruhr District in Germany, Duisburg-Nord is a landscape park which incorporates former industrial structures and natural biodiversity. The architects Latz + Partner developed the water park which now consists of the old River Emscher, subdivided into five main sections: Klarwasserkanal (Clear Water Canal), the Emschergraben (Dyke), the Emscherrinne (Channel), the Emscherschlucht (Gorge) and the Emscherbach (Stream). The open waste water canal of the "Old Emscher" river is now fed gradually by rainwater collection through a series of barrages and water shoots. This gradual supply means that, even in lengthy dry spells, water can be supplied to the Old Emscher to replenish the oxygen levels. This has allowed the canalised river bed to become a valley with possibilities for nature development and recreation. As a key part of the ecological objectives, much of the overgrown areas of the property were included in the plan as they were found to contain a wide diversity of flora and fauna, including threatened species from the red list. Another important theme in the development of the plan was to make the water system visible, in order to stimulate a relationship between visitors and the water.

The Greenhouse Project was started in 2008 by a small group of public school parents and educators to facilitate hands-on learning, not only to teach about food and nutrition, but also to help children make educated choices regarding their impact on the environment. The laboratory is typically built as a traditional greenhouse on school rooftops and accommodates a hydroponic urban farm and environmental science laboratory. It includes solar panels, hydroponic growing systems, a rainwater catchment system, a weather station and a vermi composting station. Main topics of education include nutrition, water resource management, efficient land use, climate change, biodiversity, conservation, contamination, pollution, waste management, and sustainable development. Students learn the relationship between humans and the environment and gain a greater appreciation of sustainable development and its direct relationship to cultural diversity.

In the early 1990s, Hammarby Sjöstad had a reputation for being a run-down, polluted and unsafe industrial and residential area. Now, it is a new district in Stockholm where the City has imposed tough environmental requirements on buildings, technical installations and the traffic environment. An 'eco-cycle' solution named the Hammarby Model, developed by Fortum, Stockholm Water Company and the Stockholm Waste Management Administration, is an integral energy, waste and water system for both housing and offices. The goal is to create a residential environment based on sustainable resource usage. Examples include waste heat from the treated wastewater being used for heating up the water in the district heating system, rainwater runoff is returned to the natural cycle through infiltration in green roofs and treatment pools, sludge from the local wastewater treatment is recycled as fertiliser for farming and forestry. This sustainable model has been a source of inspiration to many urban development projects including the Toronto (Canada) Waterfront, London's New Wembley, and a number of cities/city areas in China.

Reducing the need, space and stormwater impact of motor vehicle parking by way of increased densities, height limits and floor area ratios; shared, stacked, indoor and unbundled automobile parking; making the best use of on-street parking and pricing strategies; car-sharing; free citywide mass transit; requiring one secure indoor bicycle parking space per bedroom and better bicycle and pedestrian roadway infrastructure.

Sustainable landscape design features, such as tree preservation and minimum rootable soil volumes for new tree planting, use of structural soils, suspended paving systems, bioretention and biofiltration strategies and requiring the use of the holistic practices of Bay-Friendly Landscaping.

Water storage and harvesting through cisterns and rooftop containers.

Other strategies to handle or infiltrate water on development and redevelopment sites.

The Gowanus Canal, in Brooklyn, New York, is bounded by several communities including Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Red Hook. The canal empties into New York Harbor. Completed in 1869, the canal was once a major transportation route for the then separate cities of Brooklyn and New York City. Manufactured gas plants, mills, tanneries, and chemical plants are among the many facilities that operated along the canal. As a result of years of discharges, storm water runoff, sewer outflows, and industrial pollutants, the canal has become one of the nation's most extensively contaminated water bodies. Contaminants include PCBs, coal tar wastes, heavy metals, and volatile organics. On March 2, 2010, EPA added the canal to its Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). Placing the canal on the list allows the agency to further investigate contamination at the site and develop an approach to address the contamination.

After the NPL designation, several firms tried to redesign the area surrounding the canal to meet EPA's principles. One of the proposals was the Gowanus Canal Sponge Park, suggested by Susannah Drake of DLANDstudio, an architecture and landscape architecture firm based in Brooklyn. The firm designed a public open space system that slows, absorbs, and filters surface water runoff with the goal of remediating contaminated water, activating the private canal waterfront, and revitalizing the neighborhood. The unique feature of the park is its character as a working landscape that means the ability to improve the environment of the canal over time while simultaneously supporting public engagement with the canal ecosystem. The park was cited in a professional award by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), in the Analysis and Planning category, in 2010.[citation needed ]

The Lafitte Greenway in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a post- Hurricane Katrina revitalization effort that utilizes green infrastructure to improve water quality as well as support wildlife habitat. The site was previously an industrial corridor that connected the French Quarter to Bayou St. John and Lake Pontchartrain. Part of the revitalization plan was to incorporate green infrastructure for environmental sustainability. One strategy to mitigate localized flooding was to create recreation fields that are carved out to hold water during times of heavy rains. Another strategy was to restore the native ecology of the corridor, giving special attention to the ecotones that bisect the site. The design proposed retrofitting historic buildings with stormwater management techniques, such as rainwater collection systems, which allows historic buildings to be preserved. This project received the Award of Excellence from the ASLA in 2013.

A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer system for that allows users to capture, store, display, and analyze all kinds of spatial data on Earth. GIS can gather multiple layers of information on one single map regarding streets, buildings, soil types, vegetation, and more. Planners can combine or calculate useful information such as impervious area percentage or vegetation coverage status of a specific region to design or analyze the use of green infrastructure. The continued development of geographic information systems and their increasing level of use is particularly important in the development of Green Infrastructure plans. The plans frequently are based on GIS analysis of many layers of geographic information.

According to the "Green Infrastructure Master Plan" developed by Hawkins Partners, civil engineers use GIS to analyze the modeling of impervious surfaces with historical Nashville rainfall data within the CSS (combined sewer system) to find the current rates of runoff. GIS systems are able to help planning teams analyze potential volume reductions at the specific region for green infrastructures, including water harvesting, green roofs, urban trees, and structural control measures.

Lack of funding is consistently cited as a barrier to the implementation of green infrastructure. One advantage that green infrastructure projects offer, however, is that they generate so many benefits that they can compete for a variety of diverse funding sources. Some tax incentive programs administered by federal agencies can be used to attract financing to green infrastructure projects. Here are two examples of programs whose missions are broad enough to support green infrastructure projects:

The U.S. Department of Energy administers a range of energy efficiency tax incentives, and green infrastructure could be integrated into project design to claim the incentive. An example of how this might work is found in Oregon's Energy Efficiency Construction Credits. In Eugene, Oregon, a new biofuel station built on an abandoned gas station site included a green roof, bioswales and rain gardens. In this case, nearly $250,000 worth of tax credits reduced income and sales tax for the private company that built and operated the project.

The U.S. Department of Treasury administers the multibillion-dollar New Markets Tax Credit Program, which encourages private investment for a range of project types (typically real estate or business development projects) in distressed areas. Awards are allocated to non-profit and private entities based on their proposals for distributing these tax benefits.

Some people might expect that green spaces are excessive to maintain and extravagant in nature, but high-performing green spaces can provide real economic, ecological and social benefits. For example:

Urban forestry in an urban environment can supplement managing storm water and reduce the energy usage costs and runoff in result.

Bio-retention systems can work to create a green transportation system.

Stormwater Curb Extensions can increase pedestrian safety by increasing visibility and reducing crossing distances at intersections.

Lawn grass is not an answer to runoff, so an alternative is required to reduce urban and suburban first flush (highly toxic) runoff and to slow the water down for infiltration. In residential applications, water runoff can be reduced by 30% with the use of rain gardens in the homeowner's yard. A minimum size of 150 sq. ft. up to a range of 300 sq. ft. is the usual size considered for a private property residence. The cost per square foot is about $5-$25, depending on the type of plants you use and the slope of your property. Native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials of the wetland and riparian zones being the most useful for runoff detoxification.

As a result, high performing green spaces work to create a balance between built and natural environments.

A comprehensive green infrastructure in Philadelphia is planned to cost just $1.2 billion over the next 25 years, compared to over $6 billion for "grey" infrastructure (concrete tunnels created to move water). Under the new green infrastructure plan it is expected that:

250 people will be employed annually in green jobs.

Up to 1.5 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emission to be avoided or absorbed through green infrastructure each year (the equivalent of removing close to 3,400 vehicles from roadways)

Air quality will improve due to all the new trees, green roofs, and parks

Communities will benefit on the social and health side

About 20 deaths due to asthma will be avoided

250 fewer work or school days will be missed

Deaths due to excessive urban heat could also be cut by 250 over 20 years.

The new greenery will increase property values by $390 million over 45 years, also boosting the property taxes the city takes in.

A green infrastructure plan in New York City is expected to cost $1.5 billion less than a comparable grey infrastructure approach. Also, the green stormwater management systems alone will save $1 billion, at a cost of about $0.15 less per gallon. The sustainability benefits in New York City range from $139-418 million over the 20 year life of the project. This green plan estimates that "every fully vegetated acre of green infrastructure would provide total annual benefits of $8.522 in reduced energy demand, $166 in reduced CO2 emissions, $1,044 in improved air quality, and $4,725 in increased property value."

One program that has integrated green infrastructure into construction projects worldwide is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. This system offers a benchmark rating for green buildings and neighborhoods, credibly quantifying a project's environmental responsibility. The LEED program incentivizes development that uses resources efficiently. For example, it offers specific credits for reducing indoor and outdoor water use, optimizing energy performance, producing renewable energy, and minimizing or recycling project waste. Two LEED initiatives that directly promote the use of green infrastructure include the rainwater management and heat island reduction credits. An example of a successfully LEED-certified neighborhood development is the 9th and Berks Street transit-oriented development (TOD) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which achieved a Platinum level rating on October 12, 2017.

Another approach to implementing green infrastructure has been developed by the International Living Future Institute. Their Living Community Challenge assesses a community or city in twenty different aspects of sustainability. Notably, the Challenge considers whether the development achieves net positive water and energy uses and utilizes replenishable materials.

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10. EPA (1990-11-16). ^ "National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Application Regulations for Storm Water Discharges". Federal Register, 44 FR 47990.

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12. The Conservation Fund, Arlington, VA. ^ "Green Infrastructure." Archived 2013-01-17 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2009-10-06.

13. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis, MD. ^ Maryland's Green Infrastructure Assessment: A Comprehensive Strategy for Land Conservation and Restoration. Archived 2008-03-09 at the Wayback Machine May 2003.

14. ^ Dige, Gorm (2011-12-19). Green infrastructure and territorial cohesion (Report). Copenhagen: European Environment Agency. doi:10.2800/88266. ISBN 978-92-9213-242-2. EEA Technical report No. 18/2011.

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20. ^ Smith, Lionel S.; Fellowes, Mark D.E. (2014). "The grass-free lawn: Management and species choice for optimum ground cover and plant diversity". Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 13 (3): 433-442. doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2014.04.008. ISSN 1618-8667.

21. ^ Hitchmough, James; Woudstra, Jan (October 1999). "The ecology of exotic herbaceous perennials grown in managed, native grassy vegetation in urban landscapes". Landscape and Urban Planning. 45 (2-3): 107-121. doi:10.1016/s0169-2046(99)00031-6. ISSN 0169-2046.

22. ^ Jones, Karen R. (2021-11-01). "Charles-François Mathis and Émilie-Anne Pépy, Greening the City: Nature in French Towns from the 17th Century". Environment and History. 27 (4): 9-10. doi:10.3197/096734021x16245313029985. ISSN 0967-3407. S2CID 244184720.

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29. ^ Walker, Brian (16 Sep 2004). "Resilience, Adaptability and Transformability in Social-ecological Systems". Ecology and Society. 9 (2): 5. doi:10.5751/ES-00650-090205.

30. ^ Garrison, Noah (2012). "Looking Up: How Green Roofs and Cool Roofs Can Reduce Energy Use, Address Climate Change, and Protect Water Resources in Southern California" (PDF). Natural Resources Defense Council.

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39. ^ Zhou, Xiaoqin; Li, Zifu; Staddon, Chad; Wu, Xuejun; Song, Han (19 May 2017). "Issues and challenges of reclaimed water usage: a case study of the dragon-shaped river in the Beijing Olympic Park" (PDF). Water International. 42 (4): 486-494. doi:10.1080/02508060.2017.1331409. S2CID 157355176.

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Green infrastructure or blue-green infrastructure refers to a network that provides the "ingredients" for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature.

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Source: Gov.uk

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YELLOW = Challenge, requires more time to extract information.

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YELLOW = Challenge, requires more time to extract information.

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Slowing the flow at Pickering - Catchment Measures

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Slowing the flow at Pickering - Catchment Measures

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Source: Forestry Commission

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Slowing the flow at Pickering - Catchment measures (Forest Research)

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A new approach to flood management relying on making changes to the way the landscape is managed, so that the passage of rainfall to rivers and its movement downstream is reduced and delayed

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Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS)

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Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS)

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Source: NetRegs

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Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) - NetRegs | Environmental guidance for your business in Northern Ireland & Scotland

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Environmental guidance on sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS). What are SUDS and what do they do. Types of SUDS, including green roofs, filter strips, swales, ponds and permeable paving. What regulations are there that require suds to be put in place.

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Source: RSPB

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The Fairburn Ings site flooded on Sunday evening. Since then, we've had lots of enquiries about why the site has flooded, how it happened and why it's such a large flood here when surrounding urban areas are seemingly left unscathed. So here is the tale of flooding at Fairburn Ings:

Fairburn is a washland, designated by the Environment Agency, to protect the surrounding urban areas, such as Castleford, from flooding themselves. The River Aire runs alongside the reserve, and there is a spillway just upstream at Allerton Bywater. This spillway is slightly lower than the surrounding river bank and when the river level reaches that height, it cascades over the spillway and onto the adjacent land. This means that Castleford, and other settlements downstream, are protected from extensive flooding, and houses and businesses not as affected.
This photo is from a previous flood event on the reserve (we're currently unable to access areas of the reserve to get a photo of the full extent of the floods at this time)
The flood water moves through the landscape from the spillway, and into Fairburn Ings. It runs into the reserve at the Lin Dike end, and continues up the flashes, funneling through the Discovery Trail, past the visitor centre and car park, and into Main Bay.
The wildlife garden beside the visitor centre, under water.
The flood water that moves through the landscape can be unpredictable and, at times, fast flowing. The following link takes you to the video of the water running through the car park and into Newton Lane as it moves towards Main Bay:

https://vimeo.com/145856711

At the other end of the lake, at Cut Lane, there is a sluice gate. This sluice will only open to let water back out of the reserve, into the River Aire, when the Aire is low enough to take the extra water again. In the meantime, the water will continue to fill Fairburn Ings.
The duck feeding platform can be seen here virtually under water, as the flood water fills the Main Lake.
So Fairburn has experienced more extensive flooding than surrounding areas, because we have taken the excess water, protecting the homes and businesses in those surrounding areas.

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The Fairburn Ings site flooded on Sunday evening. Since then, we've had lots of enquiries about why the site has flooded, how it happened and why it's such a large flood here when surrounding urban areas are seemingly left unscathed.

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How trees can reduce the risk of flooding.

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How trees can reduce the risk of flooding.

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Source: Woodland Trust

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Recent flooding has highlighted the importance of land use in either contributing to or mitigating flood risk. In particular the suggestion that trees might play an important role in helping reduce flood risk.
Reports from the Woodland Trust on water and farming and water in towns provide a review of the evidence for the role of trees. Forest Research has also undertaken a significant amount of work looking at the role of trees in delivering better water quality as well as modelling the impacts of increased tree cover on flood risk. These show that trees can make an important contribution both to mitigating flooding and improving water quality.

Lessons from Pontbren

In 2012 The Woodland Trust and Coed Cymru, on behalf of the Pontbren Farmers, commissioned a review of the scientific evidence and the story of how, over the last 15 years, Pontbren farmers have transformed their farms. There are key lessons from Pontbren. The hedgerow restoration, new hedgerows and shelter belts have created a financially and biologically more sustainable farmed landscape. The trees have provided shelter for the sheep, helped in excluding areas prone to the ever increasing menace of liver fluke, and reduced surface water runoff from fields which carried with it nutrients and soil.

The studies at Pontbren showed that planting tree belts across the slopes led to increased infiltration of water into the soil - more than 60 times that of neighbouring sheep grazed pasture without tree belts. This is as a result of the improved soil structure and effect of tree roots. When this effect was modelled across the catchment the result was a potential reduction in peak stream flows of as much as 40%. This is clear evidence that integrating trees into our upland farms will play a part in reducing flood risk downstream.

This farmer led initiative also showed the importance of an intimate knowledge of the land in designing and siting tree belts. The farmers knew where shelter was needed, but they also knew where runoff was a problem, where land lay wet for much of the year and those areas prone to erosion. They have managed simultaneously to improve the resilience and sustainability of their farms whilst delivering public benefits of improved water quality and flood mitigation. In addition, the new planting and restored hedgerows and woodland have delivered biodiversity benefits and helped store carbon.

There are undoubtedly opportunities in the uplands for more extensive areas of new woodland, but the answer is not to remove farmers. Farmers in the uplands are a crucial element to the survival of communities in these areas. In Wales 80% of farmland is classed as upland - that's most of Wales.

These farms are not massive agribusinesses, they are generally small family farms. They are central to the survival of communities and an essential element of Welsh culture and language. But with more trees and hedges on them, these farms can also be a part of the nation's flood defences.

Cooperation in Cumbria

In Cumbria the Woodland Trust has been working with Natural England and the Rivers Trust to bring together people and resources to look at how to manage trees and woodlands in the uplands to benefit rivers. A particular feature of Cumbria is over 112,000 ha of Common Land. Common land is owned by one person but may be managed by several others with rights.

On Tebay Common, over 1,000ha at the western end of the Howgills north of Kendal, the Trust has been working with Natural England, the Tebay Common Grazing Association and the landowner. The intensity of past grazing has given Howgills an almost treeless landscape. Over the next two winters around 65,000 trees and shrubs will be planted on 110ha (270 acres). The trees will be planted to create an open habitat suitable for future wood pasture grazing and perfect for threatened species such as the linnet, lesser redpoll and tree pippit.

The negotiations have taken three years and involved many parties - the Tebay Grazing Association alone has over 20 farmers with rights to graze the common. Many others have an interest including local residents, the Open Spaces Society, archaeologists and others concerned with landscape and ecology.

By reducing grazing and allowing taller vegetation and tree planting more water will be retained in boggy areas and percolate deep into the soil. This will mean slower run off and less sediment. The trees should also help river shading which will moderate water temperature, important in successful spawning of fish and for other river wildlife.

Downstream

Modeling undertaken by Forest Research show that woodland strategically located on floodplains can mitigate large flood events by absorbing and delaying the release of flood flows. Research based on the River Cary in south-west England suggested that a 2.2km reach of floodplain woodland could increase flood storage by as much as 71%, delaying the flood peak progressing downstream.

Further work at Pickering as part of a project called Slowing the Flow has shown how tree planting and other natural measures can help reduce flooding. This suggests there are opportunities for creating strategically placed floodplain woodland to alleviate downstream flooding, particularly the increased risk associated with climate change.

Balancing act

Water management is undoubtedly an important 'ecosystem service' of upland areas. But the UK National Ecosystem Assessment recognises four categories of ecosystem service; supporting, regulating, provisioning and cultural. It is essential that the cultural value of upland farming is not lost in the response to recent flooding. Pontbren shows that a balance can be met for maintaining farming in upland landscapes with the wider needs of society.

Planting trees and woodland will not stop all flooding. Engineered flood defences will continue to be needed to prevent inundation of many places. But it is clear that strategically located trees and woodland can play an important part in reducing flood risk, whilst also improving water quality, contributing to biodiversity conservation, storing carbon and helping support more sustainable farming practices. It is these multiple benefits which make it such a compelling option - for farmers as well as Government, its agencies and the many communities impacted by flooding.

Trees and other aspects of land management have a critical role to play in protecting property and farmland. It is vital the government responds positively to this opportunity by putting in place support for creation and management of trees and woodland which will ensure their full role in flood defence can be realised.

Read our reports

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How trees can reduce the risk of flooding

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Recent flooding has highlighted the importance of land use in either contributing to or mitigating flood risk. In particular the suggestion that trees might play an important role in helping reduce flood risk. Reports from the Woodland Trust on water and farming and water in towns provide a review of the evidence for the role of trees.

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The feasibility and acceptability of reintroducing the European beaver to England. 

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The feasibility and acceptability of reintroducing the European beaver to England. 

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Source: Natural England

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Water, water, everywhere in Shrewsbury as the loop of the River Severn rose and burst its banks

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Water, water, everywhere in Shrewsbury as the loop of the River Severn rose and burst its banks

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Source: Shropshire Star (Local Newspaper)

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Should the UK bring back beavers to help manage floods?

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Should the UK bring back beavers to help manage floods?

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Source: New Scientist

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Some 500 years ago they were coveted for their fur and meat and disappeared from Britain. Now beavers are making a comeback - at least in small pockets in Scotland and Devon, south-west England - and that may be good news for flood protection and regeneration of wetlands, though farmers remain concerned that beaver dams will damage crops and pastures.

It seems that beavers' dams might help prevent flooding, cleanse water as well as help boost fish populations and wetland ecosystems.

The dams regulate the water flow both during heavy rains and droughts. "When it rains, more water gets stored in ponds behind the dams, and when it's drier, water is gently released to keep rivers flowing," says Richard Brazier of the University of Exeter, UK, head of the study of half-a-dozen beavers confined to an isolated woodland in Devon.

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Rich habitat

Four years ago, when the two founder beavers were released, the site was a tiny stream flowing through deserted woodland. Within a couple of years, they'd transformed it into a rich, wetland habitat. "They've built 13 dams and had a profound effect on how the water flows through the site," says Brazier, who presented his preliminary findings in Exeter at a national beaver conference hosted by the Mammal Society, Devon Mammal Group and Devon Wildlife Trust.

Behind the staircase of dams the beavers built ponds that stored 650,000 litres during heavy rains in November last year, around a quarter the volume of an Olympic swimming pool.

This is the kind of measure that some experts believe would have eased the impact of the 2014 floods in England.

If reintroduced, they could be of most use in narrow tributaries and headwaters near the sources of major river systems where holding back water could potentially have most impact on preventing floods.

Brazier's study, due to finish next March, also found that the staircase of dams filtered pollutants washed off farms. "We found that on average each litre coming in contains 150 milligrams of sediment, but only 40 milligrams on the way out," he says. Likewise, nitrates arrived at average concentrations of 6 milligrams per litre, but left at less than a milligram per litre, and phosphorus levels dipped from 0.16 to 0.02 milligrams per litre.

Recycled nutrients

The sediments and nutrients that would have tainted water were instead being recycled. The silt built up in the ponds, attracting mosses and plants, followed by insects and frogs, and then large birds. "It's the first time these multiple environmental benefits have been proven," says Brazier.

But beavers don't always do what humans would like them to do.

In Scotland, problems have emerged around the River Tay where there are now around 50 to 200 animals.

Martin Gaywood of Scottish Natural Heritage reported in June that although the benefits echo those found by Brazier, there have also been problems, especially in areas of intensive agriculture, where beaver dams can block drainage ditches and create flood risk. They also started to gnaw through trees beside a busy road, and breached anti-flood embankments.

The National Farmers Union is opposed to reintroducing beavers because of such concerns. They say there should be a robust legal framework in place to manage beavers.

Right strategy

"If you wanted to manage beavers strategically, it's perfectly feasible if given the time, effort and resources," Brazier says.

Other countries where beavers have been reintroduced, such as Denmark and Norway, manage what the beavers do, relocating them if they cause disruption and removing dams if they are a threat to farmland.

What's good for the beaver is good for the fish. Another big issue is the perception that beaver dams will damage natural fish populations by physically obstructing spawning and migration. Scotland earns £70 million each year by attracting trout and salmon fishing enthusiasts, says Gaywood.

Now Paul Kemp of the University of Southampton, UK, has found that the trout may in fact benefit from the beaver's presence.

His preliminary findings compare brown trout populations from two similar streams that drain into a loch near Inverness, one with reintroduced beavers and one without. "There were more than double the number of trout on the 'beaver stream', and they were bigger," says Kemp. He says that like beavers, trout prefer deep water so they luxuriate in beaver ponds.

Trout bypass

The dams do impede movement of the trout, but only when river flow is low, says Kemp. When the river flow is higher, new "bypass" channels open up in and around the dams that allow the fish through, or if the river is high enough, they can physically leap over to the next pond.

Kemp says we need more research to figure out how salmon are affected. But by cleaning the water, beaver activity makes gravel downstream more aerated and suitable for salmon spawn, he suggests.

So what do these varied impacts mean for reintroducing beavers?

The fate of beavers in Scotland is now under consideration by Aileen McLeod, Scottish environment minister. Gaywood's report sets out four possible options ranging from eradicating all beavers to unconstrained reintroduction.

South of the border, the Environment Agency is also keeping an eye on new research. "We are particularly interested to see whether the overall benefits of reintroducing beavers outweigh any potential risks," says Alastair Driver, the agency's head of biodiversity. "We're confident these trials will provide the necessary evidence to assess the true costs, risks and desirability of future releases."
(Image: Nick Upton/Alamy Stock Photo)

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Should the UK bring back beavers to help manage floods?

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Some 500 years ago they were coveted for their fur and meat and disappeared from Britain. Now beavers are making a comeback - at least in small pockets in Scotland and Devon, south-west England - and that may be good news for flood protection and regeneration of wetlands, though farmers remain concerned that beaver dams will damage crops and pastures.

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Background information on the flood defenses already in use in Shrewsbury

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Background information on the flood defenses already in use in Shrewsbury

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Are some sources more reliable than others & why?

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Are some sources more reliable than others & why?

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Source: YouTube

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Frankwell Floods, Shrewsbury - 10 February 2014

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River levels continue to rise in Shrewsbury as a seemingly endless supply of water FALLS FROM THE SKY. No music on this video I'm afraid as I'm at work, so you'll have to listen to the endless whine of the rotors. Aircraft: DJI Phantom 2, GoPro Hero 3 Black, DJI iOSD Mini.

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Flood Management (Countryfile) (1-4:33 and 10:59 mins in)

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Flood Management (Countryfile) (1-4:33 and 10:59 mins in)

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Source: YouTube

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Flood Management (UK) - Countryfile - 14th February 2016

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Flood Defenses - How effective are these flood defenses? (3:05 mins in)

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Flood Defenses - How effective are these flood defenses? (3:05 mins in)

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Source: YouTube

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Flood Defences - How Effective Are These Flood Defences? - GCSE Geography

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http://imstuck.wix.com/imstuckgcserevision Flood Defences - How Effective Are These Flood Defences? - GCSE Geography In this video, we look at different flood defences and how effective they are.

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Source: Gov.uk

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Dam it! How beavers could save Britain from flooding.

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Dam it! How beavers could save Britain from flooding.

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Source: The Guardian

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At a secret location in the rolling pasture of west Devon lies a marshy patch of farmland protected by £35,000-worth of solar-powered electric fencing. This isn't to keep people out but to restrain the tree-chomping, river-damming residents of these three hectares. Outside the fence is a typical small valley, with a trickle of a stream, willow thickets and pasture grazed by cattle. Inside the enclosure, the tiny stream has been blocked by 13 dams, creating pools and half-metre-wide canals. These have been built by Britain's newest wild mammal, the beaver, which uses its waterways like we do - to transport goods. And as the beavers have coppiced trees, the willow thicket has been replaced with sunny glades of wild flowers - marsh thistles, watermint, meadowsweet - which dance with dragonflies and butterflies.

"The beavers have transformed this little trickle of a stream into a remarkable, primeval wetland," says Mark Elliott, lead beaver project officer of Devon Wildlife Trust, which released two beavers here in 2011. "This is what the landscape would have looked like before we started farming, and it's only six years old. That's the amazing thing."

The return of beavers to Britain half a millennium after we hunted them to extinction is both thrilling and controversial. The Eurasian beaver has been reintroduced into virtually every European country in recent decades, including densely populated nations such as the Netherlands, where conservationists laugh at Britain's agonies over the animal. While Britain remains a member of the EU, it is obliged to reintroduce extinct species "where feasible". In Scotland, the government last year declared the animal a native, protected species after an official trial and unofficial releases - the first ever formal reintroduction of a once-native British mammal. In England, several Bavarian beavers unofficially let loose on to the river Otter in east Devon are now part of an official trial licensed by Natural England, the government's conservation watchdog. In 2020, the government will decide whether to allow them back for good.

In Europe, beavers have stimulated ecotourism, but they may also benefit human communities in other ways. Scientific studies show that their dams remove pollutants from water - they are particularly effective at filtering out harmful phosphates - and reduce floodwater peaks. Enthusiasts proclaim these large herbivores could become 21st-century water engineers, protecting towns from flooding. But some farmers hate beavers because their dams can also flood productive land. In one Scottish valley, where beaver numbers are estimated to have risen to several hundred, beavers have been shot before the formal legal protection is in place. Beavers can live in Britain but can the British live with beavers?

The experimental site in Devon is vivid proof of how beavers create a wildlife paradise, re-engineering small valleys with amphibian- and insect-friendly ponds. Exeter University scientists counted 10 clumps of frogspawn here in 2011; this year there are 681. There were eight species of water beetle in 2011; 26 in 2015. Herons, grass snakes, kingfishers, willow tits, rare barbastelle bats have all returned. In Scotland, ecologists recently found that beavers increased the number of plant species by nearly 50% because they create such a rich variety of habitats, from saturated meadows to sunny glades where moisture- and light-loving plants prosper.

But it's the beavers' water works that have really struck those studying the site in west Devon. Its small beaver ponds and soil saturated by damming hold nearly 1m litres of water. Scientific instruments measure water flows and quality above and below the site. The beaver dams improve water quality. (Phosphates and excessive fertilisers washed into waterways can create toxic algal blooms, which can be fatal for anything from fish to swimming dogs.) Exeter University researchers have collated data in a remarkable graph showing flood events. During heavy rain, the volume of water flow increases rapidly above the site, creating a dramatic spike in the graph. But when the floodwater is measured again below the site, there is a gentle curve. In other words, the beavers dramatically reduce the peak flow of floodwater on this stream.

The experimental site is on farmland owned by retired beef and sheep farmer John Morgan. He sees the beavers' impact on flooding in the real world. Before the enclosure, country lanes below this land used to flood in heavy rain; since the beavers came in, the roads haven't flooded. "It proves that [using beavers as a form of flood defence] works," says Morgan. Should beavers be reintroduced? "I think it's a good idea. They do a lot of work that these different water companies have to do. If a dam gets washed out, the beavers put it back overnight. They do a 12-hour shift every day of the year. They don't take holidays."

Over in east Devon, holidaymakers from China and New Zealand are among those coming to watch the 21 beavers on the river Otter. Summer evenings are the best time to see their kits and families gather on the bank after 6.30pm. I walk across fields over the broad valley with Elliott. "As you can see," he observes drily, "It's a decimated landscape. The beavers have annihilated everything and cut down the trees."

The bucolic countryside looks unperturbed by beavers. When Natural England announced plans to remove this "non-native" animal, which was mysteriously found breeding on the river in 2013, locals objected and Devon Wildlife Trust offered to fund an official £500,000 trial. The trust has raised money via crowdfunding and selling novelty "beaver chips" - bits of wood gnawed by the beavers - but Elliott admits the charity is still "desperately in need" of funding. At least the beavers are thriving: from just one pair, there are now 21 individuals, with almost a dozen kits this summer. "Clearly, they are expanding to fill the available space, of which there is plenty," says Elliott.

On the banks of the Otter there are more storylines than a soap opera. A nosy dog recently got a nip from a beaver for straying too close to its lodge. The other night, a badger slipped from the riverbank into the water and was hustled out by a beaver. Locals named one adult Bob, but were surprised when it returned with a pink eartag. So it's now Mrs Bob, its mate Mr Bob; their kits Miss Bob, Master Bob, Bobby Junior and Roberta.

"It's the little ones that have really enthralled me," says local Gaynor Cooper, who comes out most nights. "They are tranquil and seem very gentle." These slow-moving herbivores don't eat fish and are much more easily spotted than otters. Five minutes after the first picnic blanket is laid down, there's a plop of flat tail against water and Mrs Bob glides upstream, with a cute black button nose and brown fur matching the muddy bank.

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An example of how beavers transform a woodland for the benefit of wildlife. Photograph: Patrick Barkham for the Guardian

I can't find any dissenting voices on the riverbank "but beavers do create issues, there's no two ways about it," says Elliott. "They are not marauding across farms causing damage but they do engineer water and they could change the way we drain land." His most crucial task is to work with local farmers. "Most have been brilliant. We're not seeing any persecution [of beavers] on the river at all."

In Scotland, farmers complain they have lost valuable farmland to flooding caused by beaver dams and have spent thousands clearing ditches blocked by the animals without recompense. They are negotiating with the Scottish government to cull if beavers threaten agricultural land.

Elliott says that, in Devon, "the farmers say to us: 'We don't mind the beaver, but if they return we need to be able to deal with problems quickly.'" This doesn't necessarily mean killing them. In two instances so far on the Otter, dams have flooded small areas of grazing pasture. Under the trial's terms, Devon Wildlife Trust pays to solve the problem at no expense to the farmer. In one case, it installed a "beaver deceiver". This pipe goes through the dam, lowering the water level and stopping flooding. The pipe is concealed and covered with mesh, so busy beavers can't block it. Important trees are protected with a sandy-textured anti-beaver paint - the animals hate chewing it. The trust hopes that such technologies will allow beavers back into human-dominated countryside, but also knows that farmers' acceptance may depend upon government payments to reward them if agricultural land is given over to beaver-created flood defence.

For centuries in Britain, we have sought to remove water from land to farm it, and channel rainwater out to sea as quickly as possible. We have built houses on so many floodplains downstream that we need to slow the flow, and hold more water on land upriver to stop towns flooding. Beavers installed in every headwater - at the top of small streams - look like ideal, cost-effective flood engineers, providing landowners are compensated. But, as Elliott explains, it isn't so simple. Beavers are territorial and like deep water. Small streams require intensive beaver-labour to create dams and deep-enough water. Beavers won't naturally inhabit these locations unless all the better territory downstream is occupied by other beavers.

"If you're trying to protect people from flooding downstream, we've got to have this type of dam system in the headwaters. But if you put beavers in, all they will do is move downstream," says Elliott. "You've either got to hold them there with fencing or have beavers back in the landscape, so all territories are occupied and they are forced back into these sub-optimal habitats, where they must manipulate the landscape."

In Cornwall, holding beavers in a pen upstream is exactly what one local farmer has started doing this year, in a bold attempt to protect the village of Ladock from flooding. There's a proposal for a similar scheme in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. But fenced-in beavers won't be affordable in the long term. Will the beaver be permitted back into the wider landscape? Elliott believes there are plenty of suitable rivers - from the Severn to the Thames - but fears that they could cause more problems than benefits for intensively farmed lowlands such as the East Anglian Fens or the Somerset Levels.

On the banks of the Otter, David White comes down most nights to photograph his new neighbours. "It's a shame the government won't put any money behind the beavers," he says. "The beaver can majorly influence ecosystems but it is a big animal and it will need space. And I don't know how good humans are at giving it space."

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Dam it! How beavers could save Britain from flooding

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At a secret location in the rolling pasture of west Devon lies a marshy patch of farmland protected by £35,000-worth of solar-powered electric fencing. This isn't to keep people out but to restrain the tree-chomping, river-damming residents of these three hectares.

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UK Flooding: How a Yorkshire town worked with nature to stay dry.

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UK Flooding: How a Yorkshire town worked with nature to stay dry.

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Source: The Independent

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While the sodden, submerged North of Britain was, literally, wringing out the old year last week, one notorious Yorkshire flood blackspot was celebrating staying dry - despite having been refused a multimillion pound defence scheme.

Pickering, North Yorkshire, pulled off protection by embracing the very opposite of what passes for conventional wisdom. On its citizens' own initiative, it ended repeated inundation by working with nature, not against it.

Its success, and that of similar schemes across the country, should be at the heart of the "complete rethink" of policy being officially promised in the aftermath of last month's floods - which cost the country at least £5 billion - as climate change threatens to make them increasingly commonplace.

And it ridicules an increasingly-voiced contention that these were largely caused by what one columnist called "militant environmentalism" enforced by "green zealots who put protected species above people". By this argument, much advanced by climate change sceptics, the unprecedented north English and Scottish inundations - like those on the Somerset Levels and the Thames Valley two years ago - are down to successive Governments and officials neglecting to take precautionary measures, like dredging rivers, in order to protect wildlife.

If this were true, few places would have better reason than Pickering to want to keep nature at bay. Stuck at the bottom of a steep gorge draining much of the North Yorks Moors, it was flooded four times between 1999 and 2007, with the last disaster doing £7 million of damage.

The solution, its people were officially told, would to be build a £20 million concrete wall through the centre of town to keep the water in the river. No-one thought it was ideal: it would have impaired Pickering's attraction for tourism. But then they were told that they could not have it anyway since too few people would be protected to satisfy the cost-benefit analysis for such schemes enforced on the Environment Agency by the Treasury.

At that point - as Mike Potter, chairman of the Pickering and District Civic Society puts it - the townspeople were "spitting feathers" and decided to take matters into their own hands. Hearing from a local environmentalist how the moors had traditionally released rainwater much more slowly - and of how, centuries ago, monks at nearby Byland Abbey had built a bund to hold it back - they decided to try to go back to the future.

They got together with top academics from Oxford, Newcastle and Durham Universities to examine all options. Much the best plan turned out indeed to be to try to recreate past conditions by slowing the flow of water from the hills. Impressed by the intellectual endorsement, official bodies like the local councils, the Environment Agency, the Forestry Commission and even the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, joined in.

They built 167 leaky dams of logs and branches - which let normal flows through but restrict and slow down high ones - in the becks above the town; added 187 lesser obstructions, made of bales of heather and fulfilling the same purpose, in smaller drains and gullies; and planted 29 hectares of woodland. And, after much bureaucratic tangling, they built a bund, to store up to 120,000 cubic metres of floodwater, releasing it slowly through a culvert.

After 24 hours of rain, just three months after it was inaugurated, Mr Potter climbed up to the scheme and found it working well. Then he went home, "switched on the TV, and saw the all the floodwaters elsewhere". He adds: "While there was devastation all over northern England, our newly completed defences worked a treat and our community got on with life as normal." The total cost, he says, was around £2m, a 10th that of the original wall which, he believes, would not have coped with the Boxing Day conditions anyway.

Nor is Pickering alone. A more high-tech scheme, but operating on the same principle, has successfully slowed floodwaters near Glasgow. Building porous wooden dams, and blocking ditches, saved the floodprone Somerset villages of Bossington and Allerford while the Levels flooded two years ago. And the Potteric Carr nature reserve, designed to store floodwater, kept the south of Doncaster dry, even as the north of the city went underwater, in the great floods of 2007.

Such schemes are not the whole solution. Sarah Whatmore, Professor of Environment and Public Policy at Oxford University - who led the academic work in Pickering - says they will often be of most benefit to small communities who do not qualify for more expensive interventions.

And certainly the government should do more to build conventional defences. It is a scandal that both it, and the conservative-led coalition, should have cut spending on them - despite promises - including postponing schemes, as in Kendal and Leeds, that could have cut December's devastation. After all, flood defences return £8 for each £1 invested - a ratio that, say, High Speed 2 would die for - and even the Treasury admits that building them "helps drive growth".

And much more is going to be needed as climate change takes hold. A study, published last week by Oxford University and the Royal Netherlands Metereological Institute, found that global warming made the floods caused by Storm Desmond last month some 40 per cent more likely. Scientists agree they will increase as the world heats up.

We should also stop making ourselves more vulnerable. Half the houses built in Britain in the last 60 years have been plonked onto floodplains, and twice as many are still being built on them as elsewhere.

Even more important, though less publicised, is the need to stop denuding the countryside. Traditionally it - and especially uplands - have acted as a giant sponge, soaking up rainwater and releasing it gently, preventing floods and easing droughts. But even as our officials have tramped round developing countries, urging the importance of maintaining forests and wetlands for this purpose, other branches of government have promoted their destruction at home. The peaty soil of bogs, for example, can be nine-10ths water, but they have been drained and taken to mulch millions of gardens. Trees enable rainwater to penetrate the ground 60 times faster than grassland, but Britain has become one of the least wooded countries in Europe. Too many sheep graze hillsides bare and compact their soil with their hooves, causing rain to sheet off them, yet farmers have been encouraged to overstock.

Heather is burned, with government grants, to 'improve" grouse moors, reducing their ability to retain water. Land left bare between crops also causes rain to run off, eroding the soil; hence the chocolate colour of a flooding river. Maize is probably the most destructive of all - a study of over 3000 sites growing it showed three quarters to be seriously degraded and shedding water - yet it is officially exempted from soil conservation rules governing other crops.

It is the same story in town. As gardens disappear under impervious concrete and decking, stormwater runs off into sewers that can't accommodate it: in London alone, the Wildlife Trusts found land equivalent to two-and-a-half Hyde Parks is lost this way each year. Back in 2010 the Measures to ensure that new developments minimised run-off with "sustainable drainage systems" were enacted in 2010. But the Coalition repeatedly delayed implementing them, then scrapped them.

So, despite the mythology, it is destroying nature that causes floods, while protecting it prevents them. The much-touted dredging can be useful in some places, but generally makes things worse by speeding up river flow and causing more trouble downstream. And it is only removing silt produced upstream from soil erosion that should be prevented in the first place.

Many small scale-efforts are being made, as at Pickering. Blocking ditches in Montgomeryshire has increased the water holding capacity of a 1,100 hectare catchment area by 155 million litres. Restoring Devon's Culm grasslands, by the local Wildlife Trust, quintupled the land's water retention. But natural flood protection needs to happen on a national scale - as it has in the Netherlands the very home of the dyke, for two decades.

Some environmentalists want to slash support for farmers. It would be far better to direct it to reducing flooding by, for example, supporting tree planting and retaining wetlands, and paying landowners to set aside relatively unproductive land to take excess water so as to avoid inundation downstream.

But David Cameron last year allowed EU grants going to such environmentally-friendly purposes to be cut - despite pleas even from his distinctly ungreen environment secretary, Owen Paterson. "Why" he said, spectacularly missing the point "should we be the only saint in the brothel?"

Perhaps, just perhaps, the recent floods will shift such - shall we say - antediluvian attitudes. Opening the Pickering scheme in September, Environment Secretary Liz Truss said "we can use the results we get here much more widely". Let's hope (against hope) that she meant it.
Twitter: @geoffreylean
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The town in Yorkshire that worked with nature to avoid the floods

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While the sodden, submerged North of Britain was, literally, wringing out the old year last week, one notorious Yorkshire flood blackspot was celebrating staying dry - despite having been refused a multimillion pound defence scheme. Pickering, North Yorkshire, pulled off protection by embracing the very opposite of what passes for conventional wisdom.