ICEA-LHCCD conference fishkill2012-presentation

2012 IECA-LHCCD Conference, 11.08.2012

Different Shades of Green:

Using Innovative Green Infrastructure Solutions
to Manage Stormwater
— A Case Study from Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York

Hongbin Gao, Samuel H. Sage

ATLANTIC STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION, INC.

Presentation Outline

• CSOs in Onondaga County

• ASLF, ACJ and Its 4th Stipulation

• The Green Infrastructure Program
of Onondaga County

• Program Highlights

• Challenges

• Discussion

Onondaga Lake, Onondaga County, New York

Atlantic States Legal Foundation, Inc. 11.08.2012 2012 IECA-LHCCD Conference

CSOs in Onondaga County
City of Syracuse

Onondaga County, Onondaga Lake
New York

Onondaga Creek
• 7,660 acres
• 49 CSOs Harbor Brook
• ~1 Billion gallons/year CSO


About ASLF and ACJ
• ASLF is a New York based not-for-
profit, headquartered in the Near Westside
area in the City of Syracuse

• Established in 1982 to provide
legal, technical, and organizational
services to individuals and organizations
dealing with environmental issues
ASLF Office Building at 658 West Onondaga
Street, Syracuse, New York
• 1988 – ASLF filed lawsuit against Onondaga County

• 1989 – Litigation settled through METRO WWTP Consent Judgment

• 1998 – METRO consent Judgment replaced with Amended Consent
Judgment (ACJ)


About ASLF and ACJ

• 1st ACJ Amendment in 1998
• 2nd ACJ Amendment in 2006
• 3rd ACJ Amendment in 2008
• Landmark Revision: In 2009 4th
stipulation to ACJ authorized the
County to use balanced Gray and
Green infrastructure for CSO
abatement
• The first case in nation with court 4th Stipulation to ACJ, available at
approved green strategy http://www.onondagalake.org/docs/ACJSTIPsigned16Nov
ember2009.pdf


The Gray-Green Infrastructure Program

Regulatory Goals
• Capture and treat 95% of the annual CSO
volume via Gray & Green Infrastructure
• Achieve water quality standards in
tributaries and lake by 12/31/2018

Community Impacts/Goals
Metropolitan Syracuse Wastewater Treatment Plant
• Improve quality of life (METRO)

• Promote Sustainability

http://savetherain.us/


The Gray Program Summary

• > 30 projects completed

• Over $350,000,000 investment to date

• 6 major gray projects to be built, besides
facility planning for floatable controls

• Will contribute to 88.7% of annual CSOs
capture system-wide by 2018

6 million Gallon Clinton Storage Facility
under Construction


The GREEN Program Summary

• 6.3% annual CSO volume capture

• 247 million gallons per year

• Multiple various scaled projects
throughout combined sewersheds

• Compliments Gray Program


The ACJ Compliance Milestones

• Total Gray + Green volume capture:

• 85.2% by 1/1/2013
• 89.5% by 12/31/2013 (major milestone)
• 91.4% by 12/31/2015
• 93.0% by 12/31/2016
• 95.0% by 21/31/2018 (major milestone)

• Extensive monitoring & reporting required


Green Program Highlights

http://savetherain.us/


Green Program Highlights: Public Property-County

Onondaga County
Civic Strip
• 14 GI project planned
• Estimate 9.6 million gallons of
CSO reduction
• 6 projects constructed to date



• 15,000 gallon cistern collects rain/snow
melting from the War Memorial roof



Collected rainwater is used to produce and maintain the ice in the arena for
Syracuse Crunch hockey team, and reusing water allows ice making to occur at
1-2 degrees warmer than using potable water, resulting in energy savings



County Parking Lot B: Before



County Parking Lot B: After


Green Program Highlights: Public Property-City

• City-County Agreement
• GI projects on:
• City streets and right-of-ways
• City parks and open space
• City parking lots
• Public facilities
• City Building roofs
• Vacant Lots

The City of Syracuse Ordinance that depicts the City-
County Agreement on installing GI on the City properties



Before Green Water Street


Concept Green Water Street


After Green Water Street


Green Water Street



Save the Rain-Courts 4 Kids
Porous Basketball Court in Skiddy
Park, Syracuse, NY


Save the Rain Vacant Lot Program
• Uses publicly owned vacant lots (mainly those owned by the City)
• Implements GI projects in combination with various reclamation
typologies:
• Urban Orchard
• Ornamental Garden
• Vegetable Garden
• Urban Forest
• Carries a goal of 9 million gallons annual capture by 2018

VLP Pilot Project Rendering: Urban Orchard at 701
Oswego Street, Syracuse, New York


Save the Rain Vacant Lot Program

Before After

VLP Pilot Project: Urban Orchard at 701 Oswego Street, Syracuse, New York


Green Program Highlights: Public Property-Suburb
Suburban Green Infrastructure Program (SGIP)

• A grant program to provide
financial incentives for the
installation of green
infrastructure projects in
suburban towns on the
municipally owned
properties that are located
within the Onondaga
County sanitary sewer
district.


Green Program Highlights: Private Property

Green Improvement Fund (GIF) Initiative
• Onondaga County’s Public‐Private‐Partnership for Incentivizing GI
• Funds GI projects on privately owned commercial, business, or not-for-
profit facilities in the combined sewer serviced areas where GI
implementation is needed
• Up to $200,000 for a single project
• Reimbursement based process
• Over 30 projects funded


Green Program Highlights: Outreach & Education

• STR Website: SaveTheRain.us

• GI Workshops & presentations

• Project related public outreach

• Rain barrel program
• >600 rain barrels distributed


Green Program Highlights: Recognition

• In April 2011, Onondaga County and City of Syracuse is designated by EPA as
one of 10 partners of EPA to help promote green infrastructure application in
the country

• Syracuse/Onondaga County is now a featured case study in Rooftops to Rivers
II, a Natural Resource Defense Council publication for green infrastructure
technologies


The Challenges

• Planning for Widespread Implementation of GI
• >100 GI projects done to date, but from now on…?
• How to come up with new GI projects

• Incorporate various stakeholders’ interests and maximize the benefits of GI
• GI is much more than stormwater

• The planning should be multi-dimensional

• The decision matrix


The Challenges

• Implementation
• Discrete easily monitored projects vs diffuse small projects that are harder
to quantify

• Bringing diffuse participants together to accomplish an end goal required
by the County to meet the mandate of the ACJ

• Having to understand biology as well as engineering, physics and
chemistry


The Challenge
• Maintenance (is a big deal)
• Learning curve for GI maintenance

• Site care vs standard maintenance practices

• Maintenance mechanism(s)
• No specific mechanism has been fully developed

• Compliance
• Methodologies to effectively monitor green infrastructure performance

• Ultimate measurement of the compliance to the ACJ


Questions

For more information, please visit:
www.aslf.org
www.onondagalake.org
SaveTheRain.us


ICEA-LHCCD conference fishkill2012-presentation

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