"Green infrastructure should serve as the foundation for effective stormwater management," says Water Environment Foundation

21^st Century Stormwater Management

In May 2011, the US-based Water Environment Federation (WEF) released its Position Statement on 21st Century Stormwater Management. WEF made eight recommendations, and highlighted the importance of green infrastructure.

WEF believes that the United States Environmental Protection Agency should update regulations related to the Clean Water Act that ovcersee stormwater-generated flows. Extracts from the Position Statement pertaining to green infrastructure are presented below.

Support Green Infrastructure

"WEF believes that the use of green infrastructure distributed across the landscape in conjunction with traditional downstream solutions should serve as the foundation for effective stormwater management."

"WEF supports effective integration of green infrastructure as an emerging method for the management of wet weather flows, and believes that this tool can best be implemented through integrated stormwater controls, such as bioretention facilities, swales, and infiltration."

"By capturing and treating stormwater before it enters major drainage and collection systems, these practices will encourage groundwater recharge and water quality improvement through a variety of physical, chemical, and biological filtration processes."

Climate Change Adaptation: WEF recognizes that green infrastructure "provides the resiliency required to adapt to changing climatic conditions".