Parks and Green Stormwater: About the Initiative

In September 2023, City Parks Alliance launched a new initiative to help parks and water practitioners better collaborate on green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) in park systems in ways that can provide access to new green spaces and recreation, enhance climate resilience and protect biodiversity, improve public health and social equity, and provide fiscal benefits.

Working with the US Water Alliance and the Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange, and with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we invited a cohort of parks and water agency leaders from eight cities to inform how to increase collaboration between these two sectors and address historic inequities. Over a year-long process, the cohort shared experiences and ideas about successes and overcoming barriers to broader collaboration on developing GSI in urban parks and how to harness the myriad benefits it can bring.

Guided by the cohort, City Parks Alliance created a policy brief highlighting successful examples of GSI projects in urban parklands, with the hope of inspiring the creation of even more multi-benefit projects. We also identified and addressed systemic barriers to better collaboration between parks and water agencies and their partners. We also shared tools, resources, principles, and promising practices to unlock the suite of benefits GSI in parks can provide, all informed by practitioner experience.