The federal Clean Water Act (CWA) is 50 years old this year.  The two fundamental goals of the CWA were to: 1) eliminate the discharge of pollutants into the nation’s waters (zero discharge of pollutants by 1985) and 2) achieve water quality levels that are fishable and swimmable by mid-1983 (CWA, 1972).  When the Act was signed into law, 60% of the waterways in the United States were not “fishable or swimmable.”  Today, 50% of our nation’s waterways are fishable or swimmable (EIP, 2022).  While much has been accomplished with addressing point source discharges through the upgrading of municipal wastewater treatment plants and elimination of industrial discharges, nonpoint source pollution that is carried to our waterways with stormwater runoff still needs to be addressed.  In addition, agriculture is the leading source of impairments in the nation’s rivers and lakes.  About a half million tons of pesticides, 12 million tons of nitrogen, and 4 million tons of phosphorus fertilizer are applied annually to crops in the continental United States (USEPA, 2022).

Agriculture is very different from state to state.  In Iowa, the average corn farm is 725 acres (Saavoss, et. al., 2021), while the average size farm in New Jersey is just 76 acres (USDA, 2020).  The large farms employ agricultural management practices to reduce their environmental impacts and often take advantage of Farm Bill funding to implement these practices.  The smaller niche farms found in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast Region of the United States are different types of agriculture.  For example, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states are home to more than 428,000 horses, ponies, and mules living on about 65,000 farms (Delheimer, 2015).  These farms can have far-reaching environmental effects.  Poor horse pasture and trail management combined with heavy horse hoof traffic can lead to problematic soil erosion.  Runoff can carry eroded sediment and pollutants (like nitrogen, phosphorus, and bacteria from horse feed, manure, and bedding) off the farm and deposit them in nearby soils and bodies of water (Delheimer, 2015).  Not only can green infrastructure be used to treat stormwater runoff from the paddock areas, it also can be used to manage runoff from the impervious cover associated with the horse farms such as barns, stables, indoor riding rings, and silage storage areas.  Results from a stakeholder survey in Connecticut indicated that farmers are generally interested in practices that protect downstream water quality; however, the cost of implementation, impacts to profitability, and lack of education or knowledge of practices are large barriers to actually making such improvements (unpublished data, CT NRCS-RCPP project 68-1106-16-965).

The nursery industry is another agricultural land use that can benefit from green infrastructure. If nurseries are looked upon as point sources of agricultural pollution, then the harmful substances of importance to human health and the environment are nitrogen and phosphorus compounds as well as pesticides and their metabolites.  In 2019, the data showed that the nursery, greenhouse, floriculture, and sod industry continue to be New Jersey’s leading agricultural sector with sales at almost $500 million (NJDA, 2020).  Nursery, greenhouse, and floriculture tend to have large expanses of impervious cover that can be managed with green infrastructure.  Also, water is needed in higher amounts during propagation than during finished crop production so green infrastructure rainwater harvesting systems can be used to collect and store rainwater for propagation activities.

Finally, urban agriculture is an area where green infrastructure can be implemented to manage pollution from stormwater runoff.  Urban farms often have limited space for stormwater management practices which makes green infrastructure a viable option.  Diverse green infrastructure implementation practices, such as rainwater harvesting, can also be used to collect and store rainwater for irrigation prior to it becoming stormwater runoff.

There are also non-agricultural sources of nonpoint source pollution.  Urbanizing communities across the nation are dealing with stormwater management issues.  In urban centers, combined sewer overflows are discharging raw sewage into local waterways, city streets, and basements.  In suburban communities, stormwater is polluting local waterways and causing localized flooding that disrupts and endangers the lives of the residents.  Rural and agricultural communities also suffer from stormwater runoff problems.  Climate change is making many of these problems worse.  In a Water Environmental Federation National Survey of communities with municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s), there is an annual funding gap of $8.5 billion to maintain and upgrade these systems (WEF, 2021).  An economic analysis by the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) shows a water-related infrastructure funding gap of $434 billion over 10 years for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater combined (ASCE, 2021).  In New Jersey alone, it is estimated that $9 billion is needed to keep stormwater out of the combined sewer systems in our urban areas to prevent the overflow of raw sewage into our local waterways and into the streets of these communities (NJF, 2014).

The ASCE Infrastructure Report Card indicates that “600,000 miles of rivers and streams and more than 13 million acres of lakes, reservoirs, and ponds are considered impaired,” meaning they do not meet water quality standards (ASCE, 2021). The United States Environmental Protection Agency Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) provides funding for water infrastructure projects.  In 2012, more than $58 million was requested by municipalities across the nation for stormwater projects, but this amount has dramatically increased.  In 2019, the requested amount was $387 million.  In 2017, the funds requested from the CWSRF for green stormwater infrastructure projects (approximately $45 million) exceeded requests for traditional gray infrastructure stormwater projects.  Every year since, requests for funding for green stormwater infrastructure have been equal to or more than requested for gray infrastructure projects (USEPA, 2021).  The demand for green stormwater infrastructure is increasing.

Green stormwater infrastructure is effective at reducing bacteria, sediment, and nutrient loads to waterways (Dietz, 2007).  Another benefit of green stormwater infrastructure is that it can also be used to reduce localized flooding (Dietz and Arnold 2018).  In most cases, green stormwater infrastructure is being used in urban and suburban areas to retrofit existing developed areas with stormwater management.  Although constructed wetlands are being used in the Midwest to intercept discharges from tile drains on agriculture lands, other applications of green stormwater infrastructure to agricultural stormwater issues have been limited.  Much more research in adapting green stormwater infrastructure for agriculture lands is needed.

Due to limited space in developed areas, the efficiency of green stormwater infrastructure needs to be improved along with a stronger understanding of the maintenance required to keep the systems functioning at an optimum level.  Green stormwater infrastructure also needs to be adapted to address climate change.  There is also a need for research to better understand cost effectiveness and ecosystem services that these systems provide.  Finally, since many of these systems are being incorporated into developed areas, there is a social dimension that needs to be explored to determine the best methods to encourage adoption of green stormwater infrastructure by residents, corporations, businesses, developers, and municipal officials.

The Technical Feasibility of the Research

The Agricultural Experiment Stations and their Cooperative Extension Service are in a unique position to aid these communities to address these stormwater problems.  The land grant universities have been conducting research on green stormwater infrastructure practices for many years and can address the research needs identified above. Researchers are currently working on identifying how green stormwater infrastructure can reduce flooding and peak flows from sewer systems, reduce pollution, and improve our water quality.  Extension is playing a key role in disseminating knowledge from the universities to encourage communities to adopt green stormwater infrastructure and to help them with the planning and design of these systems.  Whether these practices are being built for the agricultural community or in developed areas, farmer engagement and community engagement are key components to encourage the installation of green stormwater infrastructure.

Many of the land grant universities across the county have the expertise to conduct the green infrastructure research.  The expertise needed for the research includes engineering, environmental sciences, landscape architecture, economics, and social/human dimension science.  Many of the local, state, and federal regulations use the science generated by the land grant university researchers.  The research generated at these universities are also used to model the environment’s reaction to future development conditions and climate change conditions.  The research has determined the effectiveness of standard green stormwater infrastructure systems and how various alterations in design can improve the effectiveness.  There has also been research on how to increase the adoption of green stormwater infrastructure and best practices to engage the public.  All these efforts illustrate the technical feasibility of the research and suggest that the land grant universities are in the best position to conduct the research.

Advantages of a Multistate Effort

Over last several years, there have been several regional green stormwater infrastructure meetings at the University of Connecticut.  The goals for these meetings included:

1.     Sharing of information about ongoing research and Extension at each university

2.     Development of objectives for a Multi-State Hatch Proposal around green stormwater infrastructure

3.     Development of a proposal for a regional or possibly a national green stormwater infrastructure initiative that can be submitted to private foundations, which have shown a great interest in this work

These meetings demonstrate a strong desire for researchers and Extension professionals to focus on green stormwater infrastructure and to work together.  Working together allows researchers to build upon each other’s efforts more quickly and can accelerate the production of results that can be disseminated to the public to solve their problems. 

Representatives from Cornell, University of Maryland, Rutgers University, University of Connecticut, University of Vermont, University of New Hampshire, Penn State, and University of Rhode Island all participated in the meeting. Listed below are draft objectives that came from these meetings.

Potential Impacts

The short-term impacts would be to successfully complete research that can be used by Extension professionals to increase people’s knowledge and awareness of green stormwater infrastructure.  This will empower farmers and communities to more quickly adopt green stormwater infrastructure and install green stormwater infrastructure in appropriate locations.  A long-term result would be successful research that can increase the cost effectiveness of green stormwater infrastructure that can be used to retrofit farms and existing development, thereby reducing flooding, improving water quality, increasing climate resilience, and enhancing ecosystem service, ultimately improving the quality of life of our nation’s residents.