Raleigh leading way on promoting stormwater protection, here's what they're doing
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- As cities across the country figure out solutions to protect the environment, stormwater runoff solutions are becoming more common around town and more and more builders and contractors are making them standard.
Around Raleigh, there are hundreds of examples of green stormwater infrastructure from Chavis Park to Union Station, some even featuring local art.
Heather Dutra with the City of Raleigh showed us one example outside Walnut Creek Wetland Center - from the cistern collecting rain water to a system across the street, it's designed to collect water feet under the ground and avoid erosion.
In 2010, the City of Raleigh started its Rainwater Rewards program using a portion of the city's utility fee to reimburse property owners for water improvement projects.
"Really, it's been in the last five years where it's really ramped up and built momentum. So we're seeing a lot more projects. Our team performs and conducts over a thousand consultation days every year to keep those numbers growing," Dutra says.
And they haven't stopped there. In 2023, Raleigh adopted a policy to require all city development to require an evaluation of green storm water infrastructure. Now that's being expanded to include private development and rezoning new development.
"Some projects already had an engineer or a landscape architect who were really excited to include it, but some folks just didn't think about it." explains Sally Hoyt, Green Stormwater Infrastructure Advocate with the City of Raleigh.
That's led to some creative ideas, including the new City Hall project, for example. Engineers figured out an underground flood control plan where the trees could still peek out on the street.
"We were able to switch that to use a product where water goes, it goes underground, but it goes into the soil. And then there's trees planted in that soil," Hoyt says.
Getting ahead of the curve and any storm that comes our way.
"While many cities in the United States are using green stormwater infrastructure to fix their sewer overflow problems, that's not a problem that Raleigh has. We're doing this completely voluntarily," says Hoyt.
