Natural Security: How Sustainable Water Strategies Prepare Communities for a Changing Climate

Our friends over at American Rivers have just released a new report highlighting eight forward-looking communities that have become more resilient to the impacts of climate change by embracing green infrastructure.

The report serves as a valuable collection of green infrastructure case studies that can be replicated to create healthier, more climate-resilient communities in your watershed. The case studies cover all corners of the country and provide a new vision for water infrastructure in the United States. As American Rivers’ website describes:

A 21st century approach would recognize “green infrastructure” as the core of our water management system. Green infrastructure is the most cost-effective and flexible way for communities to deal with the impacts of global warming. It has three critical components:

• Protect healthy landscapes like forests and small streams that naturally sustain clean water supplies.
• Restore degraded landscapes like floodplains and wetlands so they can better store flood water and recharge streams and aquifers.
• Replicate natural water systems in urban settings, to capture rainwater for outdoor watering and other uses and prevent stormwater and sewage pollution.

Accompanying the report on American Rivers’ website is a handy interactive map that allows you to select from the communities featured in the report to learn more about their innovative green infrastructure solutions. Documenting and learning green infrastructure best practices from these progressive communities will become increasingly valuable as more communities begin facing the challenges of global climate change. To view the interactive map, click here.

The report can be downloaded from our resource library or by following this link: www.americanrivers.org/naturalsecurityreport.