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Green Infrastructure

Cincinnati faces a range of challenges related to water management that have a significant impact on both residents and the environment. To combat the problems of combined sewer overflows and overland flooding, the city is increasingly turning to innovative solutions like green infrastructure and vulnerable land protection to create a more resilient city. 

The EPA defines Green Infrastructure as "the range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pavement or other permeable surfaces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters." Examples of green infrastructure include rain barrels, urban tree canopy, rain gardens, green roofs, infiltration basins and planter boxes, permeable pavers, and bioswales.

Benefits of Green Infrastructure include:

  • improved water quality
  • and reduced flooding
  • improved air quality
  • increased climate resiliency
  • improved habitat for wildlife 
  • various benefits for communities, including green jobs, health benefits, recreation space, and property values

One of the 2023 Green Cincinnati Plan Priority Actions is to create a “sponge city” with more and diverse green infrastructure in public and residential places including green roofs, bioswales, green medians, wetlands, parks, permeable pavements, and landscape gardens. The term "sponge city" originated in China and includes a series of infrastructure and built environment projects to reduce heat, catch stormwater, provide increased access to natural spaces. Read more about "sponge cities."

The Stormwater Management Utility (SMU) is a division of the Greater Cincinnati Water Works for the City of Cincinnati. SMU protects the lives and property of the citizens of Cincinnati by capturing, controlling, and conveying stormwater runoff safely and efficiently in the City of Cincinnati. SMU has a “cradle to grave” responsibility for its stormwater drainage assets – planning, design, construction, operation maintenance, and decommissioning. SMU’s work is funded from the stormwater ratepayers within the City of Cincinnati. SMU is responsible for flood management including managing and operating the Mill Creek Barrier Dam, 14 floodgates and a 1.5 mile-long floodwall during high water conditions in the Ohio River.

The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) is the local wastewater utility and manages all of Cincinnati's combined sewers and sanitary sewers. MSD operates and maintains more than 3,000 miles of public sewers, about 100 pump stations, 9 wet weather facilities, 9 wastewater treatment plants, and the Lick Run Greenway in South Fairmount. View the MSD Service Area Map HERE. MSD is also involved in mitigating low-head dams on the Mill Creek, restoring stream floodplains, and conducting green infrastructure projects around Cincinnati.

Vulnerable Land Protection

Urbanization has transformed land use in cities, and the degree of this transformation can impact how vulnerable communities and infrastructure are to climate change. Land use sensitivity is the main measurement of this vulnerability. Highly concentrated urban areas (e.g., heat islands and stormwater-impermeable hardscapes), flood zones, and hillsides are examples of sensitive land use areas in Cincinnati. Core infrastructure—including energy, water, transportation, and healthcare systems—is especially vulnerable to climate change in these sensitive land use areas due to the socio-economic impacts that an outage would have. This is particularly true in priority communities because residents need these services to survive. For communities to be resilient to climate change, the City needs to develop policies, such as Low Impact Development, that protect vulnerable land use and core infrastructure without creating unsustainable consequences.

What municipal code relates to vulnerable land protection?

Who is working on vulnerable land protection in Cincinnati?