Green Infrastructure and Water Quality

Watershed planning and stormwater management help protect water quality for drinking water resources, recreation, and wildlife habitat. It can also help reduce runoff that contributes to flooding and erosion.

The Hudson Valley Regional Council is working with counties and other stakeholders on education, outreach, planning, technical assistance and training activities focusing on green infrastructure, water quality protection and restoration, and watershed planning and improvement strategies. This ongoing program includes a focus on working with coordinating committees at the county level and providing educational and technical support for municipalities and other stakeholders. This program is funded with a grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The Lower Hudson Coalition of Conservation Districts, comprised of soil and water conservation districts in counties in the Hudson Valley region, is our partner organization for implementing some aspects of this program.

Green infrastructure for managing stormwater includes specific site practices such as vegetated swales, rain gardens and larger bioretention areas, trees, pervious pavement, rainwater harvesting and green roofs. On a larger scale, this term describes land use planning and design strategies that preserve and restore stream corridors and other natural areas and reduce impervious surfaces. Green infrastructure focuses on allowing water to percolate into the soil, where it recharges groundwater and is taken up by trees and other vegetation, thereby reducing runoff and providing better protection of water quality in streams and other waterbodies.

Draft reports describing schematic landscape design proposals using green infrastructure practices for stormwater management were developed for many sites in Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, and Westchester Counties as part of this project (2010). The illustrated plans and reports were intended to give practical guidance for the owner, design professionals, contractors, and other interested parties to use in developing a final design.

Please contact us if you are interested in obtaining copies of these reports for any of the sites listed below.

  • Dutchess County Green Infrastructure
    • Beacon City Hall GI
    • Beacon Visitor Center GI
    • Beacon Cliff St. GI
    • Beacon DeWindt Main GI
    • Beacon Forrestal Sch GI web
    • Beacon Verplanck Main GI
    • Beacon Visitor Center GI web
    • Fishkill Town Hall GI
    • Hyde Park North Park RG GI
    • Hyde Park North Park Pkg GI
    • Hyde Park Code Review GI
    • Hyde Park Pine Woods GI
    • Pawling Holmes Whaley Assoc GI
    • Pawling Lakeside Park Pkg GI
    • Pawling Murrow Park GI
    • Pawling St John's Pkg GI
    • Pawling Town Hall GI
    • Poughkeepsie Kaal Rock GI
    • Poughkeepsie MH Childrens Museum GI
    • Poughkeepsie N. Cherry-Rose Sts. GI
    • Hyde Park Soccer GI
    • Pawling Village Hall
    • Pawling Elementary Sch GI
    • Pawling Dutcher Golf Pkg GI
    • Poughkeepsie Waryas Pk GI
  • Orange County Green Infrastructure
    • Greenwood Lake Waterstone Rd GI
    • Newburgh Academy GI
    • Newburgh Algonquin GI
    • Newburgh Armory GI
    • Newburgh Cerone GI
    • Newburgh Downing GI
    • Newburgh MW GI
    • Pine Island GI
    • Warwick High School GI
    • Warwick So St-Bank GI
    • Warwick So St Parking GI
    • Warwick Southern Lane GI
    • Warwick Spring St CVS GI
    • Warwick Town Hall GI
    • Warwick Veterans Park GI
  • Ulster County Green Infrastructure
    • Kingston County GI
    • Kingston Library GI
    • Kingston Office GI
    • Kingston Plaza GI
    • Kingston Roundabout GI
    • Kingston School GI
    • Ulster BRC GI
  • Westchester County Green Infrastructure
    • Yonkers Barton Park GI
    • Yonkers Beczak Center GI
    • Yonkers Cerrato Park GI
    • Yonkers Coyne Park GI
    • Yonkers Lincoln HS GI
    • Yonkers Riverside HS GI
    • Yonkers Rubeo-Cieslinski Park GI