Green Infrastructure: Using Natural Landscapes for Flood Mitigation and Water Quality Improvements

Resources For the Future First Wednesday Seminar

Wednesday, April 4, 2012
12:45 - 2:00 p.m.

A light lunch will be provided starting at 12:30 p.m.
First Floor Conference Center
1616 P St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036

Registration for in-person attendance is required. To RSVP for this event, please visit RFF's event registration page.
This event will also be webcast live starting at 12:45 p.m. Join the webcast at rff.org/live.

About the Event

Nature provides a wealth of ecological services: forests store carbon and clean the air; rivers provide water for drinking and harbor animal species; and wetlands purify stormwater and serve as buffers against floods. Governments around the world are increasingly recognizing that this “green infrastructure” can be a cost-effective supplement or substitute for the “gray infrastructure”—pipes, dams, levees, treatment plants—traditionally used to control flooding, purify and store water, and reduce urban stormwater runoff.
At this First Wednesday Seminar, sponsored by RFF's Center for the Management of Ecological Wealth, panelists will explore what “green infrastructure” means and describe how to evaluate the costs and benefits of land-use options for reducing flood damages. They will also discuss the challenges of convincing stakeholders that natural systems can provide infrastructure services and complement public projects. RFF experts will describe a case study evaluating flood abatement options in a Wisconsin watershed, and provide some lessons learned from working to implement a payment for environmental services program in the Florida Everglades.

Moderator:

Lynn Scarlett, Co-Director, RFF Center for the Management of Ecological Wealth

Panelists:

Margaret Walls, Research Director and Thomas J. Klutznick Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future
"The Role of Land Use Policies in Minimizing Flood Damage"

Len Shabman, Resident Scholar, Resources for the Future
“A Green Infrastructure Contribution to Everglades Restoration”