NYCHA Observes World Water Day
March 22 is World Water Day, an opportunity to reflect on the importance of access to safe, fresh water. Stormwater management solutions, for example, are a vital part of NYCHA’s Sustainability Agenda, and several initiatives focused on this important work are currently underway. One of them is NYCHA’s Climate Adaptation Plan, which outlines the Authority’s approach to mitigating climate-induced hazards that will impact NYCHA developments and their immediate surroundings.
Siobhan Watson, Deputy Director of NYCHA’s Capital Projects Energy & Sustainability Program, said that the intense rains brought by Hurricane Ida highlighted the importance of stormwater management: “We’ve identified a number of sites that were either impacted by Ida or had a higher vulnerability to future rainstorms. We are looking into upgrading the landscape in a way that integrates stormwater management infrastructure.”
NYCHA and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are also working on “cloudburst” solutions at Clinton Houses in East Harlem and South Jamaica Houses in Eastern Queens, which will help mitigate the effects of severe storms and provide new resident amenities, including a sunken basketball court with tiered seating and new landscaping features.
Ms. Watson noted that NYCHA strives to implement stormwater management initiatives in a holistic manner. One way of doing this is by coordinating investment in stormwater management with the Authority’s first-ever Open Space Masterplan, a comprehensive vision of what NYCHA’s open spaces could look like to reflect residents’ interests and current climate and economic needs. By integrating stormwater management into broader open space upgrades, NYCHA enables its 2,400 acres to support residents’ quality of life while protecting them from flooding during extreme rains.
Another notable water-related initiative is drainage upgrades at 19 NYCHA properties in partnership with DEP. The $29 million project involves the construction of “green infrastructure” installations that will capture approximately 55 million gallons of stormwater in a typical year, easing pressure on neighborhood sewers during rainstorms and helping to reduce pollution to local waterbodies.
Gowanus Houses in Brooklyn features one of NYCHA’s latest drainage upgrade projects. This work involved the construction of nine green infrastructure installations that will capture nearly two million gallons of stormwater in a typical year. By capturing the stormwater that falls on the development and keeping it out of the sewer system, the project eases pressure on the neighborhood’s sewer system during rainstorms, decreasing overflows into the Gowanus Canal.
Ms. Watson noted that the Authority plans to continue implementing the existing water management projects and developing new solutions: “We will be working towards finding more ways of upgrading resident amenities while providing stormwater management infrastructure.”
