URBAN TREE CANOPY INTERCEPTS RAINWATER: What does a community named Tree City USA for 25 years running, brimming with 13,000 trees need?

photo credit: https://www.pinterest.ca/nnorth0584/

Walla Walla ordinance formally recognizes that the urban tree canopy is part of the rainwater management system

“The ordinance makes the city’s urban forest and green infrastructure, including dozens of green basins and swales that work as bio-filters for stormwater throughout the city, an official part of the stormwater system,” wrote Dian Ver Valen in a newspaper article about the decision by Walla Walla City Council to tap into the city’s stormwater utility fund to pay for upkeep of street trees and other ‘green infrastructure‘.

“Among several cities in the Pacific Northwest that have adopted similar ordinances, the urban forestry program in Vancouver, Wash., is primarily supported by surface water management fees (97%). And the city of Longview’s urban forestry program is partially (63%) supported by its stormwater utility fund, according to the technical memorandum prepared for the city of Walla Walla.”

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To read the complete story, download a copy o Walla Walla City Council OKs tree funding plan

courtesy of city of Walla Walla, Washington