EPA
This study recommends best practices that will help communities in British Columbia better understand the impacts of higher and lower density on their water resources. The findings indicate that low-density developments may not always be the preferred strategy for protecting water resources.
Green Infrastructure Community-of-Interest
The Green Infrastructure Community-of-Interest is a communication platform for informing British Columbians about a 'design with nature' approach to community development.
Water Balance Model
Developed by a BC-based Inter-Governmental Partnership as an extension of Stormwater Planning: A Guidebook for British Columbia, the Water Balance Model for Canada enables users to compare scenarios for rainwater runoff volume reduction in order to achieve a light 'hydrologic footprint'. The tool is developed by a consortium of local, regional, provincial and federal agencies.
Landscape Irrigation Scheduling Calculator
The Irrigation Industry Association of British Columbia (IIABC) has developed this Landscape Irrigation Scheduling Calculator to assist irrigators in developing a proper irrigation schedule taking into account the location, landscape, soil and irrigation system operation parameters. The calculator will provide the irrigator with the number of days to water, the irrigation run time for each day and the maximum run time per cycle.
Green Design Supplement: published by Master Municipal Construction Documents Association
In 2005, the Master Municipal Construction Documents Association (MMCD) published a Draft Green Design Supplement. The Green Design Supplement provides criteria and guidelines to design more sustainable (i.e. green) municipal infrastructure.
Rain gardens soak up urban stormwater pollution
Properly designed “rain gardens” can effectively trap and retain up to 99 percent of common pollutants in urban storm runoff, potentially improving water quality and promoting the conversion of some pollutants into less harmful compounds. This is according to new research scheduled for publication in the February 15, 2006 issue of the American Chemical Society journal, “Environmental Science and Technology”. The affordable, easy-to-design gardens could help solve one of the nation’s most pressing pollution problems.
New EPA ‘Smart Growth’ Release – “Growing Toward More Efficient Water Use: Linking Development, Infrastructure, and Drinking Water Policies”
This publication focuses on the relationship between development patterns, water use, and the cost of water delivery. It reviews literature that shows how large-lot, dispersed development patterns can cost more to serve because of the length of pipe required, pumping costs, and other factors. It also includes policy options that directly reduce the cost and demand for water, while indirectly promoting smarter growth.
Design With Nature to Enhance the Built Environment
Increasingly, the focus of design professionals is on how to build and/or rebuild communities in balance with the natural environment. Green infrastructure means use of processes and systems that are natural or mimic nature to provide community services — i.e. “design with nature”.
Green Infrastructure Partnership
The mission of the Green Infrastructure Partnership is to provide leadership and encourage others to implement 'design with nature' design practices and regulation province-wide. Implementation by local governments will be voluntary, but once the decision is made to embrace green infrastructure, implementation will need clearly defined standards.
Infrastructure publications available from the United Kingdom
The Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) is one of the world's leading institutions concerned with education, training, research, and consultancy relating to the planning, provision, and management of infrastructure for development.