Green Streets Guidance

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

The County of San Diego has developed new guidance for developers of public and private projects for the design, construction and maintenance of Green Infrastructure (GI) Strategies. GI Strategies are designed to mimic the natural water cycle within the built environment through innovative use of vegetation, mulch, and engineered soils. These strategies reduce pollution and the amount of runoff that reaches our rivers and ocean. The County of San Diego has developed specific guidance to explain how GI Strategies can be implemented within the road right-of-way. Using these new technical resources, project designers have tools to adapt for specific project needs as opposed to starting from scratch. This helps developers comply with strict stormwater rules and helps save developers time and money. Furthermore, since these resources have been vetted ahead of time, County staff time reviewing proposed GI features will be reduced. By making GI Strategies easier to implement, their use will become more widespread and water quality in the region will improve as a result. The County is the only agency in the region, and one of the few in the nation, to develop Green Streets Guidance.