San Francisco’s combined sewer system treats both the wastewater from our homes and offices, and the stormwater that falls from the sky (approximately 10 billion gallons a year) and lands on our paved surfaces when it rains. By leveraging a public-private partnership approach, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is well on its way…
Category: Green Infrastrure
Urban Watershed Stewardship Grant Funds Garden Spaces Across San Francisco
The SFPUC recently awarded Urban Watershed Stewardship Grants to two local nonprofits: Climate Action Now and San Francisco Parks Alliance. Each year, the SFPUC’s Urban Watershed Stewardship Grant provides funding for community-based projects which help manage stormwater using ecologically based designs known as “green infrastructure (GI)”. GI is a set of engineered, sustainable stormwater management tools…
Completion of Baker Beach Green Streets Project Will Help Manage 2.6 Million Gallons of Stormwater Each Year
For the SFPUC, green infrastructure projects like Baker Beach Green Streets represent the future of San Francisco. Green infrastructure projects help manage the City’s stormwater more efficiently and sustainably, while also making communities more connected and livable. Completion of the Baker Beach Green Streets project and a series of green infrastructure improvements will help manage…
How the SFPUC’s Green Infrastructure Grant Program Celebrates its First Birthday
Each year, over 10 billion gallons of rain falls on San Francisco. All of that rain sends billions of gallons of stormwater flowing into the City’s combined sewer system where stormwater is combined with wastewater from our toilets, bathtub drains, and sinks into one system that collects and treats it all together. San Francisco’s sewer…
Meet a Watershed Planner Who Makes Green Infrastructure Tours Possible and Fun
For SFPUC Senior Watershed Planner Sarah Bloom, there is no “typical” work day for her. Bloom can be often found outdoors scouting new locations for green infrastructure grant projects, meeting with various SFPUC teams and external project stakeholders about the agency’s current green infrastructure projects, and working to solve new policy or technical challenges that…
A Short Guide of Do’s and Don’ts of Being a Rain Guardian
Saving the world does not always require super powers, fighting abilities, or a cape. Sometimes it just requires residents to use safety equipment to keep their adopted rain gardens clean and safe. The SFPUC’s Rain Guardians Program enables San Francisco residents or businesses to become “guardians” of the City’s new rain gardens by keeping them…