More than ten billion gallons of rain falls on San Francisco each year, enough for every resident of the City to shower twice a day for that year. When that rain hits the pavement, instead of soaking back into the earth, it makes its way into San Francisco’s combined sewer system where it is treated…
Category: Green Infrastrure
Transforming San Francisco Stormwater Resiliency One Parcel at a Time
When heavy rains hit San Francisco, how does the City alleviate the burden on the combined sewer system and protect the health and safety of the public and environment? Through landscapes and systems that soak up the rainwater, protect the surrounding waterways and beautify the environment. Green infrastructure is a set of highly engineered systems…
Green Infrastructure: Helping Manage Our Stormwater for the Future
The heavy rains and winds San Francisco experienced in late January marked the first significant rainfall of the year. What happens to that rain once it falls is very important, especially for the SFPUC. On average, over 10 billion gallons of rain falls in San Francisco each year. That rain falling on our roofs, sidewalks…
Inspiring More Green Infrastructure Projects Throughout San Francisco
The SFPUC Green Infrastructure Grant Program thrived in 2020 despite challenges brought by the pandemic. Launched in February of 2019, the grant program has continued to provide funding to innovative public and private green infrastructure projects throughout San Francisco. The goal of the program is to further encourage onsite green infrastructure with an aim to…
Stormwater Schoolyards: Joining the Fight to Protect Our Sewer Infrastructure
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…
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…