In 2001, downtown Houston, Texas, faced an historic 1,000-year flood as a result of Tropical Storm Allison, shutting down the 700-acre Texas Medical Center Complex. While rebuilding the Center to withstand future floods, Texas Medical Center implemented a stormwater management plan that increases green space and improves water absorption through advanced landscaping techniques and permeable paving systems.

Arden Park is along Minnehaha Creek, an impaired waterway that is a tributary to the Mississippi River. This park is in a highly developed suburb just south of Minneapolis (Edina). This project improved the park and restored a section of the creek, improving habitat, water quality, and recreation opportunities. 

City of Arlington constructed a 21-acre stormwater wetland park to treat stormwater from Old Town Arlington, clean backwash water from the City’s water treatment plant, and reclaim water from the City’s Water Reclamation Facility before infiltrating or discharging into the Stillaguamish River.

In 2017, the Bedford Parks and Recreation Department partnered with Live Well Lawrence County to open Bedford Garden Park, a community garden. The resulting park is now a space that produces food, brings people together, and offers activities that improve physical and mental health.

The City of Bloomington began a creek naturalization project in 2002 to address significant erosion caused by intense storm water pressure and to enhance biodiversity in a popular local park. Through partnerships with local organizations, the City reduced flooding impacts, improved water quality and increased plant and animal species diversity in the improvement area.

Brooklyn Bridge Park boasts 2 kilometers of shoreline and 14 hectares of open space that serves thousands of visitors per day. This industrial shoreline has lost natural intertidal habitats and biodiversity. The park constructed two ECO-concrete projects to enhance biodiversity:  concrete tide pools and repairing aging piles with eco-friendly substrate to recruit invertebrates. 

A manufacturing company purchased 100 acres of abandoned golf course on floodplain of Fort Collins to develop its new headquarter. To reduce the frequency and severity of flooding, the company reconnected the Cache la Poudre River with its floodplain, removing fill from 31 acres to build up pads for properties.

Camden County, New Jersey frequently experiences combined sewer flooding during intense rain events. Camden SMART Initiative, a partnership of local government, state environmental agency, local universities and local nonprofits, promotes a network of green infrastructure programs and projects throughout the county. Projects like urban greening, rain gardens and stream daylighting were implemented. 

Planning with extreme weather thresholds catalyzes a $400,000 green infrastructure investment in a historically underserved neighborhood in Las Cruces, New Mexico. City staff partnered with NOAA and nonprofit organizations for a local resilience project that includes a demonstration rainwater harvesting facility and a green infrastructure assessment of the neighborhood.

As part of an EPA study and initiative to combat the urban heat island effect and to improve urban air quality, Mayor Richard M. Daley and the City of Chicago began construction of a 38,800 square foot (total roof area) semi-extensive greenroof in April 2000.

To eradicate the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), in 1999, USDA and USFS developed a 10-year plan in 1999 that follows five stages: phase-in, delimitation, and containment; suppression and control; deregulation; and eradication. All infested trees were either removed and replaced by non-ALB host trees on a one-to-one basis or treated with the insecticide Imidacloprid via trunk or soil injection.

After a 1995 extreme heat event that led to the deaths of several hundred residents, Chicago, Illinois conducted a heat vulnerability assessment. This assessment led to the creation of the Chicago Climate Change Action Plan, which first aimed to address extreme heat events. This led to mitigation efforts such as green roofs and cool pavements. 

Cleveland Metroparks worked closely with 12 community-based organizations and 40 stakeholder groups in restoring Lake Erie’s eastern shorefront. The team managed to conduct virtual and in-person outreach activities during the COVID-19 pandemic and develop a plan for 150 acres of park and habitat amenities, including 80 acres of newly acquired park land.

Starting in 2013, the emerald ash borer (EAB) has been detected in Colorado, spreading throughout most of the North American ash (Fraxinus). The City of Fort Collins updated the tree inventory on public properties and aimed to treat 2,100 ash trees using pesticides (Emamectin benzoate) or mechanical removal, while replanting more resilient trees over a 3-year period.

County of Barnstable, Massachusetts encourages municipalities to take actions that lower flood risks, which can reduce flood insurance premiums by earning credits through the Community Rating System (CRS). In one project, 26 mosquito-control workers cleaned debris out of the 1,500 miles of ditches, pipers, and other conduits that channeled stormwater away from buildings and roads.

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water), in an effort to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs), is implementing green stormwater infrastructure projects to reduce runoff. These projects include rain barrels, grassed swales, cisterns infiltration trenches, permeable pavements, increased tree cover, and rooftop greening. 

Terminal 117, a former industrial and superfund site along the Duwamish River, was transformed into the Duwamish River People’s Park and Shoreline Habitat. This project cleaned up a contaminated site, restored natural and stable shoreline habitat, and created river access in a historically marginalized neighborhood. 

The Heritage Reach is a portion of the Santa Cruz River that runs through a highly urbanized portion of Tuscon, Arizona. This area used to support a variety of wildlife but has severely degraded from urban development. In 2019, Tuscon Water began releasing treated effluent into the Reach to restore river flows. 

Clear Lake City, TX has a history of intense flooding from hurricanes and other storm events. Exploration Green is a project to transform a former 200-acre golf course into a public park and flood-control area. The park will have 5 detention basins to store floodwater during storm events. 

The Fort Sheridan Restoration Project restored 84 hectares of ravines, riparian woodlands, coastal bluff, beach, dunes, and lacustrine habitat along the coast of Lake Michigan. This project aimed to connect coastal habitats, restore native plant communities, and increase resilience along the coast.