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Scaling Green Stormwater Infrastructure Scaling Green Stormwater Infrastructure Through Multiple Benefits in Austin, Texas: Distributed Rainwater Capture on Residential Properties in the Waller Creek Watershed Sarah Diringer, Morgan Shimabuku, Heather Cooley, Madeline Gorchels, Jennifer Walker, and Sharlene Leurig PACIFIC INSTITUTE June 2020 Scaling Green Stormwater Infrastructure Through Multiple Benefits in Austin, Texas: Distributed Rainwater Capture on Residential Properties in the Waller Creek Watershed June 2020 Authors Sarah Diringer, Morgan Shimabuku, Heather Cooley, Madeline Gorchels, Jennifer Walker, and Sharlene Leurig PACIFIC INSTITUTE Pacific Institute Texas Water Trade National Wildlife Federation 654 13th Street, 611 S. Congress Ave, Suite 125 South Central Regional Center Preservation Park Austin, Texas 78704 505 E Huntland Dr #485 Oakland, California 94612 512.846.3075 Austin, Texas 78752 510.251.1600 | [email protected] www.texaswatertrade.org 512.476.9805 www.pacinst.org www.nwf.org Suggested citation for Scaling Green Stormwater Infrastructure Through Multiple Benefits in Austin, Texas: Distributed Rainwater Capture on Residential Properties in the Waller Creek Watershed: Diringer, Sarah, Morgan Shimabuku, Heather Cooley, Madeline Gorchels, Jennifer Walker, and Sharlene Leurig. 2020. Scaling Green Stormwater Infrastructure Through Multiple Benefits in Austin, Texas. Oakland, Calif.: Pacific Institute. ISBN: 978-1-940148-04-5 © 2020 Pacific Institute. All rights reserved. Cover Photo Source: Roschetzky, IstockPhoto | Designer: Bryan Kring, Kring Design Studio Scaling Green Stormwater Infrastructure Through Multiple Benefits in Austin, Texas I ABOUT THE PACIFIC INSTITUTE The Pacific Institute envisions a world in which society, the economy, and the environment have the water they need to thrive now and in the future. In pursuit of this vision, the Institute creates and advances solutions to the world’s most pressing water challenges, such as unsustainable water management and use; climate change; environmental degradation; food, fiber, and energy production for a growing population; and basic lack of access to freshwater and sanitation. Since 1987, the Pacific Institute has cut across traditional areas of study and actively collaborated with a diverse set of stakeholders, including policymakers, scientists, corporate leaders, international organizations such as the United Nations, advocacy groups, and local communities. This interdisciplinary and nonpartisan approach helps bring diverse interests together to forge effective real-world solutions. More information about the Institute and our staff, directors, and funders can be found at www.pacinst.org. ABOUT THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION The National Wildlife Federation, America’s largest and most trusted conservation organization, works across the country to unite Americans from all walks of life in giving wildlife a voice. We’ve been on the front lines for wildlife since 1936, fighting for the conservation values that are woven into the fabric of our nation’s collective heritage. ABOUT TEXAS WATER TRADE Texas Water Trade is a nonprofit organization harnessing the power of markets and technological innovation to build a future of clean, flowing water for all Texans. We were founded in 2019 with catalytic support from the Harte Charitable Foundation. Our vision is durable, long-lasting water supplies in Texas that ensure future economic growth, ecological resilience and abundant drinking water for present and future generations, no matter their income or zip code. Scaling Green Stormwater Infrastructure Through Multiple Benefits in Austin, Texas II ABOUT THE AUTHORS SARAH DIRINGER Dr. Sarah Diringer is a Senior Researcher at the Pacific Institute, where her work focuses on long-range water supply planning and sustainable water systems. Sarah has conducted research both domestically and abroad on watershed management and environmental health. Prior to joining the Institute, Sarah was a doctoral researcher at Duke University, conducting field work and lab research focused on the environmental and community impacts of mercury released from artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Peru. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the University of California, Los Angeles and a doctorate in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Duke University. MORGAN SHIMABUKU Morgan Shimabuku is a Research Associate at the Pacific Institute where she has focused on stormwater policy and economics, integrated water management, and water and conflict around the world. Prior to joining the Institute, Morgan managed residential and commercial water conservation programs in partnership with municipal water providers. Her scientific background includes experience as a scientist at a water resource consulting firm and fieldwork as a stream technician for the US Forest Service and for her graduate and undergraduate studies. Morgan received a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies and Geology from Whitman College and a Master of Arts from the Department of Geography at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she studied climate change, hydrochemical cycling, and snow hydrology at the university’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. HEATHER COOLEY Heather Cooley is Director of Research at the Pacific Institute. Heather holds a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Environmental Biology and a Master of Science in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley. She received the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Award for Outstanding Achievement for her work on agricultural water conservation and efficiency and has testified before the US Congress on the impacts of climate change on agriculture and innovative approaches to solving water problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Heather has served on several state task forces and working groups, including the California Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Task Force and the California Urban Stakeholder Committee, as well as the board of the California Urban Water Conservation Council. MADELINE GORCHELS Madeline Gorchels is completing a master’s degree in Water Resource Management and Environmental Data Science at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her masters work focuses on the co-benefits of distributed rainwater catchment in Austin, Texas. Her background includes work on groundwater management, environmental equity, and Scaling Green Stormwater Infrastructure Through Multiple Benefits in Austin, Texas III microbiology. Madeline holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biological Sciences and Geosciences from Wellesley College. At Wellesley, she was awarded research honors for her work on the aquatic ecology of the World Heritage Site, Lake Baikal, Russia. JENNIFER WALKER Jennifer Walker is the Deputy Director for Texas Water Programs at the National Wildlife Federation. She has over 15 years of experience focusing on statewide water policy issues with an emphasis on state and regional water planning, urban water management, and bay and estuary protection. She is Vice-Chair of Austin’s Water Forward Task Force, working to implement Austin’s groundbreaking 100-year water plan that is focused on deploying One Water solutions to meet future water needs. Jennifer serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Water Efficiency, a stakeholder-based non-profit organization dedicated to the efficient and sustainable use of water. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Science in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. SHARLENE LEURIG Sharlene Leurig is Chief Executive Officer of Texas Water Trade, a nonprofit harnessing the power of markets and technological innovation to build a future of clean, flowing water for all Texans. Sharlene is a sustainable water finance expert with extensive experience in Texas on long-range water planning, infrastructure finance and water transactions. Formerly, she directed the Texas Environmental Flows Initiative, a collaboration of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, the Harte Research Institute, The Nature Conservancy and several other groups, to purchase water for the bays and estuaries of the Texas Gulf Coast. She also chaired the Austin Water Forward Task Force, which developed a groundbreaking 100-year water plan approved unanimously by the Austin City Council in 2018. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Physics and English from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was a fellow in the MIT-USGS Science Impact Collaborative, focusing on the role of science in multi-stakeholder resource planning and dispute resolution. Sharlene lives in Austin, Texas. Scaling Green Stormwater Infrastructure Through Multiple Benefits in Austin, Texas IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was generously supported by the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation and the Pisces Foundation. We would like to thank all of those who offered ideas, information, and feedback through reviewing this report. City of Austin staff played a substantial role in providing data and feedback for this project, including staff from the Watershed Protection Department (WPD), Austin Water, and the Office of Sustainability, particularly WPD’s Mateo Scoggins, Ana Gonzalez, and Jessica Wilson, and Austin Water’s Ana Flores-Gonzalez and Robert Stefani. We held two convenings with additional City of Austin staff and local environmental non-governmental
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