SWIM coalition members with Councilman James F. Gennaro (D-Queens), Chairman of the Environmental Protection Committee

Intro 630, which passed this week by the New York City Council, puts the full force of public reporting and target dates into the City's plan for using storm water as an environmental resource to "green" our streets and reduce water pollution. Much of that plan was driven by constituent groups and citizen activists.

Intro 630, once signed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will push NYC to capture rainwater as it falls with "green infrastructure" solutions, including green roofs, permeable pavement, wetland restoration, and storage systems for buildings that can use the water before it enters the sewer system.

With my girlfriend busy earning her MBA at the University of Michigan, I find myself making several trips a year to the greater Detroit metropolitan area. She and I have taken in many of the local attractions (there's more to Michigan than UM football) and last weekend we visited the world's largest green roof.

Did you know that nearly every city in the U.S. is built on top of an aging and inadequate wastewater infrastructure system? When these systems fail, and all too often they do, untreated sewage and polluted stormwater gets dumped into our favorite waterways.

Chicago Rain GardenFortunately, many cities are now looking beyond what is referred to as "gray infrastructure" to find green solutions to this problem. Green infrastructure offers environmentally friendly ways to control combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and stormwater discharges.