Peoria and Kansas City, Missouri, have a lot in common when it comes to stormwater. Both cities faced a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency due to combined sewer overflows (CSOs), and both decided to go green to solve wet weather issues. Here’s a look at how the City of Fountains tackled stormwater issues — we continue to learn a lot from Kansas City’s approach.

Kansas City’s comprehensive Wet Weather Solutions Program addresses stormwater problems — aiming to safeguard local water resources and support economic development. That’s the goal of our wet weather management efforts, too.

Since 1999, Kansas City’s stormwater utility has helped pay proactively for the burgeoning costs of wet weather management and encourage the use of green infrastructure. While ours will only pay for a small portion of the CSO fix, revenue from our new stormwater utility will also support a citywide approach to green infrastructure.

In 2010, Kansas City settled its consent decree with the EPA by using green infrastructure instead of or in addition to gray controls. Our goal for Peoria is 100% green!

Kansas City’s Middle Blue River Basin Green Solutions Pilot Project — highlighted in this video — covered 100 acres in the city’s older neighborhoods and included 91 rain gardens, almost 400 feet of bioswales and 5,200+ feet of porous concrete sidewalk. We have similar pilots underway in Peoria now.