INNOVATION

“WE’RE BRINGING IN EXPERTS AND LOOKING AT THINGS
FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE, BUT THE PEOPLE IN THE
NEIGHBORHOODS KNOW BEST WHAT’S GOING ON ON THE GROUND.”
tunnels), according to one analysis.
Current estimates for installing green
infrastructure to control Peoria’s CSOs
are around $200 million, with annual
maintenance estimates between one and
three percent of capital costs, according
to OneWater, a city advisory committee
that’s working with the i-team to tackle
the needed improvements. In addition to
lower costs, there’s another huge advantage
to the green solution, Corso says:
“the added bonus of impacting neighborhoods
positively.”
THE BENEFITS BEYOND
Of the hundreds of U.S. cities with combined
sewer systems, only a few have employed
partial green solutions to remedy
their infrastructure woes. Philadelphia’s
Green Cities Clean Waters effort includes
a range of soil/water/plant solutions that
help intercept stormwater before it overwhelms
the sewer system; Greencorps
Chicago promotes environmental and
economic stewardship by establishing
and maintaining natural and public spaces
through hands-on green industry job training. Peoria’s i-team has been tapping the knowledge of
both, among others, but thus far, no city has solved its problem entirely with green solutions. In
short, a lot of eyes are on Peoria.
“All those communities would love to see the benefits we’re proposing out of green infrastructure—to
put a solution in that’s never been tried and see how many ripple effects it has,” says Green.
But why hasn’t a 100-percent green solution ever been tried, and what makes the team think it will
play in Peoria?
“We’re on the sand bar of the Illinois River,” Corso explains, surrounded by sloping bluffs. This
unique topography and soil composition offer some natural advantages in diverting stormwater
from entering sewers in the first place via infrastructure improvements, all within the publiclyowned
right of way. According to the City of Peoria, rather than constructing capital-intensive, gray
infrastructure, green techniques can help capture the 60 or so Olympic-sized swimming pools of
water (37 million gallons) it’s been mandated to collect.
Knowing the CSO problem can be solved by green infrastructure alone provides a huge opportunity
to take a holistic approach, Corso explains, as the co-benefits of a green solution extend
beyond beautification to improved walkability, neighborhood stabilization, job and workforce potential,
crime mitigation, ecological and public health improvements, and more.
LEARN AND FAIL FAST
If innovation was a font, it would be the sprawling, handwritten type overwhelming the dry-erase
walls of the Peoria i-team’s “Storm Room” (pun intentional). In this space designated for “brainstorming
about stormwater” are an interactive timeline of dates, deliverables and deadlines. In
November, the team wrapped up the idea generation phase of Bloomberg’s innovation model
(though, Corso likes to stress, ideas never end)—which involved actively engaging people on the
street, talking to experts and soliciting recommendations.
According to their research, a successful solution must first be community-driven. “It’s not
Peoria’s i-team met with the
PowerCorps team on a site
visit to Philadelphia earlier
this year to learn how they are
maintaining their city’s green
infrastructure.
58 InterBusiness Issues -- January 2016