Solutions > Water Quality
 

Solutions

 

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for Water Quality

Stormwater and nutrient reduction projects that use green infrastructure for durable performance, with land and funding options that unlock new – and more impactful – possibilities.

 

Overcome the constraints of limited public lands

As a municipal or state water authority, you know where the hotspots are of poor water quality. Your plans for TMDL or Alternative Restoration Plans that lead to pollutant load reductions may be stymied, however, by the lack of suitable sites for where a nature-based solution can improve water quality.

The limitation is often a shortage of public lands with the right characteristics to reduce pollutant loads in a meaningful way.

RES provides green infrastructure solutions with integrated delivery, including screening and securing private land in the right places if needed. Our solutions range from individual green BMPs to large projects with floodplain- and watershed-level benefits.

View Water Quality solutions on our Interactive Map

 

 

Alternative delivery – Project funding and performance guarantees

Most states have “alternative delivery” procurement options beyond design-bid-build, but they are typically underutilized for environmental projects. Public-private partnerships (P3’s) and other mechanisms are a great fit for NbS projects, combining performance-based contracting with integrated delivery.

Integrated delivery means RES can take on the inherent risk of working with nature. We plan, acquire land, design, build and sustain our projects. Being able to approach projects in this fashion, we can guarantee their performance.

P3 funding also makes possible the chance to work at a scale that truly matters to your watershed. View our Wilson Ranch project.

Clients pay RES for their desired outcomes.

 

Get an inventory of green BMP options in your state

RES can help close the gap most municipalities face in defining an actionable portfolio of TMDL projects. We can provide a pre-screened analysis of NbS projects that align with your state or county water quality rules, impairments, and hydrologic system needs.

We’ll contact you for more information to deliver your analysis. RES land teams and water resource experts are constantly screening great project sites in many states. There is no consulting fee for this analysis.

Ask our experts in your state
 

“My office looks down into this little gully here. When it would rain, it would be a chocolate milk log flume, 8-10 feet deep, just ripping, I mean absolutely ripping. And now, when it rains, it’s this wonderful, meandering, clear stream. I mean it worked, literally, overnight.”

Tim Schaeffer

Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

 
Solutions Concepts
  • Nutrient reduction
  • Green infrastructure
  • Green best management practices (BMPs)
  • Stormwater management
  • Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4)
  • Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) mandates
  • Hydrologic system restoration
  • Watershed restoration
    • Stream and floodplain restoration
    • Wetland restoration
    • Treatment wetlands
    • Stormwater detention/retention
    • Urban green infrastructure
    • Agricultural BMPs
    • Resiliency parks
  • In-water body restoration
    • Stream and wetland restoration
    • Coastal wetland restoration
    • Living shorelines
    • Submerged aquatic vegetation
    • Multi-stage channels
    • Living shorelines
    • Mangroves and salt marsh
    • Sediment inactivation
Advantages
  • Stacking strategies to multiply benefits
  • Habitat gains
  • Storage, treatment, and recharging groundwater
  • Reduced algae blooms
  • Less flooding
Unique NbS Benefits
Green infrastructure projects that mature into self-sufficiency
What RES stands for…
Guaranteed performance of rehabilitated ecological and hydrologic systems
 

Case Studies