The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Resilient Communities Stormwater Initiative (RSCI), and the School District of Philadelphia joined forces to advocate for GSI installations in the following Southwest Philadelphia schoolyards:

• Benjamin B. Comegys Elementary School
• S. Weir Mitchell School
• Avery D. Harrington School

TNC and RCSI work lies at the “intersection between climate, social, and environmental justice with a focus on investing in communities and neighborhoods that have historically been underrepresented and under-resourced.”

These 3 schools will transform existing blacktop schoolyards into green spaces with environmental and educational benefits.

These sites will receive various types of GSI, including rain gardens, subsurface basins, porous pavement, porous pavements, and new depaving. Added together, the schools’ new systems will manage more than 141,000 gallons of overflow per typical 1” storm event.

“As part of the Resilient Communities Stormwater Initiative (RCSI), The Nature Conservancy is excited to partner with the School District of Philadelphia on these GSI projects that will provide environmental, community, and climate resiliency benefits,” says Lyndon DeSalvo, Urban Conservation Project Manager, The Nature Conservancy (RCSI Partner). “These projects will also advance implementation of the Kingsessing Green Vision Plan, a community-led plan for amplifying investment in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Philadelphia to increase access to green space and support community-wide resilience. We are grateful to PWD for supporting these efforts.”

These projects continue our existing partnership with the School District of Philadelphia. The School District of Philadelphia has been an integral collaborator in the history of Green City, Clean Waters.

Currently, nearly 50 School Districts of Philadelphia schoolyards have formally worked with us to implement green stormwater infrastructure on their properties.

The green stormwater infrastructure projects created by the School District of Philadelphia and all partner organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, collectively manage more than 2.2 million gallons of stormwater runoff per typical storm event.

“The School District of Philadelphia is striving to make greener, cleaner, and healthier schoolyards to welcome all students to school,” says Emma Melvin, Green Infrastructure Program Manager, School District of Philadelphia. “These green schoolyards will provide a place of respite, to play and learn while teaching students about environmental stewardship.”

This story is from the Philly H20 Blog.