Many U.S. cities are facing water-related disasters.  Clean water supplies are becoming scarce; flood damage is widespread; water tables are unstable; rivers, lakes, and ponds are polluted; crumbling sewer and drain infrastructure demands repair.  Fortunately, a convergence of new technologies and a growing interest in urban revitalization makes it possible to rethink urban water management and apply solutions to make our cities more sustainable.

CRWA has developed a suite of tools and an approach to the urban environment that will help create a new kind of place: a Blue City.  Bringing together techniques such as Low Impact Development (LID), Green Building, Green Infrastructure, Green Corridors, and stormwater management, the Blue Cities™ approach provides a way to solve problems and build a sustainable urban future.  Using water as a foundation for planning and design leads to a whole host of benefits: more pleasant streets; integrated public open space; a cleaner, more accessible river; and infrastructure that is flexible and resilient. 

Blue Cities™ Links

Download a .pdf of CRWA's Blue Cities™ Guide

Order a full-color hard copy of the Blue Cities™ Guide at the CRWA Store

CRWA's Blue Cities™ Projects

CRWA's Educational Resources

Blue Cities™ is a new paradign for the urban environment, solving problems with techniques that improve today's environment and protect tomorrow's.

The Blue Cities™ approach seeks to restore natural hydrologic function to the urban environment.  This results in cities designed to capture and cleanse water and convey it to rivers, lakes, and harbors gradually, improving human and aquatic ecosystems.  An importance piece of Blue Cities™ design is LID stormwater management.  LID stormwater best management practices (BMPs) are systems designed to capture, collect, treat and/or infiltrate stormwater into the ground, prior to, or instead of, discharging it to surface waterways.  This is a significant departure from the traditional “grey” stormwater infrastructure, such as drains and pipes which quickly funnel polluted runoff to the nearest surface waterway.  By restoring natural hydrologic function to the urban environment, the Blue Cities™ approach results in cities designed to capture and cleanse water and convey it to rivers, lakes, and harbors gradually, improving human and aquatic ecosystems. 

Blue Cities™ Guide

• Download a copy
• Buy a full-color hard copy at the CRWA Store

Blue Cities™ Training and Consulting

CRWA offers Blue Cities training and consulting services to environmental organizations, community groups, municipalities, government agencies, consulting firms, and property owners on a fee for service basis. Please contact Kate Bowditch to learn more about these opportunities.

Blue Cities™ Projects

As part of our Blue Cities™ Initiative, CRWA is actively working with communities in our watershed and beyond to design resilient, water-friendly Blue Cities™.  Click on the links below to read more about CRWA's Blue Cities'™ Projects:

• Mystic River Collaborative Project
• Blue Cities™ National
  

Subwatershed Scale

• Building Blue in Franklin
• Bellingham Subwatershed Restoration Planning Project

Neighborhood and Street Scale

• Complete Streets Initiative
  
• Allston-Brighton Green Street Guidelines
• Peabody Square Green Streets Project
  
• Water and Smart Growth
  

Site Scale

• Everett Street Greening Demonstration
  
• Waltham Watch Factory Project
  
• Blackstone Town Hall Greening

CRWA's Educational Resources

• Boston Complete Streets website
• Low Impact Development BMP Fact Sheets
• Low Impact Development BMP Comparative Matrix
• Stormwater, Trees, and the Urban Environment (PDF)
• Phosphorus in the Charles River: What You Should Know!
• CRWA's Water Primer: What You Need to Know About YOUR Water (PDF)

Support

Funding for Blue Cities™ projects include support from:

• Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
• The Jesse B. Cox Trust