The American Society of Landscape Architects reminds us that green infrastructure is more than what we used to call stormwater management practices. It’s a network of designed and natural ecosystems linked together to perform critical functions cheaper and better than purely manmade systems could:

Green infrastructure includes park systems, urban forests, wildlife habitat and corridors, and green roofs and green walls. These infrastructure systems protect communities against flooding or excessive heat, or help to improve air and water quality, which underpin human and environmental health…

Here are just some of the many benefits that these systems provide all at once: green infrastructure absorbs and sequesters atmospheric carbon dioxide (C02); filters air and water pollutants; stabilizes soil to prevent or reduce erosion; provides wildlife habitat; decreases solar heat gain; lowers the public cost of stormwater management infrastructure and provides flood control; and reduces energy usage through passive heating and cooling. In contrast, grey infrastructure usually provides just a single benefit.

“All at once” and “single benefit” are key phrases. You have entities like wastewater authorities, transportation authorities, parks and wildlife agencies that are each trying to maximize the single benefit they have been tasked within the limited budget each has given. Each is trying to be efficient, but together they are inefficient, redundant, and even working at cross purposes. There is nothing responsible or ethical about sitting inside your bubble making “cost-effective” decisions that ignore everything happening outside your bubble.

This article drills down to a fantastic wealth of references that we should all take a year off and read.

(By the way, this article also contains some questionable numbers about at least one program I happen to be familiar with. But never mind, the concepts are right even if the numbers are questionable.)