The Urban Water Blueprint Extends Well Beyond the City

Rachel Dovey shares news of the Urban Water Blueprint project by the Nature Conservancy, which "maps dozens of city watersheds and makes a compelling argument for a greener approach to engineering the flow to our tap." According to Dovey, the project makes a case that "[instead] of relying on costly capital projects to filter sediments and pollution, urban officials should invest in the 'natural infrastructure' of riverbanks, forests and farmlands that affect the quality and quantity of their water before it even reaches city boundaries."

To showcase the breadth and depth of the project, Dovey shares five examples of cities that "utilize their watershed’s natural infrastructure to purify and conserve." Case studies shared by Dovey include New York, San Diego, Santa Fe, Cape Town (South Africa), and Manila (Philippines).