Detailed schedule is not established in the supplied canonical timeline. Timing shown is v1 editorial sequencing, subject to the source gates.
Departmental engineering authority: the alternatives requirement is an executive design standard applied to city flood projects, with Council and regulatory dependencies where projects need permits or appropriations.
The problem
For years the default answer to flooding was bigger concrete: wider channels, taller walls. Sometimes that's right — but residents also watch natural buffers get paved over and wonder why the water has nowhere to go. Green-gray alternatives deserve a fair hearing on every project, not a polite nod after the concrete is ordered.
The plan
Require that every city flood project evaluate green-gray alternatives — wetlands, bioswales, permeable surfaces, restored floodplains alongside traditional gray infrastructure — on cost, performance, and co-benefits before a design is chosen.
Publish the alternatives analysis for each project so residents can see why the chosen design won and what the green option would have delivered.
How you’ll know it’s working
- Green-gray alternatives analysis published for each flood project
- Share of projects incorporating green components
- Cost and performance comparison of green vs. gray options
- Co-benefits tracked: heat reduction, habitat, neighborhood amenity
Sources and research conditions
S04
SOURCE-SUPPORTED
Detailed schedule is not established in the supplied canonical timeline. Timing shown is v1 editorial sequencing, subject to the source gates.