February 8, 2018 – From a rain garden and permeable sidewalk inserts in Etna, to numerous green infrastructure projects in the city of Pittsburgh, ALCOSAN’s Green Revitalization of Our Waterways (GROW) program has assisted our partner municipalities and authorities with green-first solutions to managing wet weather overflows. And because of these efforts, the GROW Program has been selected to receive a 2018 National Environmental Achievement Award by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA). ALCOSAN will be recognized this Wednesday, February 7, during NACWA’s Winter Conference in Napa, California.

The GROW program, which began in 2016, offers reimbursement grants to ALCOSAN’s 83 partner municipalities and authorities for projects that reduce the amount of excess groundwater and stormwater that enters the sewer collection system and ultimately leads to the problem of illegal overflows during wet weather events. Annually, approximately 9 billion gallons of mixed stormwater, groundwater and sewage enter the region’s rivers and streams during wet weather. ALCOSAN is under a federal consent decree to reduce these overflows throughout its system.

"I'm very proud of the work done by our staff to create and implement the GROW program," said ALCOSAN Board of Directors member Brenda Smith. "I share their excitement at being recognized on the national level for this effort."

Since inception, the GROW Program has undergone two funding cycles, providing $18 million in grants for 59 projects that will annually remove nearly 109 million gallons of stormwater and groundwater from the ALCOSAN system. A total of 43 municipalities and 14 city of Pittsburgh neighborhoods have taken part in the GROW program. Cycle III of the GROW program will begin later this year.

Editor’s note:  Attached photo credit: Courtesy of NACWA.  Photo IDs (L-R): Edward Henifin, Chair, NACWA Awards Committee and General Manager of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District; Jeanne Clark, ALCOSAN’s Director of Communications; and, David St. Pierre, NACWA President.

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