Looking beyond Ecological Functions to the Value of Ecosystem Services in the Urban Regions around Houston

Transcription

1 Looking beyond Ecological Functions to the Value of Ecosystem Services in the Urban Regions around Houston Incorporating ecosystem services into infrastructure and policy decisions in the Greater Houston Region A case study analysis and recommendations for future growth 1 1 By Deborah January-Bevers, Lauren Harper (Houston Wilderness) and Courtney Hale, Taylor Britt, Patrick Clegg and Lindsey Roche (Rice University graduate students) July 2014 April

2 Table of Contents I. Introduction... 3 II. Understanding Ecosystem Services in Policy Contexts... 3 III. Ecological Services and Urbanization.5 A. Green Infrastructure.5 B. National Example of Ecosystem Services Valuation...7 IV. Ecosystem Services Infrastructure Successes... 7 A. National Examples of Green Infrastructure... 7 B. Local Green Infrastructure Examples... 9 V. Current Ecosystem Services in the Greater Houston Area A. Wetlands and Estuaries B. Regional and Riparian Forests C. Upland and Coastal Prairies VI. Key Opportunities for Ecosystem Service Integration in Houston A. Prairies B. Bayous and Riparian Systems C. Coastal Wetlands and Oyster Reefs D. Urban Forests VII. Benefits of Ecosystem Services and Policy Integration A. Current Ecosystem Services Benefiting Health & Wellness.20 B. 8 County Regional Conservation Plan Targeting Ecosystem Service..21 VIII. Conclusion: Moving Forward with Policy and Ecosystem Services References Appendix I: Regulatory Program Details Appendix II: Recent Developments for Green & Gray Infrastructure

3 I. Introduction Ecosystem Services are the benefits that humans derive from nature. Natural landscapes and organisms serve our wellbeing in a great variety of ways: water purification, flood protection, recreation, recharging of aquifers, protection from damage by hurricanes and tropical storms, pollution reduction, carbon sequestration, and more. The Greater Houston Region benefits enormously from all of these services, which are provided by the immense ecological diversity of the seven land-based and three water-based ecoregions comprising the Houston area. However, the ecosystems providing these valuable services are coming under increasing pressure as the city continues to expand and our communities use and enjoy these benefits. The imminent threat to our ecosystem services demands forward thinking policy measures be taken to ensure the true value of natural areas and the benefits they provide are recognized and protected as our region grows. II. Understanding Ecosystem Services in Policy Contexts Ecosystems, such as the riparian and prairie habitats in Houston, naturally carry out certain functions (See Table 1 below). These functions lead to benefits to humans, wildlife, and surrounding habitat. These human benefits include enhanced air and water quality, water retention, flood control, and the slowing of erosion. These benefits are known as ecosystem services. We can compute a dollar value for these ecosystem services. The dollar value will reflect what the ecosystem service is worth and the benefits humans gain from a naturally functioning ecosystem. Table 1. Ecosystem services provided by watersheds (Costanza et al. 1997). 3

4 Implementing policy to protect ecosystem services is of crucial importance because the economic market often does not capture the value of these services. Without knowing the true value of ecosystem services, a landowner will almost certainly not take into consideration the free benefits conserved natural land provides to the surrounding area. For example, a landowner to the west of Houston might find the market best rewards developing the land for residential or commercial use. However, this decision could have impacts on the ecosystem services provided by the area; namely, the service provided by native prairie grasses of absorbing rainfall and recharging groundwater to reduce the severity of flooding and polluted runoff downstream. Downstream residents might find encouraging or incentivizing a landowner to preserve land and maintain the ecosystem services it provides through policy intervention or market values is ultimately preferable to the consequences of losing the flood protection ecosystem service provided by the natural prairie. Although not directly referred to as ecosystem services policy, many approaches have been taken by the federal government to directly or indirectly protect ecosystem services, with varying levels of success. A recent discussion paper entitled Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services, and Land Use: Comparing Three Federal Policies, published by Resources for the Future, compared three federal programs that protect ecosystem services on private lands. It found the voluntary payment and subsidy scheme of the Conservation Reserve Program was the most effective, while the mandatory policies of the Endangered Species Act have often had negative side effects that tend to outweigh the benefits. Mitigation Banking is also analyzed as a successful market-based approach to ecosystem services valuation and conservation. Details of these three programs are in Appendix I. 4

5 The important takeaways from this analysis are 1) enticing landowners to cooperate in protecting ecosystem services rather than penalizing them is a key to success, as landowners will always have some level of local knowledge and volition which central policymakers cannot hope to compile or control and, somewhat paradoxically, 2) realizing the full efficiency of market solutions like mitigation banking is contingent on finding a persistent and cost-effective way to ensure high value conservation and ecosystem services are truly being delivered. Yet, most current policy existing today having any regard toward ecosystem services is formed around a regulatory catalyst. An example of this is seen in mitigation banking where the entire framework for the program is formed around Section 404 of the Clean Water Act that mandates all wetland destruction be mitigated through conservation or enhancement of other wetland areas. Without this regulatory mandate, the market for mitigation banking would not exist. The key to incorporating ecosystem services into current policy and markets so they become more valued has historically always been finding some type of regulatory mandate or need for credits that can be used as a catalyst to form programs and policy. But the study in Appendix I indicates that successful opportunities do and can exist for policy development around voluntary actions as a catalyst for improving/preserving ecosystem services, particularly when the value of these services are shown to make economic sense. III. Ecological Services and Urbanization A. Green Infrastructure Identifying and understanding the services provided by ecosystems has led to impressive success in using ecosystem services to solve infrastructural issues, often at a lower cost than traditional solutions. In fact, the outcome is often even better than these cost saving assessments reflect: solving a problem using ecosystem services by preserving or restoring an entire, or even partial, ecosystem can produce a whole host of ecosystem services in addition to the single service needed to accomplish the function of the infrastructure. Infrastructure that relies on ecosystem services to complete a function is referred to as green infrastructure. Alternatively, infrastructure that relies on synthetic, mechanical processes is known as gray infrastructure. There are many emerging examples of agencies and industry that have implemented green infrastructure with great success in solving environmental and regulatory related issues. The progress towards developing green infrastructure rather than gray infrastructure is a positive step towards creating environmentally conscious and ecosystem service oriented communities across the nation. A matrix showing various green infrastructure methods and their benefits can be seen below in Table 2. 5

6 Table 2. Matrix of Green Infrastructure Benefits (from American Rivers & Clean Neighborhood Technology, 2010). Due to changes in workplace culture and affordability of technology, people are able to live even farther from the urban center. With these shifts in work practices, more roads are built in rural areas, leading to more housing and shopping developments, churches and schools at a cost of losing some of our agricultural heritage. As we grow, we are recognizing that our threatened landscapes are worthy of our stewardship and protection. Today, urban areas and their associated activities are important components of the ecosystem. We can no longer think of cities and development as separate from the surrounding resources; we can no longer ignore the impact of urbanization on remaining ecological capital. The challenge for the region now is to adapt these new paradigms of growth to our political, economic and social culture and to adopt conservation strategies that ensure quality of life and preservation of ecological capital. An important new area of endeavor called ecological economics works to derive dollar values for natural resources and the ecosystem services they provide. This emerging science uses sophisticated economic valuation techniques to develop such monetary estimates. Ecological economists anticipate that their estimates of the very substantial value provided by natural resources and ecological services will help planners, developers, elected officials and environmental advocates make choices that lead to more effective stewardship and sustainable use of unique and irreplaceable natural resources. 6

7 B. National Example of Ecosystem Services Valuation The Middle Cedar River watershed in Iowa provides many ecosystem services to that region. A study was conducted by Earth Economics that calculated the value of ecosystem services for the Middle Cedar River watershed. The watershed has been developed, altered, and converted to agriculture by humans but was previously dominated by tall grass prairies and wetlands. Both prairies and wetlands provide highly valued ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, improved water quality, and flood control. With the destruction of the natural landscapes comes a loss of ecosystem services. In 2008, the Middle Cedar River watershed suffered a major flooding event. The Earth Economics team studied this example and quantified all of the damages from the flood such as social, agricultural, water and power utility, transportation, and private property costs. From this, they were able to see the cost that a lack of ecosystem services can cause. Further, they calculated a value for specific land cover classes and the ecosystem services they provide. Eleven land cover classes were decided upon including various forest types, wetlands, and grasslands, and then the acreage was found for each land cover class. For each land cover class, a dollar value was found in $/acre/year that represented the value from the ecosystem services provided by that land cover class. This value was found through research in primary studies that have valued each ecosystem service (all of these studies were shown in their appendix). The dollar value per acre per year was then multiplied by the total acres for the land cover class to reach a dollar value per year of services provided. Their calculations showed the total value of ecosystem services in the Middle Cedar River watershed to range from $548 million to $1.9 billion per year. A similar method could be used to value the ecosystem services provided in the Greater Houston region. IV. Ecosystem Services Infrastructure Successes A. National Examples of Green Infrastructure 1. The experience of the Clean Water Service in Hillsboro, Oregon is enlightening. To meet an EPA requirement to lower water temperatures in the Tualatin River Basin, the Clean Water Service would have had to spend as much as $150 million on refrigeration units to solve the problem using gray infrastructure. Instead, they took an innovative green approach and saved ratepayers over 90% of the cost of the project by investing in working with local landowners to restore riparian vegetation along 35 miles of streams in the river basin. They accomplished this by creating a thermal load-trading program that incentivized riparian landowners to engage in restoration of native ecosystems and removal 7

8 of invasive species. The riparian portion of the watershed trading program totaled only $4.3 million for both the urban and rural areas. Not only did this solve the problem much more cost-effectively, it also provided many other ecosystem services in addition to temperature regulation such as reduced erosion, improved wildlife habitat, produced superior water quality, and created a carbon sequestration system from the restored vegetation. 2. Another successful example of investing in natural capital for incredible economic savings is undoubtedly in New York City, which was faced with the prospect of spending around $6 billion to construct a water treatment facility when development in the Catskill-Delaware watershed threatened the integrity of the city s historically pristine water supply. Fortunately, the Director of New York City s Water and Sewer System and Commissioner of The New York City Department of Environmental Protection opted to invest in conserving land and reducing agricultural pollutant runoff at the cost of $1.5 billion for 108,000 acres of land (purchased in fee or by conservation easement). The city also agreed to allow farmers to come up with their own plan to reduce polluted runoff, which would be subsidized by the agency. This program became the Whole Farm plan and included a farmer-selected council to contract local support services and cooperation with local academic and research institution to run monitoring and research initiatives. The program created custom pollution control design measures to be implemented by each fully participative farmer. These best management practices (BMPs) and structural designs included steps to reduce soil erosion, nutrient and pesticide loaded runoff, and bacteria and pathogens contamination originating from livestock waste. BMPs for the Whole Farm program include planting riparian buffers, properly storing manure, pesticides and fertilizers, planting crops in contour strips, placing livestock exclusion fencing near streams, concentrating animal trails, and dispersing fertilizers and manures at appropriate intervals and concentrations. The measures could also be fully integrative with the farmer s current business plan and management practices, designed to mutually improve the quality of runoff water and the farm s general practice. Adoption of the farmer s plan was voluntary, but the agreement included a caveat that at least 85% of watershed had to enter the program or the city would revert to the proposed regulation scheme. Ultimately 93% of farmers opted to participate in the program, which exempted them from traditional water regulations and allowed them to support their farming practices through environmental stewardship. By using the ecosystem services supplied by natural vegetation to reduce pollution and improve the water quality of runoff, the city s water supply was protected and New York City s taxpayers saved billions in avoiding the cost of constructing a water treatment facility. 8

9 In these examples, both market-based and subsidy/land stewardship-based strategies proved highly effective in restoring and preserving ecosystem services to the enormous benefit of the taxpayer and the environment. New York City s example demonstrates the key importance of stakeholder engagement in protecting ecosystem services and voluntary cooperation with incentives is proven to be more effective than aggressive regulatory framework. B. Local Green Infrastructure Examples 1. Another example of a far reaching project utilizing ecosystem services in the Houston Area is Brays Bayou Flood Damage Reduction Project, or Project Brays. This project, cooperatively funded by Harris County Flood Control District and the US Army Corps of Engineers, with assistance from Texas A&M Sea Grant for the Mason Park wetland project, consists of combined flood control efforts and local initiatives to produce over 70 individual projects along and surrounding Brays Bayou. Sub-projects that have been especially successful with their use of ecosystem services are the Arthur Storey Park Stormwater Detention Basin and the Brays Bayou Marsh at Mason Park. Both of these projects, which have recently reached completion, utilize marsh and wetland areas within the detention basins to remove pollutants from the storm runoff and redirected bayou water and then return the drastically improved quality water back into the freshwater bayou system. These three innovative basin plans along Brays Bayou contribute the overall vision of creating a significant flood damage reduction initiative while also utilizing natural areas and their ecosystem services Project Brays is the largest flood control and water quality initiative to have been managed by the Harris County Flood Control District. 9

10 2. A jurisdictionally smaller local success story of implementing green infrastructure to utilize ecosystem services for the benefit of industry occurred with Dow Chemical Company along the Gulf Coast. Dow has partnered with the Nature Conservancy to solve an issue in their Seadrift plastics manufacturing plant located in North Seadrift, TX, located south east of Houston on San Antonio Bay. The manufacturing facility was having issues with their wastewater treatment system consisting of several anaerobic and aerobic biological treatment ponds. The treatment ponds began to have outbreaks of floating algae blooms as a result of long detention times and low organic loads. The algal blooms caused the facility to exceed their discharge permit criteria for total suspended solids and required extensive ph correction by maintenance personnel. Rather than build a $40 million treatment facility needed to meet their discharge criteria, Dow and The Nature Conservancy opted to construct a natural wetland in place of the detention pond, only costing them $1.4 million. The wetland treatment system has been completely functional and successful in reducing total suspended solids and controlling the ph levels of the manufacturing effluent for the past 15 years. Not only does this green alternative save the company money in construction, operations, maintenance, and energy costs, but the wetland provided many other services to the area than just what was needed by the manufacturing facility. The constructed wetland has a positive impact on the local bay ecosystem by providing habitat for wildlife and creates an aesthetic quality Dow employees and the surrounding community. In addition, the wetland system cleanses the effluent so effectively that there is potential to recycle the effluent back into the manufacturing process to attain zero discharge in the near future, further conserving both water and energy resources. Recent developments for green and gray infrastructure criteria programs can be found in Appendix II. V. Current Ecosystem Services in the Greater Houston Area The Greater Houston region, which encompasses a huge and diverse assemblage of forests, prairies, bottomlands, wetlands and bays, receives a tremendous amount of benefits from the natural world in the form of ecosystem services. Although our region has traditionally lagged behind the Northeast in studying ecosystem services, efforts by organizations like the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies and the Houston Advanced Research Center, as well as our local universities, have rapidly advanced our local understanding of ecosystem services. Harte s GECOSERV, created in partnership with Texas A&M Corpus Christi, is an impressive database of ecosystem service studies pertaining to Gulf ecosystems. Houston Wilderness has made its own effort to incorporate ecosystem service information available and easily digestible with 10

11 its Ecosystem Service Resource Chart available at houstonwilderness.org/ecosystemservices. A. Wetlands and Estuaries Wetlands are extremely valuable natural habitats that provide a huge range of ecosystem services, yet they have been subject to some of the most widespread destruction because of the lack of understanding of their environmental and economic value. Coastal wetlands provide: protection against hurricanes by absorbing storm surges and buffering winds arising from hurricanes and tropical storms formed in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico before they can reach residential and industrial areas along the coast improve water quality by removing nitrogen and other contaminants from surface waters and runoff and recharging groundwater with fresh filtered water ability to act as carbon sequestration sinks while maintaining low levels of methane emission make wetlands a valuable resource for the management of climate change and the control of greenhouse gasses habitat for migratory birds, coastal birds, and many amphibian and plant species stabilize sediment to contribute to soil conservation greatly contribute as a source of a large biodiversity of native microbial species that act as a defense to invasive agricultural pathogen and pest species Coastal estuaries provide valuable sanctuaries for juvenile fish and shrimp, greatly contributing to the Gulf of Mexico s valuable fishery industries. Without these wetland estuaries, these fishery industries would fail, creating economic hardship for coastal communities and people who depend on fishing and shrimp harvesting as a primary food source. Similarly to estuaries, oyster reefs located in the bays help to stabilize sediments, create habitat for fishery species, and improve water quality by filtering out suspended solids, nutrients, and some contamination. Texas Gulf Coast oyster reefs also provide another mechanism of storm surge protection by attenuating harmful waves in the bay before they can reach and damage coastal infrastructure. Wetlands and estuaries are likely the most environmentally and economically valuable ecosystem in our region, but they are also the most fragile and threatened. 11

12 B. Regional and Riparian Forests The forested regions covering the Greater Houston Area range from the pine forests in the northeast, the clusters of trees that dapple the prairies, the hardwoods found along the extensive bayou system and the bottomland forests in the south, and are a defining feature of this area. Even urban and residential trees along roadways and in yards are a recognizable asset to the more densely populated areas of the region. A forest s ecosystem services include many valuable functions such as pollution removal, improved air quality, carbon sequestration, and energy savings. The regional forests of the Houston Area help to improve air quality by reducing the ambient air temperatures in the breathing zone and directly removing pollutants from the air. A study funded by the USDA Forest Service estimates Houston s regional forest removes 60,575 tons of criteria air pollutants per year, an annual value of roughly $300 million. Trees also reduce a buildings energy use and therefore, more indirectly, reduce the amount of pollutants created from power plants. Through photosynthesis, trees can moderate the amount of carbon dioxide in the air by transforming it to breathable oxygen. The carbon sequestration ability of the trees in the Greater Houston Area was valued by one study to be roughly 1.6 million tons of carbon annually, a value of $29 million. Trees can reduce the energy use in homes and commercial buildings by providing shade and evaporative cooling effect form leaves in the hot months and by blocking wind and providing insulation around buildings in the cold months. The estimated total value of energy savings and avoided carbon emissions for residential homes resulting from ecosystem services provided by trees in the Houston region is $131 million annually, with the largest amount of energy saving stemming from reduced cooling costs in the summer months. Houston s regional forest is under constant threat from domestic and invasive pest species and invasive tree species that alter ecosystems by out-competing native species. Urban development is also a growing and continuing threat to Houston s regional forest system and the valuable services it provides. C. Upland and Coastal Prairies The Texas tall grass prairie was formerly an extensive array of prairie grasslands covering about 20 million acres across the gulf area, out of which only 1% remains today due to urban sprawl and agricultural development. The ecosystem services provided by a prairie are numerous and valuable. Native prairie grasslands protect our watersheds by increasing water infiltration and recharge into aquifers below, reducing erosion and reservoir sedimentation, and improving the water quality of runoff by limiting the need for and absorbing agricultural products such as fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. The infiltration of water into the soils of a prairie ecosystem reduces runoff into residential areas thereby decreasing the risk and severity of flooding events. Texas tall grass prairies, such as the Katy Prairie near Houston, TX, are home to abundant native grass species, perennial prairie flowers, pollinator species such as 12

13 bees and other insects, and threatened grassland bird species; all of which contribute significantly to the regions aesthetic beauty and biodiversity. Similar to forests and wetlands, prairies also contribute to carbon sequestration because of the diversity of plant species and fertile soil found in the ecosystem. Additionally, prairies contribute value to our area with their ability to act as a continuous seed bank for native plant and grass species that can be used in restoration and conservation activities. Incorporating perennial prairie plants in buffer zones around agricultural fields has been shown to improve the sustainability of crop production by contributing to hydrologic regulation and increasing resilience to climate change and severe weather events. These perennial prairie buffers reduce runoff from fields that contribute to nutrient pollution in freshwater systems and reduce soil erosion. Overall, the water infiltration capabilities and water quality improvements provided by the prairie, combined with the biodiversity of plant species and grassland bird habitat make this ecosystem a very valuable resource of ecosystem service for the Houston Region. VI. Key Opportunities for Ecosystem Service Integration in Houston A. Prairies Because the Houston region is located so close to sea level, contains a high volume of impervious cover within the major city area, and located within several large river basins, flooding in the area is a great concern. Controlling and reducing flood water impacts is a present issue for many city planning agencies, and the concern will only grow with further development of natural areas. Fortunately, many ecosystems offer valuable flood control measures within their natural service packages that we can utilize and benefit from, if planning is done accordingly. The Addick s and Barker reservoirs were constructed in adjacent watersheds west of Houston in the 1940 s in response to severe flooding the city experienced in 1929 and Natural prairies in the area, such as the Katy Prairie, currently play an important part in protecting against floods and feeding these reservoirs with quality fresh water by absorbing rainwater and filtering runoff. The root systems of these grasses and perennial plants can extend as far as fifteen feet into the soil. Traditional sod only penetrates a fraction of a foot, meaning it has much less capacity to absorb water. Converting land cover from natural prairie grasses to sod and concrete as a result of the 13

14 influx of residential neighborhoods and urbanization of the area will mean a dramatic loss of the ecosystem service the prairie grasses provide in the form of floodwater absorption. The dramatic increase in population anticipated in the area over the next few decades thus risks exacerbating peak flooding events, which could overwhelm existing infrastructure and cause devastating damage downstream into the city of Houston and outlying suburbs. A current study by Katy Prairie Conservancy is analyzing the benefits of using natural prairie turf in residential yards with anticipation the study will jump-start a program to incentivize converting sod yards to native grass species. The study is analyzing the benefits of native grass such as less frequent mowing requirements, lower watering necessities and increased drought tolerance of residential yards. Harris County Flood Control District has recognized the importance of the ecosystem service provided by prairie grasses. Conservation areas have been proposed as part of a possible green infrastructural solution alongside more traditional solutions like channels, berms, and overflow conveyance areas. A study currently in its preliminary result stage has been done by Harris County Flood Control District and the Katy Prairie Conservancy will compare measurements of the absorption of water by prairie grasses, open space areas, and developed areas to discretely measure the ecosystem service provided by the prairie grasses and get a clearer picture of their potential role in flood reduction. Studies such as this one emphasize the great importance of more ecosystem services studies in our region; without discrete knowledge of the benefits of these ecosystems, policymakers are unlikely to recognize their immense value. B. Bayous and Riparian Systems A defining aspect of the city of Houston and the extended Houston Region is the great volume and natural beauty of the city s bayou system. Bayous play an integral role in the flood protection for the city and are a prime example of ways the ecosystem services can benefit everyone. The Harris County Flood Control District utilizes many techniques to improve the quality and function of the city s bayous. Natural, non structural, approaches to bayou improvement for the purpose of flood control can be more effective and provide more aesthetic and environmental benefits than structural alterations. Enhancing park land around bayous such as in the Buffalo Bayou Park Project, provide recreational opportunities, increased area of green flood plain zone, and prevent development of impervious surfaces that negatively affect flow levels during flood events. Using cellular concrete maps as the channel bottom instead of impervious concrete improves infiltration capabilities of the bayou and reduces flood event peak flow levels. Keeping bayous in and around Houston naturalized with native vegetation can slow water down and improve water quality. There are numerous ways in which the city has control over ecosystem services use as a means of flood control with bayou systems. Houston s bayou system provides a great platform for the 14

15 continued integration and promotion of ecosystem services value into the city s civil infrastructure and community planning objectives. Houston relies primarily on surface water as the city s potable water supply due to subsidence issues caused by groundwater use decades ago. Because of Houston s dependence on these fresh surface water sources, declining water quality along Cypress Creek that threatens the quality of the water from reservoirs such as Lake Houston is a big issue. The decline in water quality along Cypress Creek and other smaller creeks and bayous around Houston stems from increased development of the watersheds that feed runoff into them. A study by USGS stated in a report prepared with the City of Houston that development of these watersheds, particularly Cypress Creek, increased pesticide levels, nitrogen and other nutrient loads, bacteria and pathogen levels, and suspended solids in the surface water channels and Lake Houston because of reduced filtration by native grasses and trees, increases in the use of commercial pesticides in developed areas, decreased time of runoff to allow the settling out of suspended solids and heavy metals, and increased turbidity of the water running off newly created concrete and asphalt roads and storm drains. Sustainable development and green infrastructure across the watershed, preservation or creation of native grass lands, and restoration of nature channel conditions by increasing vegetation and native plants along the creek would all help to increase the water quality of Cypress Creek and therefore reduce the level of contamination and pollution going into Lake Houston. These improvements to the watershed would create other benefits and services such as improved air quality, improved flood control, improved aesthetic beauty and quality of life along the creek, and create new wildlife habitat. There are other areas of the Houston Region where water quality is currently being addressed such as the western prairie region previously mentioned, but the Lake Houston water quality problem is an emerging issue that has yet to be, and needs to be, addressed in the immediate future. Policy with ecosystem service integration provides a great opportunity for the city to address these issues and protect one of its major water supplies. C. Coastal Wetlands and Oyster Reefs One of the most looming problems the Greater Houston Region is experiencing currently is the increased threat of hurricane and severe tropical storm damages along the coast due to loss of wetlands, estuaries, and oyster reefs in the bays. The loss of these pivotal ecosystems and their protective services would mean hurricanes and 15

16 storms would become more damaging than before, further depleting the ecosystems we do have left- a viscous downward spiral. The current effort to preserve undeveloped coastal wetlands and their vital hurricane protection capability is being spearheaded by Rice University s Severe Storm Protection, Education and Evacuation of Disasters (SSPEED) research center. This effort involves two ambitious interlocking projects: the Lone Star Coastal National Recreation Area and the Texas Coastal Exchange. There are also several initiatives to restore oyster reef habitat in the bays being funded by oil spill restoration funds, yet a more comprehensive and policy approach is necessary to save these vital resources. In response to Hurricane Ike, an idea for a nature-based tourism economy along the Texas coast was envisioned primarily due to the realization of the value open lands along the coast had to prevent storm surge damage. It was apparent the vast amounts of undeveloped open land along the upper Texas coast prevented much of the storm surge from Ike from reaching residential areas by allowing the water to inundate the undeveloped soils and then drain off in manageable amounts. The Texas Coastal Exchange (TxCE) is an online platform through which tran-sactions occur that transfer the benefit of individual conservation and restoration projects on private land to buyers. Payments can be tailored to specific goals potentially including non-structural flood mitigation, conservation of landscapes, or recreational development of land for ecotourism. The TxCE would create a market for willing buyers to purchase credits of specific conservation and restoration actions rather than the land itself- as most landowners are not looking to give up actual land area. The buying and selling of these credits gives a market-based value to the ecosystem services that landowners maintain currently for free, simple because they are not valued in the marketplace, not because they are not valuable. By assigning these services tangible values, incentive for conservation and enhancement of these ecosystems is created. Potential buyers for these credits stem from many areas including, but not limited to, corporate sustainability objectives, federal agencies with flood management responsibilities, federal or state permit holders requiring compliance or mitigation offsets, or philanthropic organizations interested in the protection and preservation of these valuable coastal lands. The concept of the TxCE was designed to be compatible 16

17 with, yet independent from, the LSCNRA. 2 This means that although conceptually designed to work off, and in conjunction with, the LSCNRA and its members, the TxCE is a viable concept that should be formed regardless of the creation of the LSCNRA. Another ecosystem that provides the service of hurricane protection is within the bay itself, particularly the valuable oyster reefs. Along with their economic benefit as a commercially harvestable consumer good, oysters in the gulf region bay system provide services such as water purification due to their biofiltering capabilities, diversification of the bay ecosystem leading to increased fishery species, sediment stabilization and carbon sequestration, and most importantly for our coastal region, attenuation of waves caused by hurricanes and severe storms to protect the valuable estuaries, wetlands and coastal infrastructure along the water s edge. Oyster reefs have been significantly destructed in Galveston Bay, decreasing by 40% since 2000, which has led to a significant weakening of one of the region s most important hurricane defenses. Not only is the consumer market of oyster harvesting suffering from this loss of productivity, but we are putting ourselves at great risk if another severe storm or hurricane enters the Gulf before we can rebuild these reefs. A recent project in Galveston County has contributed to this cause by creating several artificial oyster reefs to act as nurseries over the next years. The oysters placed on these artificial reefs will hopefully grow and provide larvae to surrounding depleted reefs, contributing to the overall goal of restoring and improving the structure of oyster reefs in Galveston Bay. Although this is a great example of ways the Houston Region is using oil spill restoration funds to improve ecosystem services for our region, still significant policy measures need to be taken to protect and restore the oyster reefs along the Gulf Coast region before another storm or hurricane threatens the Texas coast. D. Urban Forests The Houston Region s urban forest is composed of both well established forest systems on the exterior of the city and residential neighborhood and park tree systems. As discussed before, the Houston s regional forest aids the city s residents in many ways including air quality, energy savings, aesthetic beauty, and providing recreation and green spaces. There are several areas in which Houston has led the policy front in favor of maintaining and improving our regional forest. 2 LSCNRA - The proposed Lone Star Coastal National Recreation Area (LSCNRA) is comprised of low-lying land in a four county area southeast of Houston. If approved by Congress as a national recreation area unit, the LSCNRA would establish a landscape-scale example of nature-based recreational opportunities, promote better organization and use of the existing public lands in the area as well as promote a partnership of private landowners working collaboratively towards a common goal of land preservation and enhancement. 17

18 The City of Houston is currently a designated Tree City USA. This designation is served to cities across the country that meet certain standards regarding forestry services, recognition of forest benefits and tree planting and protection ordinances. As contained in chapter 33 of the City of Houston Code of Ordinances, the Tree Protection Ordinance sets requirements for certain numbers of trees to remain or be planted on properties and area of renovation or construction. The ordinance also provides incentives for homeowners who preserve and care for trees on their property. Several studies have shown mature trees provide shade and block winds around home, reducing energy costs for cooling and heating. When wellmaintained within yards, mature trees can increase property values as much as 20%. The Texas Gulf coast is recognized world-wide as a vital area for Neotropical bird migration. As these migratory song-birds migrate from their wintering grounds in Mexico or Central/South America up to their breeding areas in North America over the spring and summer months. The Gulf coast currently exists as a drop-off zone for hundreds of Neotropical species that use the area to feed and rest during their long migration journey. Because the Houston-Galveston Region gulf coast is such an integral habitat for these migratory birds, coastal woodlots along the gulf are vital assets to the migrating populations. The annual migration brings birders from all over the world to witness birds in this unique habitat feeding and resting in very high densities. This attraction to our region has been estimated to generate over $300 million dollars locally each year. Areas such as High Island are vital ecosystems to these birds because they combine high elevation woody tree species and proximity to the coast- a very unique and rare grouping. In times of turbulent gulf winds and fronts, thousands of extremely tired birds are forced to seek shelter as soon as they reach the coast after traveling across the entire Gulf of Mexico, making the Houston regions coastal areas very pivotal to their survival. Coastal woodlot preservation and planting increases the habitat and food resources for these migratory birds which in turn increases the eco-tourism benefits of the area by attracting recreational birders to the Houston-Galveston Gulf Coast. 18

19 VII. Benefits of Ecosystem Services and Policy Integration Through policy intervention and green infrastructure, the city of Houston and the Greater Houston Region can: Improve the aesthetic and natural capital of the city Improve the economy by saving taxpayer s money while solving important issues Retain more long-term businesses and residents in the region Attract more visitors and money to the region through ecotourism Create jobs through restoration and green infrastructure projects Improve the health of residents by improving air quality and encouraging activity through outdoor recreation Reduce the risk of damage caused by flooding and natural disasters- lowering insurance rates, improving safety of residents and reducing damage costs to the city Increasing the amount of natural and green areas in and around the city can have greatly positive effects on the aesthetic perception of the region. As the fourth largest city in America, the Houston Area has a reputation with some people across the nation as being a concrete metropolis, wrapped in gray infrastructure. Skyscrapers and architecture are attractive to some people, but diversifying the landscape through restoration and utilization of forests, prairies, wetlands, and pristine coastline will attract a greater diversity of nature-seeking residents. As shown in several examples earlier, using green infrastructure to solve issues such as water quality or flooding can save the city and taxpayers potentially millions of dollars while the region also gains a whole host of other benefits from utilizing ecosystem services. The retention of Houston residents and businesses will increase as the quality of life increases. Incorporation of more green spaces throughout the greater Houston area will reduce the urban heat island effect which is responsible for 7 C temperature increase in urban areas compared to rural environments, a study shows. Reducing the temperature of the city would have a large affect on the quality of life for our urban residents, especially because this region is already infamous for its heat and humidity. Increasing the quality of life for residents by providing more recreation opportunities, green spaces, and beautifying the city will encourage people and businesses to reside here long-term. The diversity of ecoregions in such close proximity around the greater Houston region gives this area such a unique asset with the economic benefits that ecotourism can provide. Outdoor recreation contributes $730 billion annually to the nation s economy and supports nearly 6.5 million jobs across the United States. Ecotourism can boost the economy of the region, but only if there are ecological and environmental assets to bring tourists HERE. Restoration and green projects around the 19

20 city provide jobs AND increase the natural assets and ecosystem services of the region. Data from NOAA shows restoration projects create an average of jobs per $1 million invested while oil and gas provides 5 per $1 million and road construction only provides 7 jobs per $1million invested. As discussed before, forests especially improve the air quality of the city by absorbing criteria pollutants and any green space or natural area provides diverse recreational opportunities that encourage physical activity. An analysis done in 2011 by the Environmental Health Research Foundation showed green spaces within urban environments provide substantial human health benefits in terms of recreation and increased physical activity leading to lower risk of obesity and healthcare reduction due to lower stress levels and improved air quality. Several examples were given above about the functions of prairies, wetlands, oyster reefs, and natural bayous and reservoirs to decrease inland flood waters and buffer storm energies on the coast. Reducing the risk of flooding in residential or industrial areas and the risk of damage by natural disasters along the coast can improve the perceived safety and comfort level of residents, decrease insurance costs within floodplains, and mitigate damage costs along hurricane-threatened areas. A. Current Ecosystem Services Benefiting Health & Wellness The American Public Health Association (APHA) adopted a policy in 2014 entitled Improving Health and Wellness through Access to Nature which states that ensuring access to green spaces in middle and low-income neighborhoods and for people of all abilities appears a promising approach to reducing health inequalities, increasing longevity, and improving health behaviors. In many cases people are not even aware that access to nature has been related to lower levels of mortality and illness, higher levels of outdoor physical activity, restoration from stress, a greater sense of well-being, and greater social capital. Human exposure to diverse natural habitats is also critical for development of normal human immune responses to allergens and other disease-causing factors. Natural elements that promote well-being include trees, diverse vegetation, local biodiversity, water-based features, parks, natural playscapes, and community and school gardens. The 8-county Greater Houston Region has some portion of all of these elements including a large network of bayous and creeks and riparian habitats that run through almost every neighborhood in the Greater Region. A local 2011 study by John Crompton at Texas A&M s noted that proximity to parks and trails has been consistently linked to increased physical activity and with the equitable distribution of trails provided by the Bayou Greenways project, it would be reasonable to conclude that there will be increased physical activity associated with proximity to the greenways. 20

21 B. 8 County Regional Conservation Plan Targeting Ecosystem Service The 8-county Gulf-Houston Regional Conservation Plan contains all the environmental and nature-based recreation projects currently underway or planned by numerous participating non-profits, governmental and business entities for enhancement and maintenance of all major ecosystems in this region (including the Bayou Greenways project) - which are contained in four Eco-Areas: Northern Forests, Bayou/Riparian Zones, Galveston Bay Margin System and the Columbia/Brazos Corridor (see RCP map below ). The integration of nature into towns and cities in the Greater Houston Region has secondary benefits that contribute to better health and more sustainable communities. The myriad of natural health and wellness benefits offered (also called ecosystem services) in these four Eco-Areas include: Improved and sustained human health Purification of air and water Water filtering, absorption and reduction of storm water runoff Improved the functioning of public and private water systems Carbon sequestration Pollination of crops Nutrient cycling Decomposition of wastes 21

22 Generation, stabilization and renewal of soils Reduction of extreme weather events Mitigation of droughts and floods Food production Recreation Cultural values Noise buffers Enhanced and sustained wildlife habitat Ecotourism birding, fishing, hunting, etc The participating non-profits, governmental and business entities on the Gulf-Houston Regional Conservation Plan Steering Committee are partnering with the Center for Houston s Future to work on ways to determine the amount and extent of the Region s natural elements that contribute these benefits to its millions of residents. The RCP Steering Committee is also reaching out to parks departments, planning and design departments, housing agencies, greening and garden organizations, cooperative extension services, school districts, and nature centers to prioritize access to natural areas, productive landscapes, and other green spaces for people of all ages, income levels, and abilities. Moreover, they are working with public health officials, physicians, nurse practitioners, and other health professionals to advise patients and the public at large about the benefits of green exercise, personal and community gardening, and nature-based play and recreation. With the continued degradation of the Greater Houston Region s ecosystems through a variety of human-led pressures, a better understanding of the extent of our region s dependence on ecosystem services, and the vulnerability of human welfare to ecosystem change, is essential for ensuring sustainable development. VIII. Conclusion: Moving Forward with Policy and Ecosystem Services As the Greater Houston Region continues to grow, natural landscapes in the city s vicinity will inevitably be transformed by development, creating serious consequences for the diverse ecosystems of the region and the benefits we derive from them. Houston is under-recognized as one of the most ecologically diverse major urban areas in the country, with 10 distinct ecoregions more than any other urban area in the country. Consider how dramatically different the environment is if you drive an hour in any direction from downtown: southeast to the coastal marshes and the Gulf of Mexico, north into the Piney Woods, west into the Prairie and Post Oak Savannah or southwest 22

23 into Columbia Bottomlands. All of these landscapes are continually put under pressure by our expanding metropolis, but a balance between them is possible. Keeping the importance of ecosystem services in mind when we make development decisions has the potential to help preserve the unique ecology of our region while also offering fiscally superior alternatives to traditional infrastructure projects. Extending the reach and knowledge of ecosystem service valuation in the Greater Houston Region will give citizens and policy makers the ability to make appropriate, mutually beneficial decisions regarding the region s most pressing economical and environmental issues. Because the ecoregions of the Greater Houston Area and their unique ecosystems are delicately connected and in balance with each other, policy makers have the rare opportunity to create overarching, environmentally conscious decisions that can positively reach far beyond their targeted area. Policy decisions aiding in the conservation or enhancement of one area or one single ecosystem service is likely to affect a greater than anticipated area and improve the value of other ecosystem services as well. At the same time, not taking action during this pivotal time in regional expansion to protect, preserve and promote our ecosystem services, even in one area, can have negative impacts far greater and far more reaching than can be foreseen. There are many areas around the Houston region, covering every ecoregion, that necessitate recognition for the value of services they provide. Without the natural ecosystem services provided by our diverse ecoregions, the Greater Houston Region would economically suffer in providing equivalent services to its residents and industries. Ecosystem services are a vital asset to our region and their sources require preservation and restoration if we want to continue to obtain the benefits of these ecosystems for future generations. The environmental community is working diligently to provide solutions to this challenge but the following actions are needed for these efforts to keep pace with our region s growth: (1) Provide more opportunities for regional recognition and support of the 10 unique ecoregions in the Greater Houston Region. The greater Houston area is under-recognized for its tremendous ecological diversity - from the coastal marshes and the Gulf of Mexico, to the Piney Woods, Prairies, Post Oak 23

24 Savannah and Columbia Bottomlands. Yet, these ecoregions constantly provide ecosystem services to every citizen and are continually put under pressure by our expanding metropolis. Recent environmental successes in prairie and coastal marsh restoration and protection have helped educate the public and policy-makers on some of the benefits of our ecosystem services. Continued recognition and support for all 10 ecoregions is vital for the preservation and promotion of these magnificent natural assets of our communities. (2) Engage in more region-based research on ecosystem services to better understand natural benefits and the cost-effective infrastructure solutions that this understanding will enable. With additional financial support, environmental stakeholders and regional research institutions can provide more studies on ecosystem services to better determine the extent of benefits provided by our 10 ecoregions. For example, a recent study of local coastal prairie wetlands showed, on average, these wetland depressions capture 98% of inorganic nitrogen and 92% of inorganic phosphorous in water that passes through them - reducing ecological dead zones along our waterways that would otherwise prevent fish and wildlife from thriving in those locations, tremendously harming the regions fishery industry. Without additional studies, valuable services such as these may be overlooked and under-valued, resulting in their destruction and leading to economic downfall of the region. (3) Compare the economic value of ecosystem services to other alternative approaches when making public policy decisions regarding land-use and infrastructure. The value of ecosystem services in monetary units is an estimate of their benefits to society expressed in units that communicate with a broad audience. Such valuation helps to raise awareness of the importance of ecosystem services to society and serves as a powerful and essential communication tool to better inform and provide more balanced decisions regarding trade-offs with policies that may enhance regional GDP or grey infrastructure but damage ecosystem services. In the Greater Houston Area, the local forests, prairies and wetlands clean our air, protect us from floods and storms, filter our wastewater, and provide numerous recreation opportunities like birding, hiking, paddling, hunting and fishing that improve our wellbeing and economic prosperity. The economic value of such ecosystem services needs to be considered when policy decisions regarding land-use or infrastructure are being made. More often than not, the ecosystem service approach will prove more beneficial and cost-effective than the alternative. (4) Incorporate ecosystem services into infrastructure decisions. 24

25 Policy decisions that include additional prairie land in flood protection plans and increase maintenance of coastal wetlands to mitigate the devastation caused by hurricanes are effectively placing a value on these natural benefits and harnessing the power of ecosystem services to our mutual benefit. Incorporating ecosystem services into infrastructure and problem-solving decisions is the best and most effective to fully utilize and benefit from these services. Our end goal is to understand what the economic values of our ecosystem services are and how they benefit our environment naturally in contrast to costly gray infrastructure. We emphasize that our projects are not seeking out the amount of pollutants there are in the Greater Houston Region, but the amounts of pollutants being removed from the environment through prairie grassland carbon sequestration, the riparian buffer and wetland matrix that aids water retention and water quality and the erosion control function provided by forested parcels. From these studies we will be able to articulate to the community, governmental leaders and others, with the assistants of decision making tools and benefit cost analysis, the economic value per acres of each type of ecosystem service. Without these studies in our region and their results, free and inexhaustible may continue to be the attitude decision makers in our region will have about the surrounding environment and ecosystem services. Knowing more about the value of our 10 ecoregions and the natural benefits they provide will guide us toward the best balance of environmental and economic growth as we continue to live, work and play in the Greater Houston Region. 25

26 References American Rivers & Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) The Value of Green Infrastructure A Guide to Recognizing Its Economic, Environmental and Social Benefits. CNT. Asbjornsen, H., Hernandez-Santana, V., Liebman, M. Z., Bayala, J., & Chen, J. Targeting perennial vegetation in agricultural landscapes for enhancing ecosystem services. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, Appleton, A. F. How New York City Used an Ecosystem Services Strategy Carried out Through an Urban-Rural Partnership to Preserve the Pristine Quality of Its Drinking Water and Save Billions of Dollars.Forest Trends - Tokyo. Retrieved May 9, 2014, from ices.pdf Blackburn, J. B. (2014). The Texas Coastal Exchange Concept Report. Houston, TX Costanza, R., de Groot R., Sutton, P., van der Ploeg, S., Anderson, S., Kubiszewski, I., Farber, S., Turner, R.K., Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Global Environmental Change, 26 (2014) Bloom, M. F., et al (2012). ENVISION: A Rating System for Sustainable Infrastructure. Washington, DC: Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. The Economic Benefit of Ecotourism. (n.d.). - FloridaJobs.org. Retrieved July 1, 2014, from Engle, V. D. Estimating the Provision of Ecosystem Services by Gulf of Mexico Coastal Wetlands. Wetlands, Eubanks, Ted L. "Show Me The Money!" ABA Blog. American Birding Association, 12 Nov Web. 15 Apr Grabowski, J. H., & Peterson, C. Restoring Oyster Reefs to Recover Ecosystem Services. Ecosystem Engineers, 15, Retrieved May 6, 2014, from Green Infrastructure Case Studies: Case Studies evaluated by participating companies for creation of the White Paper The Case for Green Infrastructure.. (2013, June 1).. Retrieved, from Heinze, J. (2011, April 25). Benefits of Green Space Recent Research.. Retrieved July 1, 2014, from 26

27 Hull, Larry. (2011, April). Watershed Ag Program & Your Future Part II: BMP Prioritization. Watershed Agricultural Council. Lecture conducted from Walton, NY. "Improving Health and Wellness through Access to Nature." Improving Health and Wellness through Access to Nature. American Public Health Association, 3 Nov Web. 13 Apr Kocian, M., Traughber, B., Batker, D Valuing Nature s Benefits: An Ecological Economic Assessment of Iowa s Middle Cedar Watershed. Earth Economics. Tacoma, WA. Cedar%20River_ESV_2012.pdf Mohammad, B. A., Dietrich, E., & Beaudoin, F. (n.d.). Ecosystem Services Case Study: Clean Water Services Tualatin River, Washington.. Retrieved May 5, 2014, from ces_casestudy.pdf Muench, S.T., Anderson, J.L., Hatfield, J.P., Koester, J.R., & Söderlund, M. et al. (2011). Greenroads Manual v1.5. (J.L. Anderson, C.D. Weiland, and S.T. Muench, Eds.). Seattle, WA: University of Washington. Muller, M. (n.d.). The New York City Watershed Whole Farm Program. The New York City Watershed Whole Farm Program. Retrieved May 9, 2014, from NOAA Habitat Conservation. Habitat Restoration Creates Jobs, Boosts Local Economies. (2012, August 23). NOAA Habitat Conservation Habitat Restoration Creates Jobs, Boosts Local Economies. Retrieved July 1, 2014, from Nowak, D. J. (2005, September 1). Houston's Regional Forest Report: A report on Structure, Functions, and Values.. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from Our "Tools". (2010, January 1). Harris County Flood Control District. Retrieved May 9, 2014, from Sneck-Fahrer, D.A., Milburn, M.S., East, J.W., and Oden, J.H., 2005, Water-quality assessment of Lake Houston near Houston, Texas, : U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report , 55 p. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from Spangler, J. (2014, January 1). Why Protect and Restore Prairie?.. Retrieved March 6, 2014, from airie/ 27

28 Walls, M., & Anne, R. Biodiversity Ecosystem Services and Land Use: Comparing Three Federal Polices.. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from 28

29 Appendix I: Regulatory Program Details Endangered Species Act Under the Endangered Species Act, the designation of land as critical habitat can incur costs on the landowner, including a decline in property value of land containing designated critical habitat and the expenditure to the landowner to preserve and maintain critical habitat to avoid fines. These costs to the landowners have led to preemptive efforts to destroy habitat or develop the land before it can be listed as critical habitat. Landowners are discouraged to participate in conservation efforts when a species whose habitat falls within the range of their land is listed as threatened or endangered due to the likelihood that biological research on their land would result in use restrictions. Conservation Reserve Program In the Conservation Reserve Program, an Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) allots points to farmers who voluntarily submit their land and is used to select which farmers receive payments. The values of these EBI payments are based off of the soil productivity and agricultural rents, i.e. the opportunity cost of conserving the land to the farmer. Farmers who are interested in the Conservation Reserve Program have been observed planting trees and creating wildlife habitat to increase their EBI before application into the program so their bids of conservation strategy are more likely to be accepted. Once in the program, landowners can receive up to 50% compensation from the program for costs incurred by implementing conservation practices on the enrolled land. Practices implemented for the program have additional benefits to the farmer in the form of ecosystem services that the landowner obtains value from as well. The Conservation Reserve Act has been attributed with providing major benefits to water quality and wildlife habitat, while alternatively, the private land regulation of the Endangered Species Act has not been found to be particularly effective. Mitigation Banking Wetlands Mitigation Banking promises the great benefits of targeted ecosystem service protection with market efficiencies. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act requires wetland loss to be mitigated through conservation activities if dredge and fill impacts to a wetland are unavoidable. These activities can be the restoration, establishment, enhancement, or the preservation of existing or newly created wetlands. The idea is that mitigation of lost wetland area and function will create a no net loss of wetland services. Mitigation banks receive credits from the federal government when wetlands are improved or created, at varying values, and then can hold and sell these credits to CWA 404 permit holders when they are needed to mitigate their dredge and fill 29

30 activities. This creates a market system of mitigation credit buying and selling that both encourages conservation activities and gives tangible value to wetland ecosystem services. However, studies have found, in practice, wetlands purchased through mitigation banks to offset destruction often do not replace the wetlands lost, both in terms of ecosystem services provided and in terms of geographic area and regional coverage. 30

31 Appendix II: Recent Developments for Green & Gray Infrastructure There have been many recent developments for the implementation of green and sustainable infrastructure. Most familiar to the public is probably the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification program formulated by the US Green Building Council. The criteria for LEED certification focuses on sustainable buildings, from commercial to industrial to residential, that are constructed or enhanced to obtain minimal energy use, utilize sustainable materials, and obtain an overall low to zero net carbon footprint. Another recent development in the infrastructure arena is the Greenroads Rating System for transportation systems and roadways developed by the University of Washington. The criteria for the Greenroads system encompasses every aspect of building a new roadway or transportation system from conserving and protecting the environment and water, safety and accessibility, construction activities, using recycled and sustainable materials and resources, to using earth-friendly and long lasting pavement technologies. The Bagby Street Reconstruction Project is the first Greenroads project in Texas. Located near Midtown Park in Houston, Bagby Street is a Greenroads Silver Certified roadway and is now a popular pedestrian location. A new rating system has been developed by The Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure called Envision. The Envision criteria cover more facets than Greenroads and LEED certifications: Quality of Life, Leadership, Resource Allocation, Natural World, and Climate and Risk. Because of this, Envision is a more stringent set of criteria that when met, will have an even greater positive effect on the environment and communities than LEED certified buildings. Also important to note is that the Envision sustainable infrastructure rating system can be used to verify sustainability on not only buildings, but roads, bridges, industrial facilities, municipalities, pipelines, electric grids, basically any and all gray infrastructure. Most important to the aspect of protecting and utilizing ecosystem services is the Natural World criteria; it holds the most credits within the system and covers every aspect of green infrastructure goals from selecting a site with preservation and conservation goals, managing storm water runoff and preventing contamination of water resources, to preserving, maintaining, and improving wildlife habitat, soil, and wetland functions. Participation in these systems is currently voluntary, but criteria such as LEED, Greenroads and Envision set a new standard for green infrastructure that policy makers can work from to make building sustainable and environmentally conservative infrastructure compulsory. The development of new highway systems around the Greater Houston Region threaten the fragile wetland ecosystems to the south and east, forested lands to the north, and extensive natural prairie areas to the west. It is recognized that transportation infrastructure brings residential and commercial 31

32 development along the new highways. If Houston policy makers can mandate that new development be built sustainably, following the criteria of the LEED, Envision, and Greenroads criteria, the ecosystem services of the prairies, forests and wetlands can be preserved for the many citizens who depend on them. With an emerging trend of Low Impact Development in major cities across the country, Houston has the opportunity to set the stage with green infrastructure and become a truly economically and environmentally valuable city. All rights reserved HoustonWilderness.org 32