Officials and planners working on green infrastructure gathered in Peoria last week. The goal was to share ideas about how the city can address its combined-sewer-overflow problem:
The City of Peoria is in talks with the EPA about ways to fix the overflow issue that periodically ends up polluting the Illinois River. Engineers and planners from across the country spoke at a panel discussion last week about how green infrastructure can help reduce stormwater runoff. Anthony Corso is with Peoria’s Innovation Team looking at the issue. He says a big theme was getting residents to support any proposed green improvements, like community gardens or rain barrels:
“But you have to get the people involved, because they have to own it, and want to maintain it, and it has to make sense for them.”
Corso says next steps include eventually holding community public input meetings and getting feedback on proposed ways to fix the CSO issue.