As part of the Public Forum series on the Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, NYC Planning and the Waterfront Alliance jointly hosted a meeting on Water Quality and Natural Resources. There were more than 80 attendees, including representatives from local academic institutions , environmental groups , city agencies, engineers/architects and citizens with a general interest in the waterfront. Attendees discussed the need for green practices in design and construction, as well as resilient infrastructure. The conversation also focused on intersections between infrastructure needs and inequality. Suggestions also emerged to identify projects with multiple benefits (transportation and other capital works projects). Participants highlighted that as we find more ways to allow people to actually get down to the water and touch the water through soft edges and ecological restoration, people will increasingly care about water quality and natural resources. Finally, a great deal of attention was given to the concept of water quality monitoring and transparency.

View the presentations on Water Quality and Natural Resources [PDF] and The State of NYC’s Waterways [PDF].

Read the notes from the session [PDF].

Let us know what you think about the topic on the Share Your Thoughts page.