Flood Resilience & Green Infrastructure Planning

Weston & Sampson worked collaboratively with the City of Boston, Charles River Watershed Association, Neponset River Watershed Association, and Mystic River Association, along with various community based-organizations (CBOs), to develop a community-driven approach to understanding and mitigating inland flooding across Boston using green stormwater infrastructure (GSI).

We led the development of a database of inland flooding, an interface for crowdsourcing flood events, and an interactive data display to share the flood information. The watershed associations and CBOs led community outreach to solicit input on Boston’s inland flooding concerns and promote the crowd-sourced application.

We identified flooding hotspots and worked with the city and project partners to prioritize them, with an emphasis on projects in areas with priority populations and Environmental Justice communities. Based on this effort, we identified three priority corridors of Boston and developed concept designs for them. These concepts illustrate the type and location of GSI to be employed, considering co-benefits such as heat reduction and creation of habitat and practical concerns such as pedestrian safety and coordination with existing projects. The team shared these concepts with the public for feedback then progressed them to a schematic design level that reflects public input, field data collection, city priorities, and costs.

Weston & Sampson also created two educational videos, “Inland Flooding 101” and “Spotlight on Green Infrastructure,” that explain how inland flooding occurs and how GSI and nature-based solutions like rain gardens and bioswales can improve conditions. The videos combine a variety of footage and graphics with resident interviews about the transformation and benefits of GSI initiatives. They support the city’s broader effort to translate technical stormwater planning into accessible multimedia content that encourages residents to report flooding and get involved in shaping the city’s action plan.