WASHINGTON, DC - DC Water today announced the seven winning designs for the first phase of the 2013 Green Infrastructure Challenge and presented the teams with their share of the winnings. DC Water will award more than $1 million for the two phases of the Challenge—design and construction. The awards ceremony was held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC.

The winning team and project names respectively are:
- ARCADIS, Utilizing Lost Urban Space
- Tetra Tech, Lamont Park: Integrating Green Infrastructure and Bike Infrastructure
- CH2M HILL, Greening the Districts Geometry: Enhancing LEnfants Plan
- Urban Rain Design / Nitsch Engineering / Stacy Levy Artist / Raymond Papa, Kennedy / Greened: A Neighborhood Green Street Project
- AECOM, 21st Century Stormwater Management in a 19th Century Neighborhood
- McKissack, Symbiotic Streetscapes
- Bradley Site Design / Greening Urban, A Stormwater Park System

Green infrastructure is a natural way to manage stormwater, by absorbing rain before it makes its way to the sewer or stormwater system. Examples include green roofs, bioretention, rain barrels and pervious pavement. Keeping stormwater out of the sewer system can go a long way to improving the health of our local waterways, since it contributes to combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in heavy rain storms.

"I launched The Sustainable DC Plan two years ago to map out a path forward to make the District the healthiest, greenest, most livable city in the nation over the next 20 years," said District of Columbia Mayor Vincent C. Gray. "DC Water is taking some of the greatest steps to date towards achieving this goal, by sparking the creativity of engineers and landscape architects and investing in their projects at an ambitious level. Im also pleased to see local firms among the winners here today."

Commented DC Water General Manager George S. Hawkins, "DC Water is educating the community about green infrastructure, communicating widely and incentivizing those in the field to generate creative and innovative approaches. We look forward to final projects that will serve to green this city, motivate others, and create a body of research that will benefit cities worldwide."

The Green Infrastructure Challenge was launched in April 2013 and ran through October, encouraging entries from all types of firms, from large to small for green designs 1) in public space, 2) on commercial and private properties, and 3) on governmental/institutional properties. Winning projects included innovative ideas for greening underutilized open space in the District, complete streetscape designs, rooftop collection practices, bioretention facilities, and permeable pavements.

Back in 2005, DC Water developed a Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) for CSO control, highly dependent on a tunnel system for storing and conveying combined sewage for treatment at Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant. In 2012, DC Water, US EPA, and the District of Columbia signed the Green Infrastructure Partnership Agreement demonstrating DC Waters and the Districts commitment to green infrastructure. The agencies are exploring a revision to the LTCP that incorporates more green infrastructure.

For more information on the Clean Rivers Project, please visit dcwater.com/cleanrivers.

To view the winning designs, please visit dcwater.com/greenchallenge.