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Incentivizing Green Infrastructure for the Private Sector in Denver, CO

The City of Denver has ambitious water quality goals for its rivers and streams. In order to achieve these goals of cleaner waterways, the city has recognized the importance of green infrastructure as a way of treating stormwater runoff. Denver has made strides in developing green infrastructure practices for its own properties throughout the county. However, Denver also needs a method of encouraging the private sector to help in achieving the city’s green infrastructure goals. 

In our capstone project, we are working with Denver Public Works to figure out methods of encouraging private developers to install green infrastructure. A large part of this project is making sure that these methods are tailored for Denver’s unique identity. We will be analyzing Denver’s procedures and regulations across city departments to find potential opportunities of encouragement. This will give us invaluable insight into the structure of the Denver government. We will conduct interviews with developers already open to the idea of green infrastructure installation to find effective incentives from their viewpoint. We will then be coordinating between developers and multiple city departments throughout the summer to hone in on solutions that will help Denver achieve its water quality goals.