Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) is a cost-effective solution to local flooding and water quality problems, but it can be difficult for municipalities to finance. The Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), working in partnership with the Great Lakes Cities Initiative and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, will lay the groundwork for a “sponsorship” program within Wisconsin’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) as a new way to finance GSI. Under a sponsorship program, a municipality pairs a traditional grey infrastructure project with a green infrastructure or other nature-based project, and in return receives a lower interest rate on their loan. The excess funds are directed to the sponsored green project at no additional cost to taxpayers or ratepayers.

Over the next year, EPIC will research best practices in other states, survey municipalities in the Lake Michigan Basin on their willingness to invest in GSI at various subsidy levels, and work with DNR staff to build support for adopting the program in Wisconsin.