United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of
Land Use Coordination
August 1977
The Public Benefits of
Cleaned Water: Emerging
Greenway Opportunities
-------
Credits and acknowledgements.
This booklet was written and illustrated for
the Environmental Protection Agency's
Office of Land Use Coordination by Howard
Deardorff, Environmental Design and
Research Communication consultant,
367 Tiverton Way, Lexington, Ky.
The author gratefully acknowledges the
review and editorial comments of Thomas
Pierce of the Office of Land Use Coordina-
tion and the background research work done
by John Blair and Deborah Hall of the Na-
tional Recreation and Parks Association.
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The Public
Benefits of
Cleaned Water;
Emerging
Greenway
Opportunities
Preface
This booklet was funded by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's Office
of Land Use Coordination. It represents one
of a series of publications and audio-visual
materials on securing the public benefits
from Federal, State and local water clean-up
efforts. As many communities have already
discovered, the construction of wastewater
treatment facilities, permitting and clean-up
of point sources of pollution, and area-wide
water quality planning, have resulted in
improved waterfronts with new potential for
public and private use. This improvement is
reflected in increased open space and
recreational opportunities.
This publication highlights opportunities
for greenway development and protection.
It encourages careful management in the
use of waterfront land, early planning for
public access and enjoyment of cleaned
rivers, streams and harbors, and efforts to
ensure that these bodies of water are not
repolluted by new, indiscriminate
development attracted to their shores.
The initiative to secure the Public Benefits
of Cleaned Waters represents a combined
effort by EPA's Office of Land Use
Coordination, Office of Water Planning and
Standards, Office of Water Program
Operations, and the Bureau of Outdoor
Recreation in the Department of Interior.
EPA and BOB Regional Offices have also
been closely involved in the effort.
Shelley M. Mark
Director
Office of Land Use Coordination
Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
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Canoeists En/oving the Saco River Greenway
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Background and
Purpose
The water clean-up mandate
In 1972 Congress passed the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act Amendments, also
known as Public Law 92-500. This legislation
set a clean water goal of 1983 for a massive
effort to make our water resources fishable
and swimmable. Three programs, Sections
201,208, and 402 of P.L.92-500, provide the
impetus for reaching the 1983 goal.
The Wastewater Treatment Facilities or 201
program provides funds for the planning,
design, and construction of wastewater treat-
ment facilities to purify water before it is dis-
charged into rivers, streams, lakes, and other
natural or man-made water bodies. The
program represents a Federal commitment of
$18 billion. These funds are obligated to
local projects which are ranked on State
priority lists on the basis of water pollution
control need. Funds for the program are ad-
ministered through the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency's Regional Offices, coordi-
nated by State governments and passed
through to local communities.
The State and Areawide Water Quality Plan-
ning or 208 program provides funds for
developing areawide waste treatment plan-
ning and management strategies. As with the
201 program, funds are administered by
EPA's Regional Offices and coordinated by
the State governments. Because much of the
planning and management must be
regionally oriented, however, a large portion
of the funds are allocated to designated
regional agencies. These planning agencies
are required to develop and submit detailed
proposals to both the State Government and
the EPA Regional Office for water cleanup.
208 funds are also allocated to the States for
water quality planning in the remaining
areas of the country not covered by the
regional agencies and for coordination of
regional plans.
Section 402 of the Act establishes the Na-
tional Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) and requires all water
polluters to clean up their discharges on a
legally regulated timetable. This permit
system will require the best practicable con-
trol technology available. Individual States
can administer the NPDES if they demon-
strate that their management effectiveness
meets Federal requirements. The 201,208,
and 402 programs involve local initiative and
a willingness to cooperate to ensure the
achievement of the 1983 clean water goal. (1)
(1) The 201 and 208 Funding Effort
Toward the 1983 Clean Water Goal
The implications of
201, 208, and 402
The impact of the 201,208, and 402 water
cleanup programs is sometimes difficult to
envision. In a crisis-oriented world we are
not conditioned to expect good news about
emerging positive benefits. The purpose of
this booklet is to describe the opportunities
and benefits resulting from the cleanup of
our Nation's waters.
The notion of developing greenways is not a
new idea. With the cleanup of our waters,
however, new greenway opportunities are
appearing with regard to water-oriented
land. To fully realize the benefits of these op-
portunities, the booklet addresses three
central questions:
1, What /s a water-oriented greenway?
2. Why are water-oriented greenways
needed?
3. How can they be planned and imple-
mented?
The answers to these questions can provide
a framework of understanding which can
lead to positive and decisive community ac-
tion.
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Timing is critical
With the rapidly approaching 1983 clean
water goal, the timing of action on water-
oriented greenways is critical. The
wastewater treatment facilities funded by the
201 program are becoming operational and
the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) is requiring all water
polluters to clean up their discharges on a
legally enforced timetable. Waterside land
values will rise sharply afferthe water is
clean. Until that time, water-oriented land
will have no real recreation or aesthetic
value.(2) /Vow is the time to acquire greenway
water frontage, negotiate use easements,
and establish land development perfor-
mance controls to assure your communities'
water-oriented greenway potential. Our
riverfronts and shorelines evolved over a 250
year period to a complex system of shared
water resources. Our water resources have
suffered in the past, but local initiative
coupled with the 201 and 208 programs has
begun to turn the situation around. The op-
portunities for establishing water-oriented
greenways are fast upon us. The public has a
right to the benefits of clean water.(3)
(2) The Existing Conditions
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(3) New Opportunities For The Creative,
Shared Use of Clean Water
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What is a Water Oriented
Greenway?
The traditional stereotype definition of a
greenway is illustrated in some textbooks on
open space planning as a wide, uninter-
rupted expanse of forest and meadow with
the intermittent scattering of passive parks
and pedestrian trails. In the context of the ex-
isting waterfronts found around the country,
however, we find a wide range of landscape
and land use characteristics. When attempt-
ing to initiate water-oriented greenways in
the urban context, a city administrator or en-
vironmental conservancy group's first en-
counter with the land ownership values of
the local citizenry presents some formidable
obstacles to the development of expansive
greenways. It is at this point that many
would-be greenway advocates throw up their
hands and turn to other more practical and
pressing matters. The greenway as defined
above, doesn't present a realistic land use
alternative for urban shorelines and
riverfronts. In a rural or natural context
where development pressures and prece-
dents are less prominent, the implementation
of a more expansive and protective open
space corridor makes more sense.
MIU.
(4) 1. Water as a Transportation
Network
The evolution of
waterfront land uses
To derive a more realistic and workable
definition of water oriented greenway, we
need to understand how our present day
waterfront land uses came into being. The
waterfront has had many diverse uses in the
United States over the past 250 years. Even
before the signing of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, rivers had provided a framework
for military expenditions and early com-
merce.(4) Later, as settlements became more
sophisticated, water-powered mills began to
appear on the rivers where topography per-
mitted. Many of these mills exist today as
historical monuments.(5)
The invention of the steam engine signalled
the beginning of what has come to be known
as 'the industrial revolution.' This period
brought prosperity in the form of a much
higher standard of living and greatly in-
creased opportunities for education, im-
proved transportation, better communica-
tions and, unfortunately, a change in at-
titudes about the natural environment as
something to be appreciated. Industrial and
manufacturing needs for water shifted from
power to the need for water as an agent for
cooling and processing.(6)lt was this shift that
resulted in the release of highly toxic pollu-
tants into our streams and rivers. The quan-
tity of pollutants exceeded the capacity of the
water to be naturally cleansed through
recycling, and water pollution began to oc-
cur on a massive scale.
(5) 2. Water as a Power Source
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The Twentieth Century brought on more and
more complex forms of technology such as
the petrochemical industry, advanced food
processing, fossil fuel and nuclear energy
generation facilities,sophisticated storm
drainage collection systems, wastewater
treatment facilities, heavy shipping, and
recreation. The resulting waterfront land
uses are not conducive to the Utopian
greenway defined earlier. The
implementation of 208 plans, the
construction of wastewater treatment
facilities and the permit requirement for
industrial development is resulting and will
continue to result in a steady and timely
improvement in water quality along ournow
neglected waterfronts. This turning point
offers exciting opportunities for water-
oriented greenways.
To realize these opportunities, however,
greenways must be viewed from the follow-
ing perspective:
1. One of the most significant values of a
greenway is in the area of environmental pro-
tection. Greenways provide vegetative
buffers which filter out nonpoint source
pollutants such as soil sediment and chemi-
cal fertilizers before they reach water
resources. This is especially valid in areas
that are just beginning to face development
WAST&
DISPOSAL.
pressures. Water-oriented greenways can
also provide excellent non-structural con-
trols to prevent flood and storm damage.
2. Industries and wastewater treatment
facilities need not be considered as ugly in-
trusions on the riverfront or shoreline. They
are part of what it takes to sustain our
lifestyles and the conveniences of daily liv-
ing. They should not be hidden, but rather,
more carefully sited and designed so as to
avoid environmental damages. The public
should know they exist and, if practical, how
they work and what effect they have on the
environment.
3. Water-oriented greenways need not be
an arbitrary or capricious dimension in
width. They can be as narrow as six feet (the
width of a pedestrian-bike way) or they may
be miles wide as in the case of extensive wet-
land areas.
4. The implementation of a water-oriented
greenway system is a slow, long-range proc-
ess and, as a result of this, its achievement
involves community commitment to long
range goals. The plan must include a
balance of specific objectives and the flex-
ibility to adjust to unforeseen opportunities
and constraints. A broad range of land use
rights must be considered ranging from out-
right purchase to other less-than-fee simple
methods.
(6) 3. Water as a Processing Agent
-------
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(7) Today's Complex System of Shared
Water Resources
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(8) The'Urban'Water Oriented
Greenway Requires a Performance
Control Emphasis
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In the past, sweeping and rigid approaches
to creating water-oriented greenways have
not been successful because they have
failed to recognize that water is a shared
resource. (7) Industry and commerce need
water for survival. While protective stances
are appropriate in more natural, un-
developed areas, the idea of arbitrarily
replacing industrial uses with open space
does not always make sense. In the urban
context, the new definition of greenways in-
volves an emphasis on how we use our
riverfront rather than what land uses are ac-
ceptable. (8)
With this new perspective, a flexible ap-
proach to greenway development can be im-
plemented. This approach must recognize
the difference in land use character between
urban and natural waterfronts. While an ur-
ban waterfront demands a more integrative
and adaptive approach to greenway develop-
ment, more natural waterfronts may require a
more protection oriented planning and
management greenway development
strategy. (9)
There are four general benefits derived from
the development of water-oriented green-
ways:
1. Protection of the natural environment
- water quality - aquatic ecology
-wildlife-terrestrial ecology
2. Public awareness
- focused concern about water quality
- heightened interest in improving overall
environmental quality
3. The protection of health and safety
- protection from flooding and storm
damage
- mental health benefits
4. Improved Cultural Environment
- aesthetic
-heritage
The following is a expanded discussion of
each benefit area.
PROTECIEP WETLAND,
filters sed/m&it
FISHING
-------
10
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Protection of the
natural environment
The strongest reason for initiating water-
oriented greenways is the protection of the
water resources themselves. Greenways can
provide vegetative buffers that filter out non-
point source pollutants such as ero-
sion/sedimentation, chemical fertilizers, and
urban litter. (10)
11
(10) The'Natural' Water Oriented
Greenway Requires a Protection and
Preservation Emphasis
-------
12
This potential for the control of nonpoint
source water pollution provides a strong tool
for achieving the goals of the 208 water
cleanup program which is directly con-
cerned and charged with the responsibility
to control nonpoint source as well as point
source water pollution. Greenways can pro-
vide this filtering function in agricultural
areas as well as urban settings. Part of the
filtering function is often accomplished
through the use of storm water retention
basins.These basins permit the settling
of soil sediment (as high as 200 tons per acre
per year in unprotected development areas)
and the removal of nutrients and chemicals
through underground filtration. Greenways
can provide excellent locations for these
water pollution control structures. (11)
Greenways can also provide protection for
valuable wetland areas which are often ex-
posed to dredging and filling activities caus-
ing loss of filtration capabilities, aquatic
spawning grounds,and wildlife habitat.(12) In
many urban areas rivers and shorelines pro-
vide the last migratory corridors for wildlife.
Water-oriented greenways can ensure that
those corridors remain open and safe. Often,
industries such as fishing and recreation are
dependent on clean water for survival. Pro-
tecting water-oriented environments is im-
portant to our economy.
-------
13
(11) Greenways Provide Space For Storm
Water Retention Basins
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(12) Greenways Can Protect and
Preserve Valuable Wetlands
-------
14
Public awareness
As discussed earlier, land use patterns
evolve over a period of time in relatively
small increments so as to be almost imper-
ceptible. There are exceptions, however, in
cases of natural disasters and sporadic
development booms. But for the most part,
the land use character of an area tends to
evolve in aone-piece-at-a-time manner dur-
ing normal growth periods.
This is one of the reasons that it took over
one hundred years to become concerned
about water quality. We turned our aware-
ness of water quality off slowly. Greenways,
on the other hand, can focus people's atten-
tion on the water by allowing them to get
close to it, see it, touch it, smell it, and evalu-
ate it.(13) In a sense the greenway permits the
public to 'police' water quality. Greenways
and related recreation facilities can bring
water quality to people's attention. When
people become concerned about water
quality, they begin to realize that water
quality is directly related to use activities on
the land. Hence, an overall heightened
awareness of environmental quality and
stewardship for the land and wafercan be
realized.(14)
MAIN STK££-T
(13) Inland Lake Water Oriented Service
Center
-tCAUSS
(14) Water Quality
Land Use
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The protection of health and safety
Greenways can provide floodplain buffers as
a non-structural control to absorb the impact
of flood waters and reduce the danger and
resultant property damage. Despite the
billions of dollars spent on flood control
structures, including dams, levees, and
stream channelizations, flood damage pay-
ments continue to mount. The estimated an-
nual flood damage as of 1975 has climbed to
just under $2.3 billion.1 Health hazards from
sanitary sewers backing up, stagnant water,
and the inability of emergency vehicles to
reach the needy are all part of the storm and
flood related disasters. Documentation of the
need for floodplain use restructions is
readily available from both State and Federal
agencies.
Mental health problems are also related, at
least in part, to environmental conditions.
Although documentation is difficult, due to
the many interpersonal variables involved,
thequalityof our physical environment is im-
portant to our mental health. We need a
healthier balance between densely urban,
highly active areas and more natural and
quiet settings.(15)
Greenways can help provide this balance by
offering close at hand, open space and
recreational opportunities.
'The estimate was obtained from the Draft 1975 National Assessment to be
published by the National Water Resources Council
15
4it>
J
(15) We Need Balance
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16
Improved cultural environment
Environmental psychologists tell us that peo-
ple need three visual qualities in any given
setting:2
1. The setting must make sense: Questions
like "where am I?" and "where are other peo-
ple?" are answered through this quality.
2. Offer potential for exploration: The en-
vironment must provide interest which
arouses our curiosity enough to make us
want to learn more about it.
3. Offer choices: The environment shou Id
offer different possibilities for its use and en-
joyment.
Water-oriented greenways offer a rich poten-
tial for meeting these three environmental
criteria. (16)
-S Kaplm, "The Challengeol Environmental Psychology A Proposal for a
New Functionahsm. "American Psychologist 27 (1972}- 140-143
OIK-
HBLPS RESIDENTS
ORH(20
OFFBte
(16) Greenways Can Improve The
Cultural Environment
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The
Implementation
Process
The process of planning and establishing
water-oriented greenways can be simplified
to three key questions:
1. What do we have? What kind of
waterfront or shorelines are we dealing with?
Where are its environmentally fragile areas
and what are the current land use trends?
2. What does it mean to us? What are the
development constraints and opportunities
inherent in the environment being con-
sidered?
3. What can we do about it? What are the
action possibilities available to provide for
increased health and safety, improved en-
vironmental quality, and the protection of
water resources?
These three questions form the basis for
many communities' environmental decision-
making processes. But before defining this
process, we must understand who the initia-
tors of water-oriented greenway efforts are.
The initiator role
The initiation of a campaign or movement for
developing greenways can have a variety of
origins ranging from local citizens' groups to
a river being designated for preservation by
an Act of Congress under the National Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act. In cases where 208
agencies have been designated and regional
water resource planning and management
studies are being implemented, these agen-
cies can aid greenway initiators by providing
technical and coordinative assistance. The
list below defines the various possible initia-
tors of greenway planning and development.
• individuals, concerned citizen's groups, or
non-profit nature conservancy groups
• city planning and parks departments or
commissions
• township planning and parks boards or
commissions
• watershed councils or commissions
• county planning and parks departments or
commissions
• river or port authorities
• designated 208 water quality planning and
management agencies
• State government planning agencies and
commissions
17
-------
18
• Federal agencies - EPA and BOR
Each of the above can initiate the implemen-
tation of water-oriented greenways either in-
dividually or in tandem with others on the list.
It should be realized that greenway develop-
ment is a cooperative effort and that informa-
tion and technical assistance are available
through the various agencies listed.
The community
decision-making process
The three questions (What do we have?,
What does it mean to us?, and What can we
do about it?) can be rephrased and
described as the community decision-mak-
ing process. This is best thought of as a
series of work phases or tasks. The process
is generalized to provide an overview. In
some cases, because communities may
already be "in progress" especially with the
early tasks, the process shown may not apply
sequentially. Since water bodies and rivers
often traverse many governmental jurisdic-
tions, progress will tend to be uneven from
one township or city to the next (this is one
reason the 208 program came into exis-
tence).
Task 1: Assessment
This phase involves the collection and inven-
tory of all the information available on the
river or water body in question. The informa-
tion can be logically classified into the
following categories.
Natural Systems
• soils
• topography-drainage
• hydrology
• vegetative cover
• wildlife and fish habitat
Existing Land Use, Land Ownership,
Transportation, and Utilities Networks.
Socio-economic and Demographic Trends
(growth or decline rate)
Zoning and Proposed Plans
In many communities this information may
be packaged in an existing community long
range development plan or guide. This com-
prehensive community plan can be a valua-
ble tool which already documents the need
for greenways and in some cases often in-
cludes a plan for implementing them. If a
long range plan doesn't exist, the complete
process should be closely adhered to. It is
obviously important to get the most up-to-
date and accurate information available.
Task 2: Evaluation and analysis
The evaluation step involves the application
of values or criteria to the information col-
lected under Task 1. To accomplish this in a
logical way, it is helpful to have some
specific objectives for clarifying the meaning
of the assessment information. These objec-
tives can best be stated as questions.
1. Where are the critical environments that
are ecologically fragile?Are they facing
strong development pressures? An example
might be a wetland adjacent to an expanding
housing subdivision area.
2. Where are and what are the unique
ecological,scenic, and/or historical areas
along the river or shoreline corridor? How
valuable are these amenities?
3. Where are the job centers and economy
sustaining industrial facilities located and
what is their growth or decline potential?
How do they affect water quality or greenway
potential in terms of opportunities or con-
straints.
4. How do future community growth and
development plans affect greenway poten-
tial.
5. How do the existing natural systems and
land uses aggregate themselves in broad
categories such as urban, suburban, and
natural areas or zones.
There are two techniques or tools used for
performing this task, the hand drawn overlay
technique and the computer data file proc-
ess.
The hand drawn overlay system consists of a
series of transparent overlay sheets that ena-
ble the comparison of natural systems with
growth projections to determine environ-
mental impacts, both positive and negative.
In this way we can begin to apply criteria
questions listed above. (17)
The computer data file system uses a grid of
information cells which are numerically
coded and stored in a computer. The com-
puter is programmed to produce combina-
tions of data and criteria to determine the im-
pact of various development strategies. (18)
-------
of DATA
(17) The Hand Drawn Overlay Method
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(18) The Computer Data File Method
-------
20
There are advantages and disadvantages to
both techniques. Either method can aid in
determining answers to the evaluation ques-
tions considered. Keep in mind that the pur-
pose of the evaluation and analysis task is to
clarify specific greenway needs and to iden-
tify opportunities and constraints.
Task 3: The development of alternative
greenway concepts
The advantage of developing alternative
solutions to a problem is that it makes sure
we consider a wide range of opportunities
rather than narrowing down too quickly.
Alternative solutions can help us to see
broad overviews of the problem which, even-
tually, can lead us to a better solution. From
past experience, we can generalize that
there are three land-water characters or
categories that must be dealt with in the
development of alternative greenway con-
cepts.4(19)
Urban Zones: these river or waterfront
areas are characterized by hard surface pav-
ing, complex storm drainage systems, and
land uses related to commerce and
industry.(20)
Suburban Zone: these areas are charac-
terized by a combination of soft ground
cover and hard surface paving, storm
drainage, and natural drainage; and a wide
range of land uses including residential,
commercial, recreational, and industrial
uses.(21)
"The practice of aggregating or classify ing land use or land character
zones into broad categories is a commonly accepted method. The author
recognizes, however, that there are often more than three categories in-
volved depending on local conditions.
ZQN&
W£uu«.--<-
--
(19) Land-Water Character/Use
Categories
-------
Natural Zone: cultivated land and natural
vegetation with little hard surface paving
typify this zone. Farming and recreation are
the prevalent uses with the exception of
resource-oriented industries such as mining
or logging. (22)
Each of these categories or zones presents a
different set of needs for planning and
management strategies and these needs
vary tremendously. Therefore, any alterna-
tive greenway concept must respond
differently to these zones. Concepts that fail
to respond appropriately will be extremely
difficult to implement.
The accompanying graphic illustrates an ex-
ample of a greenway strategy that considers
the three water-land zones and makes ap-
propriate responses to each situation.
Another important benefit of developing
alternatives is that they provide an excellent
framework for triggering public involvement.
Proposals tend to stimulate more com-
munication and citizen input than the pre-
sentation of inventory and analysis docu-
ments.
Task 4: Public involvement
Section 101 (e) of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act Amendments requires that
public participation shall be provided for, en-
couraged, and assisted by EPA and the
States. EPA has published guidelines for
achieving effective public participation.5
Although these guidelines are intended for
208 water quality management agencies the
following principles are easily adapted to
serve greenway development.
1. Agency Initiative: it is the task of the in-
terest group or agency proposing the water-
oriented greenway to generate and imple-
ment opportunities for public involvement.
(Public meetings, special written notice,or
media use are all possibilities.)
2. Target Key Groups: the initiator must
seek out important publics. The various
agencies listed under the section on The In-
itiator Role on page 17 should be invited to
participate.
3. The Involvement Perspective: public
participation must bean ongoing part of the
'Public Participation Handbook lor Water Quality Management, Environ-
mental Protection Agency. June 1976
21
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(20) A. Urban Zone Strategy
ft create vegetative buffer
and td&ntion
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(21) ft. Suburban Zone Strategy
* protect visual Quality
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(22) C. Natural Zone Strategy
-------
22
greenway development process, not an add-
on, after-the-fact program. Technical deci-
sionmakers should be involved in the proc-
ess.
4. Two Way Communication: information,
ideas, and decisions must flow back and
forth between the agency and the various
publics.
Public involvement is rapidly becoming a
complex combination of art and science. At
best, we can only grasp a general overview
of its basic principles and objectives. The
ultimate objective is to obtain enlightened
community goals from a concerned and
mature public. For more information on the
techniques of achieving responsible public
involvement contact EPA's Regional Public
Affairs Officer. (See page 31 for a list of EPA
Regional Offices. ) In considering who the
key groups are, the greenway initiator should
also contact Bureau of Outdoor Recreation
(BOR) representatives at the regional level.
(See page 31 for list of BOR regions) The
BOR has a network of Regional Offices that
aid in funding and implementing statewide
comprehensive outdoor recreation plans.
These plans provide for a logical and effi-
cient Statewide plan for public recreation
facilities. It is important to integrate the pro-
posed greenway plan with the larger com-
prehensive recreation plan.
Task 5: Selecting the
recommended alternative
One of the principal reasons for involving the
public is to identify the important issues to be
reckoned with. In general, these issues tend
to lead to the following criteria for evaluating
greenway alternatives.(23)
1. Costs and Benefits: long and short
range benefits must be compared with pro-
jected capital improvement costs and pro-
jected management and maintenance costs.
2. Environmental Impact: positive and
negative impacts must be considered for
both natural systems and socio-economic
systems.
3. Implementation Potential: the alterna-
tive selected must be fundable and as free of
negative deterrents as possible. There
should be substantial citizen support for the
alternative.
&VALUATIOH
COMMUNITY GOALS
IMPL&M3HTA1JCN
FVTZNTIAL
(23) Selecting the Right Alternative
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Local conditions can necessitate additional
criteria when either unique natural condi-
tions or an overriding economic land-use
condition exists. In overview,the criteria
used are applied to answer the general ques-
tion of the greenway alternative's respon-
siveness to long range community goals.
Task 6: Implementation
The implementation of a water-oriented
greenway involves the acquisition of land or
land use rights; the design and construction
of necessary capital improvements; and the
operation, monitoring, and maintenance of
the greenway. Through skillful phasing, all of
these activities can occur simu Itaneously. A
basic operating policy of the initiating agen-
cy should be to avoid exercising the right of
eminent domain. This kind of litigation cre-
ates hard feelings and resistance which can
sometimes overshadow the positive benefits
of the greenway effort. Litigation also in-
volves lengthy delays and the loss of mo-
mentum associated with them. The best
policy is to try to work out an amicable
agreement with the landowner involved.
There are four major ways of acquiring land
and/or obtaining special use consideratiions
in any given river or shoreline area:
1. Purchase or Donation: The simplest
but not always the most practical technique
involves the outright acquisition of the deed
to the land. Donation may be outright or in-
volve a life estate condition whereby the pro-
perty is donated when the donor or his direct
heirs die.
2. Lease: Land can be rented for fixed
periods of time. This has short term benefits
with long term liabilities unless the option to
purchase at fair market value is included in
the agreement.
3. Easements: An easement is an agree-
ment to donate or sell specified rights such
as the right to control visual quality or to pro-
vide public access for a specified time period
or in perpetuity.
4. Legislative Tools, Performance Con-
trols: Special zoning districts can be cre-
ated and special development controls and
permitting procedures can be added to a
local zoning ordinance. The emphasis is on
how development occurs instead of what
development occurs.
Purchase agreements can involve lease or
sell-back arrangements whereby the green-
way agent attaches specific use restrictions
to the deed which create and preserve the
greenway. A major benefit of this approach is
that maintenance of the land is not a burden
to the local community because it remains
the responsibility of the landowner. Perfor-
mance controls are becoming more popular
in recent years because they are not as
restrictive as exclusionary types of land use
controls. This kind of control becomes a part
of the local community framework
ordinance which emphasizes how to
develop rather than what to develop.
Examples of a performance control now in
effect in many States are the soil erosion and
sedimentation control laws. For further
guidance in this area the reader should
consult the recent EPA publication,
"Performance Controls for Sensitive Lands:
A Practical Guide for Local Administrators,"
published in March 1975, publication
number EPA 600/5-75-005.
Another legislative aid to the implementation
of water-oriented greenways is the Wi Id and
Scenic Rivers Act. This legislation enables
either the Federal or State Government to
designate rivers which meet specific require-
ments specified in the act into one of the
following classes:6
1. Wild River Areas: those rivers or sec-
tions of rivers that are free of impoundments
and generally inaccessible except by trail,
with watersheds or shorelines essentially
primitive and water unpolluted. These repre-
sent vestiges of primitive America.
2. Scenic River Areas: those rivers or sec-
tions of rivers that are free of impoundments,
with shorelines or watersheds still largely
primitive and shorelines largely un-
developed, but accessible in places by
roads.
3. Recreational River Areas: Those rivers
or sections of rivers that are readily accessi-
ble by road or railroad, that may have some
development along their shorelines, and that
may have undergone some impoundment or
diversion in the past.
Another legislative tool for protecting and
preserving water-oriented open space is the
••Guidelines for Evaluating Wild, Scenic and Recreational River Areas Pro-
posed (or Inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System Under
Section 2. Public Law 90-542, Department of the Interior. U S Forest Ser-
vice. 1970
23
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24
(24) The B.O.R.'s Land and Water
Conservation Act Funding Effort:
Provides Local Recreation Benefits
f loodplain ordinance. Development on
floodplain areas is restricted to non-struc-
tural kinds of uses, such as recreational ac-
tivities. With this kind of restriction,the
waterfront land becomes a zone which can
tolerate flooding during peak flow periods.
These ordinances are initiated and adopted
by local government.
There are numerous techniques for protect-
ing water-oriented open space. For further
information on open space protection
generally the reader may wish to consult a
BOR publication entitled, Protecting
Nature's Estate - Techniques for Saving Land
(Stock number 024-016-00082-0). This
publication may be obtained for $3.75 from
the U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washingtion.D.C. 20402.
Funding the acquisition and capital improve-
ments necessary to develop a greenway
system involves soliciting monies from both
private and government sources. Private
foundations often provide funds for park and
recreation facilities as well as other urban
open space projects. Non-profit, privately
funded nature conservancies may also pro-
vide assistance for conservation and preser-
vation efforts to protect natural areas. These
foundations and conservancies are often
locally based and therefore contact informa-
tion must be obtained locally.
Government sources of greenway funding
are generally located at the State govern-
ment level through the State recreation
department. These State agencies are
funded in turn by the Department of the In-
terior's Bureau of Outdoor Recreation
through the Land and Water Conservation
Act. (24)
Funds are provided, at present,on a 50-50
local match basis and they can be used for
planning the physical development of green-
way corridors or shorelines. The donation of
land and/or in kind services are both ac-
cepted as viable parts of the local govern-
ment's matching funds. Local communities
should contact their State Government's
Department of Recreation for up-to-date in-
formation on available funding programs.
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Examples
The following examples have been selected
to illustrate specific principles that have
been presented and discussed earlier about
the techniques of planning and developing
greenways. They have been chosen to repre-
sent a cross-section of urban, suburban and
natural land-water characteristics. Each ex-
ample focuses in on one important feature of
the greenway system rather than illustrating
the complete story of how the greenway
came into being.(25)
The Urban Greenway:
San Antonio's River Walk
The San Antonio River Walk located in the
heart of the downtown area occurs along the
river bend and along a ribbon portion of the
river for a one-mile stretch to the north of
the bend. The river is 25 to 30 feet below the
existing street level and there are approx-
imately 44 sets of stairs connecting the river
walk to street level. The river walk greenway
system attracts over 2.3 million visitors a
year.7 (26)
'Dr. David Joel Reed, Social Interface at River's Edge, Guideline, National
Recreation and Park Association, January 1973.
25
(25) Three Examples of Greenway
Benefits
(26) San Antonio River Walk: Physical
Character
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26
0\\l\0
' RIVSR WALK
WALK
&IWANIS
AT we.ft
. 5-7
1972
' 3AM WTOHIO RIV&*. AUTHORITY
'C0UHTY
,e>e
CUV OF S/in ANTONIO
HEAtfH
(27) Participants in River Walk
Development
While this development provides an ex-
cellent example of urban riverfront design, it
is an especially good example of cooperative
teamwork. The diagram shows a creative
combination of private and civic groups
working with all levels of government. It in-
corporates and responds to a wide range of
community values from flood control to
historic preservation and has been over 40
years in the process.8 (27)
The Suburban Greenway:
Ann Arbor's Huron River Greenway
In the late 1960's, the City of Ann Arbor
became concerned about the future of the
Huron River Valley which separated the
University of Michigan's Central and North
Campuses. Development pressures were
growing to add new roadways and develop
the area with a wide range of land uses.
There were many physical constraints to
developing a greenway along the river, but
through quick action by the City of Ann Ar-
bor's Recreation and Park Planning Depart-
ment, voter approval was obtained for a $3.5
million bond issue for land acquisition and
park development.
The Huron River Greenway features several
examples of imaginative design solutions to
land acquisition problems. Design Example
A (28) involved the problem of continuing a
pedestrian-bikeway along the river where no
land was available and an electrical substa-
tion blocked the only apparent passage
along the river. The design solution involved
creating a 6-foot wide walkway with a
parapet wall around the foundation of the
substation. From the substation a boardwalk
bridge was extended under an adjacent
vehicular bridge on through to open space
beyond.
Design Example B(29) involved utilizing
material dredged from the river bottom to
create a series of 'stepping stone' islands
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27
NA/Wh/'gOAKPWALK fASSS-S dY SupTATICH
TO
(28) Design Example A: Ann Arbor's
Huron River Greenway
•fflftgg (3MNCS a-atsd fom dredging
operation uii-tn bridges &&B3 io b^f&&
uri3v3ilatt& land.
•^M^
> ^-v*
**?
i, ¥•>• P,iMii
•L< *' ,.,r and
r 1' PLA\ AKEA
(29) Design Example B: Ann Arbor's
Huron River Greenway
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28
DISTRICT
(30) Saco River Greenway System
across the river. The landowners along
the river shoreline would not sell easement
rights for the walkway along its planned
right-of-way.Usingthe islands and four arching
pedestrian bridges, their land was bypassed
and the walk was continued along the op-
posite shoreline.
The Natural Greenway:
Maine's Saco River Corridor
The Saco River Corridor Commission main-
tains land and water quality along a 150-
mile-long river corridor running from the
mouth of the river at Biddeford-Saco to the
Ossipee and Little Ossipee Rivers to the
Maine/New Hampshire border. The corridor
includes 20 towns and 3 counties. Through
the passage of "An Act to Establish the Saco
River Corridor in 1973," the 106th State
Legislature enabled the Commission to set
up three distinct kinds of Resource Districts:
(30-31)
1. 7776 Resource Protection District: in-
cludes, areas where the entire width of the
corridor is within the 100-year flood plain,
wetlands, and lands designated by private or
public landowners for inclusion in the dis-
trict.
2. T/76 L/m/fed Residential District: pre-
dominant use is residential, but within a
framework intended to promote diversity and
low density.
3. Trie General Development District: in-
cludes areas that have already been inten-
sively developed. Permits are required for
manufacturing and industrial uses.
Junkyards are prohibited.
The Saco River Corridor presents an ex-
cellent example of responsiveness to the ex-
isting land-water and land use charac-
teristics. Performance controls of varying
emphasis are used in the three different dis-
tricts. The Saco River Commission serves as
a fine example of effective, local, land-use
control.
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DEVELOPMENT'DISTRICT
(51 ^i?' 1033' 1000'
2>y MK, CARL
COMMISS/(?H
(31) A Sample District Classification
Saco River Corridor
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Conclusion
30
The need for coordination
The two Federal agencies playing dominant
roles in the development of water-oriented
greenways are EPA and The Bureau of Out-
door Recreation (BOR) within the Depart-
ment of the Interior. Working as partners with
greenway initiators at the local and State
levels, there are unlimited opportunities to
realize valuable public benefits.
As was mentioned earlier, there are often
problems involved in the development of
greenways when they are spread over
several governmental jurisdictions. The
designated 208 agency at the State or
regional level can serve a valuable role as a
coordinator of greenway projects involving
the cooperation of many governments. The
agency can provide a forum for public in-
volvement and has trained planners and
resource policy professionals who can aid in
the technical work needed.
If a 208 agency does not exist in your area, a
local watershed council can also serve the
role of coordinating agency. Watershed
councils have a clear sense of what the over-
view problems are within their areas and are
an excellent source of information, coordina-
tion and technical assistance.
The Land and Water Conservation Act ad-
ministered by the Bureau of Outdoor Recrea-
tion provides a prime source of matching
funds to help implement the site planning
and construction of specific recreation
developments. BOR's funded Statewide
Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plans
provide excellent frameworks within which
greenway can plan an important and effec-
tive role.
The development of water-oriented green-
ways is not a simple, one shot effort. It in-
volves a long range goal backed with solid
government and citizen support. Those three
basic questions; What do we have., What
does it mean to us. and What can we do
about it. can be answered through the ap-
plication of an effective community decision-
making process.
The implementation of water-oriented green-
ways provides a creative challenge for all of
us. The benefits include long-range payoffs
such as improved health and safety, protec-
tion of water and land resources and the im-
provement of environmental quality. The tim-
ing for establishing greenways is important
because land values will escalate as people
become more and more aware of the second-
ary benefits of clean water.
There are many fine examples all around our
country of greenway success stories. From
Texas to Michigan to Maine, people are wak-
ing up to the opportunities along our
shorelines and river corridors. It took 150
years to defile our water resources. The
Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amend-
ments of 1972 call for clean water by 1983.
The time for planning and implementing
water-oriented greenways is now.
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Where to get help
31
The following is a list of EPA's Regional
Offices.
The following is a list of BOR's Regional
Offices.
EPA Region 1
Room 2303
JFK Federal Building
Boston, MA 02203
EPA Region 2
Room 1005
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10007
EPA Region 3
Curtis Building
6th and Walnut Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19106
EPA Region 4
345 Courtland St., NE
Atlanta, GA 30308
EPA Region 5
230 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60604
EPA Region 6
1201 Elm St.
Dallas, TX 75270
EPA Region 7
1735 Baltimore Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
EPA Region 8
Suite 900
1860 Lincoln Street
Denver, CO 80203
EPA Region 9
100 California Street
San Francisco, CA94111
EPA Region 10
1200 Sixth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
Northwest Region
Federal Building, Room 990
915 Second Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98174
Pacific Southwest Region
P.O. Box36062
450 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, California 94102
Mid-Continent Region
Denver Federal Center
P. O. Box 25387
Building 41
Denver, Colorado 80225
Lake Central Region
3853 Research Park Drive
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
Southeast Region
148 Cain Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Northeast Region
Federal Office Building
600 Arch Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106
South Central Region
Patio Plaza Building
5000 Marble Avenue, N. E.
Albuquerque, New Mexico87110
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