Green Infrastructure

A nature-based solution for stormwater management and erosion control

Pinellas County Public Works

What is Green Infrastructure?

Green infrastructure (GI) is a term used to describe practices for managing stormwater and preventing erosion. Green stormwater infrastructure allows rainwater to filter through vegetation and soil rather than running into the stormwater system (a system of pipes that ultimately leads to a creek, river, or ocean).

Green infrastructure mimics the natural environment and provides habitat as well as many other benefits in the process. Green roofs, bioswales, pervious pavement, and rain gardens are some examples of green infrastructure. Other types of green infrastructure, such as living shorelines, help stabilize shorelines in a more resilient and beneficial way than traditional methods.

Below you'll find information on different types of green infrastructure and a map of green infrastructure near you!

Types of Green Infrastructure Best Management Practices (BMPs)

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Bio-swales

Upgraded swales with native plants designed to slow water down, remove more pollutants, and provide habitat benefits.

Bioswale along PK Avenue in Aburndale, FL

Rain Gardens

Shallow depressions in the land, constructed or natural, planted with Florida-Friendly plants, designed to receive and filter stormwater runoff.

Rain garden at Anderson Park in Palm Harbor, FL

Green Gutters

Narrow strips between roadway and sidewalk filled with vegetation designed to infiltrate stormwater

Tree Wells

Tree wells are small reservoirs containing soil and trees to infiltrate stormwater runoff from paved surfaces. They can be adjacent to streets, parking lots, or paths/sidewalk.

Living Shorelines

Natural materials such as rocks, plants, and oysters are used to prevent bank/shoreline erosion, providing habitat and improving water quality.

Stormwater Interceptor Trees

Leaves in the tree canopy capture (or intercept) water, reducing stormwater runoff and helping prevent erosion.

Permeable Pavement/Pervious Pavers

Pervious pavement is made of either a porous material that enables stormwater to flow through it or nonporous blocks spaced so that water can flow between the gaps.

Pavers or other porous surfaces designed to allow stormwater to filter through and into the ground underneath.

Stormwater Harvesting

Stormwater harvesting involves capturing, redirecting, and storing rainwater for other uses, such as for aesthetic features like fountains or for irrigation of non-edible plants.

Green Roofs

A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems.

Why is it important?

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Pinellas County is a peninsula, surrounded by water on three sides. Our beaches and bays are important resources for wildlife, fisheries, residents, tourists and our economy.

The quality of this water is critical not only to wildlife, but for the health, well-being, and enjoyment of residents and tourists as well.

Protecting the quality of that water is a top priority!

Pinellas County is the most densely populated County in Florida with 3,425 people per square mile.

It is the 7th most populous County in Florida, at just under 1 million residents total in 2023.

There were more than 20 million visitors to Pinellas County's parks and preserves in 2021, resulting in an economic impact of over $8 billion.

Pinellas is the 2nd smallest County in Florida, at only 38 miles long and 15 miles across at its widest point.

There are 35 miles of beaches and 588 miles of coastline.

Pinellas County is more than 90% developed. These developed areas can have a negative impact on our environment, especially water quality.

There are approximately 4,521 miles of paved roads, 1,072 miles of sidewalk/trails, and 142 bridges in Pinellas County.

The vast majority of paved infrastructure in Pinellas is impervious because it does not allow rainwater to filter into the ground. Rainwater runs off impervious surfaces and becomes known as "stormwater".

Pinellas County's impervious surfaces require stormwater management to provide pollutant removal and prevent flooding issues.

The County has to meet State and Federal requirements for water quality and flood prevention.

Developers are required to follow our Pinellas County Stormwater Manual, which sets water quality treatment standards and encourages best management practices such as green infrastructure.

Pinellas County's Strategic Plan includes goals for superior environmental stewardship. This means we strive to ensure our natural environment and public health are protected, and that our community is both sustainable and resilient.

The landscape in Pinellas County has changed drastically over time. Much of the area has been altered as a result of residential and commercial development, vastly reducing the open space and creating a highly urbanized, extensively paved environment. All of this has an impact on our environment, especially when under-managed as it was in years past. Water and air quality, climate and habitat are all affected by intense urban development. Improperly treated stormwater runoff is a major contributing factor to environmental degradation.

To see just how much this landscape has morphed over time, move the slider below left and right to see the transition from 1926 to 2020.

What is Pinellas County Doing?

Pinellas County educates staff and the public about the importance of green infrastructure, striving to encourage its use in both public and private projects. Please see the timeline below for the actions Pinellas County has taken to address the need for best management practices related to stormwater management.

Timeline of actions Pinellas County has taken to increase the use of green infrastructure.

Green Infrastructure Tour Map

Pinellas County has created a virtual tour map of public green infrastructure sites within the County, including projects completed by other municipalities. The tour map provides a location, picture, and a brief description of each site, and is periodically updated as we hear about new projects.

Safford Ave Educational Baffle Box

The City of Tarpon Springs installed a baffle box with bio-activated media (BAM) in between Safford Avenue and the Pinellas Trail to reduce pollution from roadway stormwater runoff. BAM can be thought of as a sponge for contaminants. The media absorbs various nutrients and improves water quality. This site includes an educational sign and a transparent lid so the inner workings of the structure can be viewed.

Mobbly Bayou Rain Garden

The City of Oldsmar installed a rain garden in 2019 to help reduce nutrients entering Mobbly Bayou and to educate the community. The garden received an update in 2023 to better incorporate Florida native plants.

Anderson Park Rain Garden

Pinellas County Public Works constructed this rain garden within Anderson Park to help treat stormwater runoff while also providing public education.

Ozona Living Shoreline

Pinellas County staff and volunteers installed elements of a living shoreline along an existing seawall in Ozona. The goal was to strengthen and extend the life of the seawall while improving water quality and providing habitat for wading birds, fish and other marine species. The project is located at the corner of Bayshore Drive and Bay Street in Ozona.

Philippe Park Living Shoreline

This is an ongoing Pinellas County Public Works project to construct multiple different types of living shoreline elements. The goal of this project is to increase resiliency to sea-level rise and storm surge, reduce shoreline erosion, enhance wildlife habitat, improve water quality and demonstrate the performance of various natural elements in protecting coastal resources.

Safety Harbor Marina Park Baffle Box

The City of Safety Harbor installed a baffle box at Marina Park to help reduce pollution from stormwater runoff.

SunStar Rain Garden

Pinellas County Public Works constructed this rain garden, in partnership with BioClean (a Forterra company). The rain garden contains Bioactivated Media (BAM) to help boost pollutant removal. This rain garden treats stormwater runoff from the parking lot at the Sunstar EMS facility in Largo and can be seen from the Botanical Gardens Trail.

SunStar Modular Wetland

Pinellas County Public Works constructed this modular wetland, in partnership with BioClean (a Forterra company). It contains Bioactivated Media (BAM) to boost pollutant removal. This modular wetland treats stormwater runoff from the parking lot at the Sunstar EMA facility before it reaches McKay Creek and can be seen from the Botanical Gardens Trail.

SunStar Upflow Filter

Pinellas County Public Works constructed this upflow filter in partnership with BioClean (a Forterra company) and was partially funded by a FDOT grant. The site contains Bioactivated Media (BAM) to boost pollutant removal. An underground concrete filter box where stormwater runoff is treated by flowing up through a special filter to remove pollutants before it flows into McKay Creek.

Henrietta Ave/Jean St Pervious Roadway

The City of Largo converted Henrietta Ave. and Jean St. into pervious roadways. This helps infiltrate stormwater, reducing the amount of runoff that the roadway generates to have to manage and treat.

Largo Community Center Bioswales

City of Largo's community center utilizes bioswale to capture and treat onsite stormwater. Rainwater is directed from the roof of the Largo Community Center and the adjacent parking lot to flow through a series of bioswales and stormwater ponds. The large stormwater pond behind the Center is where all of the stormwater runoff on the property is stored and treated to before being released to the City’s stormwater system.

Highland Recreation Center

City of Largo's Highland Recreation Center's parking lot, roof, and tennis court drainage is routed through a series of green best management practices to ensure rainwater runoff is treated before entering the City of Largo's stormwater system. This includes bioswales, stormwater ponds, and multiple wetland areas. There is a walking trail throughout the entire complex where visitors can view the green infrastructure, natural spaces, and local wildlife.

Ibis Lake Baffle Box & Bioswales

In order to reduce nutrient runoff from stormwater, Pinellas County constructed 13 bioswales and a baffle box filled with BAM within the Pelican Creek subdivision. This work was partially funded by a SWFWMD Cooperative Funding Initiative (CFI) grant.

Lassing Park Living Shoreline Project

City of St. Peterburg's living shoreline project that includes the creation of oyster reefs and the installation of coastal wetland plants along the northeastern shoreline of Lassing Park. The proposed project has been designed to help stabilize approximately 700’ of severely eroding shoreline, provide hard bottom habitats for fish and wildlife resources and promote water quality improvements in the Tampa Bay ecosystem.