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Green Infrastructure Baseline Inventory

About the Green Infrastructure Baseline Inventory

The Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), in coordination with the Calumet Stormwater Collaborative, is developing the Green Infrastructure Baseline Inventory (GIBI). This dataset aims to document existing green infrastructure (GI) installations in the Calumet region of Illinois. This data will help inform decisions and strategic planning to improve stormwater management across the Calumet region. The GIBI will be a free and publically accessible resource to document where GI already exists, and how it is performing, to inform future stormwater planning endeavors. 

Click here to view a map of the Calumet region.

Contribute data

Three easy ways to share projects to populate the Inventory 

Did you play a role in the development or construction of green stormwater infrastructure in the Calumet region of Illinois? Please contribute to the inventory! You can share information in three ways:   

  1. Fill out the GIBI Submission Form to easily submit a green infrastructure project to the database. This option is great for people who only have a few green infrastructure projects to submit.
  2. Download this pre-formatted spreadsheet to easily submit many green infrastructure projects within the same document. Email completed spreadsheets to jkeller@metroplanning.org. This option is best for people with many projects to submit who are comfortable working with data and spreadsheets.
  3. If you have the plans or drawings for existing green infrastructure but need help submitting the project(s) to the GIBI, you can simply email the drawings as PDFs, and the GIBI team will review them for submission. Email your files to jkeller@metroplanning.org.  
GIBI Submission Form  

Please submit one form per address. If there are multiple green stormwater installations at the same address, there will be an option to include up to two in the form. Please include as much project data as available and leave any unknown answers blank. Submitter’s contact information will not be made public and will only be used for follow-up questions from the GIBI team.  

Frequently asked questions

What qualifies as green stormwater infrastructure eligible to be submitted to the GIBI?  
Green stormwater infrastructure is designed to capture rain where it falls, slowing down stormwater and allowing some to be absorbed into the soil. It is a stormwater management approach that is nature-based or mimics natural hydrological processes, engineered to store or treat stormwater on-site. Green infrastructure offers community benefits, such as filtering pollutants and improving water quality, improved public health outcomes, community resilience, large-scale on-site irrigation, or as part of an interconnected network of flood mitigation efforts. Examples include rain gardens, pervious concrete, bioswales, green roofs, and constructed wetlands.   

Is there a deadline to submit information about a green stormwater infrastructure installation to be included in the GIBI?  
Yes, please submit information by June 30, 2021.  

Who can submit information to the GIBI? 
Anyone with detailed knowledge of one or more green stormwater infrastructure installations in the Calumet region of Illinois should submit.

Who can I reach out to for questions or assistance?  
Please contact Justin Keller at jkeller@metroplanning.org or by phone at (312) 863-6033. 

I have drawings or plans for an installation of green stormwater infrastructure and need help submitting the information. What should I do?  
Please send the drawings as PDF documents to jkeller@metroplanning.org. 

I have information about many green stormwater installations in the Calumet region. Is there a streamlined process that I can use to include this information in the GIBI? 
Please download this spreadsheet to submit data about many installations at once.  

Why is this project limited to the Calumet region of Illinois?  
This is a small scale region to test the feasibility of data collection and management to inform future expansion of the region covered by the dataset.  

When will the dataset be available for public use and what could it be used for? 
The data will be available to the public by the end of 2021. It will be useful for many applications, especially for those interested in understanding where more green infrastructure could be implemented.

For more information and assistance 

Please contact Justin Keller at jkeller@metroplanning.org or by phone at (312) 863-6033. MPC is available to assist you in the submission process and to answer any questions you may have. 

This project is supported by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Coastal Management Program through a federal grant from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.