MegaKC Advancing Green Infrastructure Through Kansas City’s Smart Sewer Program

Infrastructure improvements aren’t always traditional pipes and concrete. Green infrastructure uses natural and engineered systems to capture, filter, infiltrate, and manage rainfall before it overwhelms conventional drainage and sewer systems. MegaKC has helped construct these solutions as part of Kansas City’s larger investment in sustainable stormwater management.

KC Water’s Smart Sewer program, a long-term effort to reduce sewer overflows and improve Kansas City’s wastewater system, includes more than 100 projects and initiatives with green infrastructure serving as one of its primary strategies (Kansas City Smart Sewer).

Green infrastructure can include bioretention areas, rain gardens, permeable pavement, infiltration systems, detention areas, subsurface storage, and other systems designed to manage stormwater closer to where it falls. These projects reduce the amount of stormwater entering the sewer system, improving water quality, lowering the amount of runoff, and creating opportunities for improvements to nearby parks, sidewalks, and landscaping.

MegaKC has partnered with KC Water on several Green infrastructure projects, including Project 1-2: Paseo Gateway/Kansas City University. The project featured two extended wet detention basins which redirect stormwater from the roadway. Work included fine grading, installation of pond liners, native vegetation landscaping, instrumentation and controls, electrical power supply, retaining walls, storm sewer relocations, and associated concrete placement.

Mill Creek Park is another example of MegaKC’s work with KC water’s Smart Sewer program. Stretching from 43rd to 45th street along Mill Creek Parkway, this project consists of installing  several detention basins, as well as groundwater storage and ground infiltration. Improvements to the park will include elevated walkways around the ponds, new pavement walkways, and seating areas.

Green infrastructure projects aren’t only sewer projects. They combine proven civil construction with green infrastructure solutions designed to support the city’s sewer system, waterways, and neighborhoods for years to come. From Paseo Gateway to Mill Creek Park, MegaKC is helping construct infrastructure throughout Kansas City that approaches stormwater management differently.