How do you transform an underutilized park space or crumbling parking lot into a thriving community amenity that also protects Kansas City’s local streams and rivers? Through thoughtfully designed, well-coordinated green infrastructure solutions like KC Water’s Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project: VA Medical Center, Linwood Green Park & Avenue of Life. 

How This Project Came to Be

The VA Medical Center and Avenue of Life Green Infrastructure project grew roots and bloomed within the ever-evolving Kansas City sustainability landscape. Deemed a “demonstration project,” this effort was included in the City’s Smart Sewer Program to gather information required to effectively implement green infrastructure on a broad scale to reduce or replace “gray” infrastructure, such as pipes and underground facilities.  

KC Water’s initial focus was to find and evaluate opportunities to leverage city-owned property, community partnerships, and green infrastructure technologies to reduce the volume of sewer overflows in Kansas City’s combined sewer system by capturing and absorbing rainwater where it falls. Two of the sites identified as strong candidates for green infrastructure solutions during this exploration were packaged to become the VA Medical Center, Linwood Green Park and Avenue of Life Green Infrastructure project as part of KC Water’s Smart Sewer program.

Both locations were identified during a study of green infrastructure opportunities within Kansas City’s Third District, and each were attractive to the city for the demonstration project due to their location on city-owned properties, capacity to manage stormwater runoff, and beneficial community partnerships. These two sites were part of the final three selected, along with the East High School Green Infrastructure Project. KC Water chose to move forward with not just one, but all three of these sites which were split into two construction contracts: one for East High School site and one for VA Medical Center/Linwood Green Park and Avenue of Life sites.

Situated along the entrance drive of the VA Medical Center, Linwood Green Park was an obvious choice for green infrastructure with its large footprint, underutilized space, and the large volume of stormwater that flowed from the hospital property down the sloped green space and pooled on the streets below. The partnership with Avenue of Life (AOL), a workforce development organization, offered several community benefits, including contributing to AOL’s mission and providing an urban orchard in collaboration with Giving Grove. AOL also had a large impervious area of unused parking lot — a prime candidate for asphalt removal that contributed to the project’s primary goal of stormwater infiltration.

How These Green Infrastructure Projects Work

Green infrastructure helps our community manage stormwater the way nature intended by capturing and managing rainwater where it falls. It helps to clean pollutants from rainwater runoff and decreases the amount of water getting into our sewer pipes, and reduces flooding, pollution, and trash in our creeks, streams, and rivers. It works by slowing, absorbing, and filtering stormwater before it enters and overflows Kansas City’s combined sewer system. It also replenishes groundwater and sustains plants, trees, and natural habitats.

One of the main green infrastructure features in both the VA and AOL sites are bioretention basins. These basins are filled with deeply rooted native plants to help absorb excess stormwater from nearby rooftops, sidewalks, and streets. Layers of rock and soil store the water, while a buried underdrain system controls the slow release of water back to the sewer system.

Just like a garden or lawn, green infrastructure requires regular upkeep to keep it working and looking beautiful. With proper maintenance, green infrastructure grows and gets stronger over time. Maintenance is performed by multiple groups including city crews, contractors, and partner organizations.

Benefits Beyond Basins

While the green infrastructure elements of these two sites are effective at managing stormwater, it is no secret that the added community benefits are what make this project a true amenity. VA Medical Center staff and patients can also enjoy walks along the new trail as it winds through the native plants, demonstrating green infrastructure’s benefits to promoting active healthy lifestyles and water quality.  

“At KC Water, our work is about so much more than fixing pipes or treating water. At the root of all our projects is our mission to protect public health and the environment surrounding them.” – Brian Hess, Smart Sewer Division Head

Keeping Kansas City's Environmental Commitment

Protecting public health and the environment is the primary purpose of the Smart Sewer program. To ensure that we achieve this mission, KC Water will continue to deliver projects on time and on budget to meet the City’s obligations of the Consent Decree and maintain reliable utility service. This includes implementation of green infrastructure improvements to effectively manage stormwater from at least 480 acres of impervious surface in the combined sewer system (also called “green acres”) by the year 2040. The construction of this green infrastructure will be completed in three projects with the first 80 green acres to be constructed by the end of 2026, the next 160 green acres by end of 2030 and the remaining 240 green acres by the end of 2035. Learn more about KC Water’s future green infrastructure projects.

As part of our environmental commitment, KC Water will continue to implement green infrastructure to reduce sewer overflows and leverage the many community benefits green solutions provide. Lessons learned from projects like the Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project: VA Medical Center & Avenue of Life help KC Water evaluate the effectiveness, cost of green infrastructure technologies and improve the implementation of more green improvements throughout Kansas City where appropriate to reduce or replace gray overflow control measures.

Celebration with a Showcase

On July 8, 2022 KC Water hosted a project showcase to celebrate the completion of the VA Medical Center Green Infrastructure Project in Linwood Green Park. Project team members, City representatives, and VA Medical Center staff gathered to discover how green infrastructure manages stormwater at this location, hear from city leaders about ongoing green infrastructure efforts throughout Kansas City, and explore the trail winding through the blooming green infrastructure installation.