Green infrastructure is an approach to water management that protects, restores, or mimics natural water cycles. SUNY New Paltz has implemented green infrastructure practices to improve the water quality of the Saw Mill Brook Watershed and the Hudson River Estuary. Green infrastructure practices also enable the campus and the watershed to adapt to changing weather patterns due to climate change.

SUNY New Paltz has constructed seven different green infrastructure sites demonstrating seven different types of green infrastructure technologies:

Permeable Pavement
at the Route 32 Parking Lot

Rainwater Diffuser
at the Route 32 Parking Lot

1,000 gallon Rainwater Cistern for Irrigation
at LeFevre Hall

Vegetated Swale
at the Ponds

Six Bioretention Areas and Dry Swale
at the Lenape Parking Lot

Four Bioretention Areas
at Ridgeview Hall

12,500 gallon Rainwater Cistern for flushing toilets and urinals
at the Wooster Building