EPA Announces Winners of RainWorks Challenge

April 30, 2019

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette was among nationwide honorees at the national competition

The U.S. EPA has announced the winners of its seventh annual Campus RainWorks Challenge.

According to the EPA, the challenge is a national competition that engages college students in the design of on-campus green infrastructure solutions to address storm water pollution. One winner included a team from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for their project on community resilience through flood control and green infrastructure.

“EPA’s Campus RainWorks Challenge encourages students to transform classroom knowledge into innovative ideas to solve real-world environmental problems,” said Andrew Wheeler, EPA Administrator, according to an EPA release. “I congratulate this year’s winners, and it is encouraging to see how contestants worked closely with their local communities to develop ways to protect water resources from harmful stormwater pollution.”

Managing storm water runoff remains an environmental challenge for communities across the country, according to EPA. The EPA’s Campus RainWorks Challenge is asking students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the U.S. to apply green infrastructure design principles, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and increase the use of green infrastructure on college campuses.

EPA invited teams to compete in two design categories: the Master Plan category and the Demonstration Project category. The Master Plan category examines how green infrastructure can be integrated across campus and the Demonstration Project category focuses on how green infrastructure can address storm water pollution at a specific site on campus.

According to the EPA, teams focused their expertise, creativity, and energy on the challenges of storm water management and showcased the environmental, economic, and social benefits of green infrastructure.

To view the winners visit here.