Climate Action

FRI-C03: Green Infrastructure: Where Water Is Scarce and Stakes Are High

Friday, September 18, 2026

1:15 PM - 2:30 PM PT

1.25 PDH, LA CES/HSW

Speaker(s)

Caroline Koch

Water Policy Director
WaterNow
San Francisco, California
Irene Ogata, ASLA, PLA (she/her/hers)

Urban Landscape Manager
City of Tuscon
Tucson, Arizona
Will Viitanen, ASLA, PLA, AIA, LEED AP, SITES AP

Associate Principal
Livable Cities Studio
Golden, Colorado

In the West, green infrastructure isn’t a scaled-down temperate model—it’s fundamentally different, shaped by heat, drought, and extremes. These constraints are accelerating innovation in multi-benefit GI, advancing resilience, equity, and climate-positive outcomes. As U.S. cities grow hotter and drier, the West offers lessons we can learn—and put into action now.

Learning Outcomes:

Describe how arid and semi-arid environmental conditions fundamentally change green infrastructure design and performance.
Identify strategies for measuring and communicating co-benefits to support funding, policy and public understanding.
Describe funding, policy, and delivery models that enable multi-benefit GI implementation.
Advance ASLA's Climate & Biodiversity Action Plan by translating lessons from the Mountain West into actionable approaches for other climate-stressed regions.