Chicago都会区水务机构批准1590万美元 续推防洪校园操场「成长空间」计划
位于伊利诺伊州库克县的芝加哥市，大芝加哥都会区水资源回收区（MWRD）10月16日宣布，其董事会已批准一项1590万美元的计划，继续推进在全美获奖的「成长空间」（Space to Grow）计划——把Chicago公立学校（CPS）的旧沥青操场改造成既能玩耍学习、又能蓄水防洪的绿色校园。
根据这项计划，MWRD将与Chicago Public Schools、Chicago市水务管理局（CDWM）、Healthy Schools Campaign和Openlands签署政府间协议（IGA）。下一阶段将在更多公立学校建设自然游乐区、花园和生物滞留洼地；入选学校每年评定一次，考量因素包括社区内涝程度、学校规模、不透水地面面积和公平性等。MWRD、CPS与CDWM是出资建设方，负责设计与施工，另外两家机构负责筹款、培训、社区工作坊和项目管理等非建设费用。
「成长空间」的操场铺设透水地面并配有地下蓄水系统，大雨时可暂存雨水、减轻合流制下水道的负荷，从而减少周边社区内涝和地下室倒灌，并改善水质。据该计划十周年报告，全市已建成的36处「成长空间」操场每次降雨合计可蓄水多达700万加仑，累计改造土地约146.9万平方英尺。
MWRD委员 Yumeka Brown 说：「通过『成长空间』，我们能为学生和他们的邻居提供安全的户外活动空间，同时缓解强降雨的影响。」她感谢各合作机构继续推进这项「增强韧性、投资未来领袖」的计划。
MWRD同时表示，正争取联邦资金，拟把这一模式试点推广到郊区的 Cicero、Burnham、Franklin Park 和 Summit 等社区的学校操场。
Chicago-Area Water District Approves $15.9 Million to Continue Space to Grow Schoolyard Program
Chicago is a city in Cook County, Illinois. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) announced on October 16 that its Board of Commissioners has approved a $15.9 million plan to continue Space to Grow, the nationally recognized program that converts Chicago Public Schools (CPS) playlots into green schoolyards built for play, learning and flood control.
Under the plan, the MWRD will enter an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Department of Water Management (CDWM), Healthy Schools Campaign and Openlands. The next phase will build natural play areas, gardens and bioswales at additional CPS schools, selected annually based on the degree of neighborhood flooding, school capacity, impervious surface area and equity, among other criteria. The MWRD, CPS and CDWM are the capital partners paying for design and installation, while Healthy Schools Campaign and Openlands fundraise for non-construction costs such as training, community workshops, evaluation and project management.
Space to Grow schoolyards use permeable surfaces and underground storage chambers that capture stormwater during heavy rain, reducing the load on the combined sewer system, cutting neighborhood flooding and basement backups, and improving area water quality. According to the program's 10-year report, the 36 completed Space to Grow playgrounds across Chicago can capture up to 7 million gallons of water every time it rains, and the program has transformed about 1,469,400 square feet of land into multifunctional green space.
"Through Space to Grow, we can support students and their neighbors with safe outdoor spaces to play, while also mitigating the effects of heavy downpours," said MWRD Commissioner Yumeka Brown. "We thank our partners at CPS, the Chicago Department of Water Management, Healthy Schools Campaign and Openlands for continuing this program that promotes resilience and invests in our future leaders."
The MWRD said it is also pursuing federal funding to launch a pilot version of the program at schoolyards in the suburban communities of Cicero, Burnham, Franklin Park and Summit.
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图片来源：图：Chicago公立学校Haines Elementary School校舍与操场（资料图）。Photo: Haines Elementary School, a Chicago Public Schools campus in Chinatown, Chicago (file photo). Image: Warren LeMay, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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