Delta Institute works with communities throughout the Midwest to solve complex environmental challenges. We envision a region in which all communities and landscapes thrive through an integrated approach to environmental, economic, and social challenges.
October 7 | 6:00pm - 7:00pm
We are a trusted 501c3 partner who is working with hundreds of communities, municipal departments, nonprofits, and for-profit companies to achieve a more sustainable and vibrant Midwest.
Delta Institute released our Toolkit for Using StoryWood on December 12th ahead of the holiday season. We encourage you to use its release as a reminder to appreciate all material gifts – big and small – as every material has a story, and wood is no different.
Stormwater runoff from parking lots, roadways, buildings, and other impervious surfaces carries oils, grease, pesticides, sediment, and excess nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen into groundwater and nearby natural bodies of water–including to Lake MIchigan through watershed tributaries. Due to the increased frequency and severity of storms as a result of global climate change, volumes of stormwater runoff continue to increase.
Roughly 50,000 acres of the 1.5 million total acres of conserved land in Illinois are owned by non-governmental conservation groups, also known as conservation land trusts. Traditionally, conservation land trusts have protected land, often restored it, and later transferred it to government entities for long-term ownership, which effectively transfers the responsibility of land stewardship to those governmental entities.
Delta Institute—with partners including the Croatan Institute—released Soil Wealth: Investing in Regenerative Agriculture across Asset Classes, the most comprehensive look to date at investment opportunities in regenerative agriculture.
Delta Institute has worked with numerous communities who are faced with a closed–or closing–coal power plant. These sites have unique needs for redevelopment, ranging from environmental remediation to replacement of lost tax revenue and jobs. Delta facilitated a coalition of community groups located outside Pittsburgh, PA to create Guiding Principles for sustainable redevelopment of the closed Shenango Coke Plant property located on Neville Island, located on the Ohio River.
Delta Institute is leading a coalition of partners to implement best management practices in the Rabbit River watershed, a tributary to the Kalamazoo River, Michigan. Up to 4,500 acres of highly erosive lands will be addressed through cover crops, exclusion fencing, no-till and mulch-till practices to reduce sediment loading by 1.5 million pounds annually.
Delta led Merchandise Mart through initial LEED Operations and Maintenance Certification at the silver level in 2007 and recertification at the gold level in 2013. These efforts included assistance for the LEED Commercial Interiors Certification for the Designer Lounge. Through this work Delta has helped the Merchandise Mart establish waste diversion, tracking and monitoring strategies, including developing a scale and bar code system for measuring waste daily by location. We continue our collaboration today to reduce the Mart’s overall waste footprint.
Agricultural land management decisions are situated within a complex and interconnected system, influenced by a suite of social and economic factors, many of which are difficult to control. Landowners can, but often don’t, take it upon themselves to drive stewardship of their land. This report focuses on land ownership and tenure as levers to increase conservation and rebuild soil health in the Midwest, where over 50% of the agricultural land is leased.
Delta and the City of Hobart have implemented GI installations throughout the city, including a courtyard rain garden at Hobart Middle School, a parking lot rain garden and permeable pavement in the front and backsides of Hobart City Hall, and a large bioswale in the city’s Hillman Park.
Delta’s Gary Green Infrastructure Plan is a two-year project focused on assisting the City of Gary with planning and implementing Green Infrastructure designs, identifying 61 Priority Projects to install 26 acres of rain gardens, permeable pavements, street planters, and other GI designs, collectively reducing the negative impacts of 132 million gallons of stormwater annually.