2 NM communities to share in federal funding

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Two New Mexico communities will share in funds awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for reducing water pollution and using more green infrastructure.

The agency says $860,000 was awarded this week to 14 communities around the country. Those include the city of Albuquerque and Cochiti Pueblo.

In Albuquerque, the EPA will help with the design and specifications for a rooftop vegetable garden that will use captured rainwater for irrigation.

Pueblo officials will use their share of the funding to prepare a plan for integrating green infrastructure into land use planning and storm water management in the northern New Mexico community.

The EPA says green infrastructure decreases pollution to local waterways by treating rain where it falls and keeping polluted runoff from entering sewer systems.