Nature Based Public Works Infrastructure for Resilient, Healthier Communities
Transform your underutilized public lands into high-performance assets. Mowed roadways, sumps, eroding park edges, and short-lived street trees offer little return to municipalities. Acres of suburban lawns pose a flood risk. And non-native plants do not protect the drinking water, air quality, or health of the residents who pay for them.
At Spadefoot, we help municipalities reduce long-term maintenance budgets, prevent flooding, optimize resource management, and secure grant funding for nature-based, self-sustaining infrastructure that actively improves the resilience and public health outcomes of the communities it serves.
Severe weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity, and Long Island’s municipalities are absorbing the cost. Flash flooding overwhelms catch basins, erodes shorelines, backs up sumps, and sends contaminated runoff directly into the sole-source aquifer your residents drink from. Conventional infrastructure was designed to move water off-site as fast as possible. It doesn’t filter it, absorb it, or slow it down. And acres of non-native sod — which absorbs virtually as little water as pavement — makes every storm worse than it needs to be.
The financial exposure is compounding. Flooding events generate emergency response costs, property damage claims, and infrastructure repair bills. Every roadway that floods is a maintenance failure that could have been designed away. Every sump that overflows is a water quality event that sends pollutants directly into the aquifer. The traditional “mow and maintain” model does nothing to manage flood risk, and every storm season, the gap between what your infrastructure can handle and what the weather delivers gets wider.
Every chemical application on public land exposes families, children, and elderly residents who use these spaces to pesticides and fertilizers that track into their homes, filter into the aquifer they drink from, and degrade the coastal waters where they fish and swim.
Your residents deserve public spaces that work harder and cost less. Infrastructure should protect their health, not compromise it.
Severe weather events that cause flash flooding are increasing in frequency and severity and costing local municipalities millions. The solution to this problem is stormwater infiltration into the groundwater table, before it flows downhill. However, much of our existing infrastructure was designed to move stormwater off-site as quickly as possible. Non-native sod, which requires on-going maintenance, is a conventional groundcover in suburban parks and along roadways. The problem is that it absorbs virtually as little water as concrete. It’s green, but it might as well be pavement when it comes to stormwater absorption. We specialize in building bioswales filled with native plants that capture and sequester stormwater upland, allowing for greater capacity in your existing drainage systems, and protecting your wetlands.
Every gallon of stormwater that runs off your municipal streets, parking lots, and public spaces carries nitrogen, petroleum residue, road salts, and sediment directly into Long Island’s sole-source aquifer, the same aquifer that provides 100% of your residents’ drinking water.
Conventional stormwater infrastructure, catch basins, pipes, and concrete sumps only move water. It doesn’t clean it. We design living systems that do both.
Every native stormwater garden and bioswale your municipality installs is a filter between your streets and the sole-source aquifer. Every chemical you remove from public land management is a contaminant that doesn’t reach your residents’ taps.
Native urban canopy reduces ground-level temperatures by 10–15°F on the hottest days. For elderly residents, outdoor workers, and children, that’s a direct health intervention, not an amenity.
Families, children, and elderly residents use your parks, playgrounds, streetscapes, and trails every day. When those spaces are maintained with pesticides and fertilizers, residue tracks into homes, contaminates soil where children play, and leaches into the water supply. Native infrastructure eliminates that exposure.
Stagnant, nutrient-loaded municipal ponds and retention basins are a public health risk. Biological water restoration addresses the root cause, excess nutrient loading, not just the visible symptoms. Probiotic treatment restores water clarity, oxygen levels, and ecological balance without chemicals.
When monarchs, bumblebees, and native songbirds return to your public lands, it’s a measurable sign that the ecosystem your residents depend on is recovering. Pollinator decline and community health decline share the same root causes: chemical saturation, habitat loss, and contaminated water.
We help municipalities identify eligible projects, prepare grant applications, and deliver the environmental data and documentation that funding agencies require. Our projects are designed from the start to meet the performance criteria these programs measure.
More than 100 years of combined field experience in ecological restoration, native planting, stormwater management, and invasive species control. Project experience ranges from site-scale habitat restoration, stormwater management to complex coastal and bluff reconstruction requiring integrated design and construction execution.
Led by Frank Piccininni, an environmental attorney and biologist with deep experience in complex permitting, regulatory strategy, and agency coordination. Active leadership in regional policy initiatives.
Applied ecological research informs all projects, including contributions to regional native planting best management practices and ongoing development of field-based frameworks for ecological restoration and system dynamics. Work emphasizes translating ecological theory into constructible, defensible designs.
Hands-on construction capability with extensive experience in grading, stormwater systems, and coastal/bluff stabilization. Ability to implement restoration projects that meet both engineering requirements and ecological performance goals.
Certified erosion and sediment control specialists on staff, with expertise in stormwater compliance, site stabilization, and regulatory adherence throughout construction.
Regional licensee for EnBiomatic, a patented Bacillus-based bioaugmentation technology used to enhance biological treatment processes, reduce biosolids, and improve water quality in environmental and engineered systems.
Stop accepting an expensive and dangerous status quo and start building assets that grow more valuable and resilient each year.
We start with a green infrastructure audit. We walk your public lands, assess the ecology and hydrology, review your maintenance costs, and identify the projects that qualify for state and county funding. From there, we’ll show you how to convert your highest-cost, lowest-return public spaces into self-sustaining infrastructure that protects your residents’ health and saves your municipality money, permanently.
Tell us about your property, current maintenance challenges, and site conditions—our team will evaluate your landscape and identify opportunities to reduce costs, improve performance, and transition to a self-sustaining ecosystem.
