AFTER OPENING A water bill last year, Ruth Solomon saw an advertisement for a novel program that sought to encourage Boston residents to build green roofs. 

The 51-year-old mom from Jamaica Plain had been intrigued by the benefits of such roofs, which act like sponges, using a range of plants to absorb stormwater and help reduce electricity costs by improving insulation. 

“We thought it would be a good thing to do,” she said. 

Last fall, Solomon and her husband, Rob Ditzion, were the first recipients of the new grants from the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, which they used to plant a range of succulents on a specially built roof over their mudroom. 

The couple received $8,000 — covering nearly 90 percent of their costs — from a pool of $650,000 the commission has set aside for individual grants to promote green roofs and other ways of reducing stormwater pollution in Boston. 

The commission’s goal is to reduce the runoff after storms carry contaminants from roads and other impervious surfaces into storm drains. That stormwater, long a source of pollution in Boston Harbor and other local waterways, can spur toxic algae blooms, fish die-offs, and other environmental damage. 

As climate change increases heavy bursts of precipitation in New England, the number of intense two-day storms rose by 74 percent between 1901 and 2016, while the heaviest downpours now dump 55 percent more precipitation than the most intense storms did during the middle of the 1900s, according to a 2023 report by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. The report added that an additional 40 percent increase in such heavy bursts of precipitation is projected by the end of the century. 

Green roofs can play a significant role in reducing such pollution in urban areas, said Lydia Olson, a technical specialist at the Massachusetts Rivers Alliance, an environmental advocacy group. 

She has urged local and state officials to do more to reduce the runoff, saying the benefits range from improving air quality to making the Charles River swimmable more regularly. 

“There is an urgent need for more funding for water infrastructure and stormwater mitigation across the state,” she said. 

As part of that effort, the commission last year changed how city residents pay their bills, breaking them down into separate charges for water, sewage, and stormwater. Money raised from the stormwater charge will be used to help repair or build new stormwater infrastructure, commission officials said. 

The commission also started a program that provides city residents who meet its stormwater retention standards with a 30 percent discount on the stormwater portion of their bill. 

Still, the Boston water commission has had a hard time persuading residents to take them up on their offer to help subsidize green roofs and other ways of reducing runoff. 

After launching the grant program last spring, there was only one other applicant. 

Judith Stoia, 78, received $2,130 to build a dry well on her property in Jamaica Plain. Dry wells are underground chambers that collect and store stormwater. 

To entice more residents, the commission last year doubled the amount of the grants to $8,000 per applicant, and since then, they have received another five applications. 

Anthony Dello Iacono, director of its stormwater program, said the commission had advertised the grants to customers through mailings and conversations with community groups. That hasn’t been sufficient to draw the number of applicants that the commission wants. 

“The commission would love to see more participants,” Iacono said. 

Commission officials said they didn’t know why more residents weren’t taking advantage of the grants. 

Nicole Holmes, who oversees sustainability projects at Nitsch Engineering in Boston, noted how increasingly intense storms and heavy bursts of rain, as a result of climate change, are making stormwater pollution more of a problem across the region. 

“In flood prone areas, green roofs could serve as a highly effective tool for mitigating flooding, allowing water to be stored on rooftops and slowly released once floodwaters have receded,” Holmes said. “I am hopeful the city of Boston will continue to strengthen policy and incentives for green roofs.” 

The commission’s grant program is one of several efforts to encourage the installation of green roofs in Boston. 

Last October, the city announced green roofs would be added to 30 bus stops along the MBTA’s 28 route. 

 Zöe Davis, a project manager in the city’s Office of Climate Resilience, said while the project aims to reduce stormwater runoff, it has the added benefit of providing commuters shade. 

 Davis said city officials are considering expanding the program to other bus routes. 

 “The desire is not only to expand this pilot, but to formalize it as a program and formalize climate readiness into the streets,” she said. 

 Green roofs have been more common in some European countries, such as Germany, where there are at least 2 billion square feet of green roofs, according to a report by Green Plants for Green Buildings, a Colorado-based environmental group. 

In the United States, there are now more than 17.5 million square feet of green roofs, according to American Forests, a Washington-based conservation group. Chicago alone now has 509 green roofs, amounting to more 5.6 million square feet, city officials say. 

 It’s unclear how many green roofs there are in Boston, but a study from Tufts University identified nearly 15,000 buildings in the city that may be suitable candidates for green roofs. 

 Mark Winterer, founder of Recover Green Roofs, a Somerville company that designs and installs green roofs, said Boston should consider emulating a Washington, DC, program that allows developers who store more stormwater on their properties to earn or trade credits to other developers who can’t meet the city’s stormwater requirements. 

 “It’s not forcing people to do it, but it’s creating an incentive of savings over time,” Winterer said. 

 As Solomon and Ditzion’s roof in Jamaica Plain this summer has sprouted sea pink flowers, the couple said they have no regrets. 

 They’ve had to spend $1,000 to have the company that installed the roof look after its irrigation and the health of the plants. Aside from that, they’ve just been enjoying the view — and compliments from their neighbors. 

 They haven’t seen any change in their utility bills, but they have noticed that their mudroom is cooler on warm days than it would have been without the green roof. They also think it has likely increased the value of their single-family colonial. 

 Solomon said she would encourage more city residents to consider applying for a grant. 

 “It helps the environment, and it looks cool,” she said. “It does so many good things. It just makes sense.” 

Tavishi Chattopadhyay is a student at Boston University. David Abel is a journalism professor at BU. This story was reported during Abel’s environmental journalism class.