Green and blue infrastructures have become vital nature-based solutions to help communities combat the negative impacts of urbanization on watersheds. While landscape architects have been critical to the design of large scale green and living infrastructural projects in cities, their design in rural regions has not seen similar attention within the field. In rural areas, green and blue infrastructures have primarily been implemented through general Best Management Practices (BMPs) rather than site-specific designs. Though BMPs offer essential tools for improving water quality and reducing risk from flooding, the success of green infrastructure is inherently spatial and site specific. The ability for sites to detain water or improve water quality is affected by topography, soils, as well as the qualities and type of vegetation. Just as critical as environmental conditions are social ones. Understanding the needs, priorities, and existing impacts to the landscape by stakeholders and landowners is critical to the design of successful, novel green infrastructures. This booklet shares research findings and design work from the second-year graduate Landscape Architecture Studio at Cornell University, “Black Dirt Futures: Designing for Resiliency in the Drowned Lands of the Wallkill,” exploring the site-specific and community-engaged design of green-blue and living infrastructures in the rural Black Dirt Region in the southern Wallkill River watershed. The work was developed over the summer and fall of 2021 through research and community engagement efforts generously supported by the New York State Water Resource Institute (NYS WRI) at Cornell University. The booklet reviews work from two phases of the project: 1) a research phase in which initial mapping, fieldwork and stakeholder conversations identify key sites along the Wallkill for intervention; and 2) a design phase through an advanced graduate-level landscape architecture studio course at Cornell University. Initial research looked into the environmental and cultural conditions of the southern Wallkill valley, including interviews with a diverse group of community partners to understand what they saw as the challenges and opportunities in the region, as well as possible programmatic synergies for future design. Multi-scalar analysis, mapping, and documentary methods were used to investigate key site conditions and management regimes that affect water quality. Building from the summer research, a graduate studio in Landscape Architecture at Cornell identified a range of catalytic sites for design, and, through individual design projects, tested how green and living infrastructure could be designed for and with rural communities. Using design tools derived from precedent analysis, students proposed and tested novel, green-blue-living infrastructures that can support the ecologies, communities and economies of the Black Dirt region. All stages of the project were conducted in partnership with a group of community partners and local landowners whose participation greatly deepened the findings of this design research. This project builds on years of work and advocacy by a number of agencies and organizations, including the Wallkill River Watershed Alliance, the Orange County Planning Department, Hudsonia, Riverkeeper, the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District, and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NY DEC) among others. The project is informed by recent nutrient hot spot mapping by the NYS WRI to help locate key locations for additional field work and analysis, and considers the results as supportive to the ongoing Total Daily Maximum Load (TMDL) studies by the NY DEC. This report consolidates initial research and design proposals to inspire new projects and work beyond the scope of the studio, with a goal to support and help create a resilient future for the Black Dirt Region and surrounding communities.