Urban Rivers and (Yuck) Sewers Are Cool Again

Los Angeles River

As we contemplate the wrath of Sandy, I thought I'd share with you all two important short films recently profiled on Grist that discuss the rediscovery of urban rivers and underground sewers.  Lost River discusses the exploits of "drainers" who explore and photograph some ancient and quite beautiful underground sewers (formerly waterways) in places like Brescia, Italy.  It also looks at the latest trend of unearthing urban rivers and details the succesful effort of Seoul to unearth, restore and revitalize the area around its Cheonggyecheon River--a stream that had traversed the city but, that had disappered under concrete when a major freeway had been built over it in the 1970s.  Closer to home, Rock the Boat, follows the efforts of local residents, paddlers, fishermen and environmentalists to thwart the Corps of Engineers and developers who in the early 2000s undertook to redesignate the Los Angeles River (yes, there is a river there!) as a non-river--and therefore, not have it abide by those pesky Clean Water Act restrictions.  Score one for the river as Los Angeles has recently developed a master plan for restoring the river.  http://grist.org/cities/sewer-discretion-is-advised-explorers-find-hidden-wonders-in-urban-waterways/.  Since the controversy, Friends of the Los Angeles River has sprung up to advocate on behalf of access, cleanup, and restoration of this much despoiled urban waterway. 

Will Levee Bond Referendum Hold?

As I've pointed out in my posts recently about the lower sections of Cameron Run, there is a $30 million dollar bond initiative to build a levee and pumping station to protect the working class Huntington neighborhood in Alexandria from further flooding.  As the accompanying Washington Post article points out, voters in Fairfaxt County will vote on November 6th as to whether they will finance the levee project, as well as two other bond initiatives on the ballot.  Increased development upstream as well as construction of the adjacent Capital Beltway and loss of nearby wetlands have resulted in catastrophic flooding events in recent years that have inundated local homes.  Without approval of the bond, the only remaining option for homeowners is to stay put and put up with future floods, move or hope that a private developer will step in to redevelop the area (and which would likely still result in upheaval of the existing neighborhood).     http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-politics/in-fairfax-county-neighborhood-bond-levee-is-election-days-main-event/2012/10/25/67547aa2-1c59-11e2-ba31-3083ca97c314_story.html

Cameron Run: Mother Nature Can Bite...and Its Not Always With Teeth!

So I was out walking today (Thursday) around Capitol Hill during my lunch break and the sky was blue, the birds were chirping, the Fall air was cool and I am thinking, "Do I really have to go back to the office?"  Of course, like all good workaholic Washingtonians, I did go back to the office.  Ugh.  Being outdoors though, got me to thinking about my watershed (Cameron Run) and especially the map rendering that I had examined earlier in the week that shows how my watershed's downstream course has been changed over the last half-century on account of suburban development and nearby highway construction.  The rendering, above, accompanied an article in the Washington Post from almost exactly one year ago when a devastating flood inundated many homes in the Huntington neighborhood of Alexandria--the second "100-year" type flood in a five year period.  What's especially interesting is how the course of Cameron run has been altered and channelized over the years. 

The rendering clearly shows that what was once a meandering stream, is now a nearly straight channel.  Due to sedimentation from years of highway construction and reconstruction, increased impervious surface resulting from suburbanization upstream, and channelization of many parts of the waterway, Cameron Run today cannot handle the volumes of water that rush into it and its upstream tributaries during a heavy rain event.  The result: the seemingly endless flooding of a close-knit and vibrant working class neighborhood.  Years of studies and proposals for a levee, pumping station, and redevelopment have borne no fruit so far.  The latter option, redeveloping the neighborhood into a mixed-use area, seems the most viable since it would involve partnering with developers who would have the funds and motivation (on account of the neighborhood's proximity to the Huntington Metro Station) to implement the infrastructure changes that neither the Federal, State, or local government have so far been able to pursue.  



Upstream View of Cameron Run (Huntington Metro Station is at left).

  In the meantime, I think that now that we have an increased awareness of the ill-effects that can befall urban streams (and the neighborhoods and natural areas that sit astride them) when we don't plan with nature, we really need to think and act more rationally and carefully in the future with respect to watershed planning and carefully consider all the effects that altering stream corridor and adjacent wetlands may have not only in the immediate area of any development/disturbance but, also downstream.  The price of not planning and considering all such adverse effects is not only detrimental to wildlife and biodiversity but, also hurts the bottom line and welfare of us humans as well.              

Rainy Days Are Good for Blogging!

"Native" Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)

So I had one resolution on this rainy, dreary Sunday in the Mid-Atlantic:  Finish up my invasive tree/plant/ shrub presentation for my Watershed class!  I think it's pretty good, if i say so myself (See below).  Taking pictures around my neighborhood for a couple of weeks and putting this presentation together made me aware once more what a challenge invasive species pose just in my small neighborhood of Waycroft-Woodlawn.  Right now, porcelainberry and amur honeysuckle are in their fruiting glory and the local birdlife is gorging and (inadvertently) spreading these invaders.  It's also amazing how invasive and non-native species seem to be all around us and how insidious the spread of these species has been.  No doubt, part of the success of these species has been our human propensity to not be aware of the threat they pose and our own desire for the latest exotic, maintenance free, and sweet-smelling "thing" that nobody else (yet) has.  For example, how many people would be aware that crape myrtle, camellias, the ubiquitous evergreen azaleas, and most commercially-available hydrangea are not native to the US?   While none of these are considered invasive, English Ivy, Porcelainberry and Amur Honeysuckle (profiled in my presentation) all got their start in the same way--they were introduced as hardy ornamentals and for erosion control.  The result, a seeming monoculture of introduced non-natives and a pronounced loss of biodiversity.

So why did I post the above image of the Dawn Redwood (about 30 meters tall now) that sits in my front yard?  Partly to show the complexity of deciding what is native, non-native, and what is invasive.  The Dawn Redwood was a native of North America and spread across most of the continent before it became extinct here thousands of years ago.  In the 1940s, it was rediscovered in a remote part of Szechuan province in China and soon thereafter reintroduced in the United States.  it is now fairly widespread in the Mid-Atlantic and spreads quite readily in these parts--in my own yard, literally hundreds of seedlings sprout every spring from the mother tree and they are very fast growing once established.  A lovely tree, especially in winter when its reddish bark is  one of the most colorful in an otherwise brown landscape of bare trees and snow, I wonder if someday we'll decide that its hardiness, long-term absence from the North American ecosystem, and its effect on other natives will render it as yet another on the long list of invasives that bedevil us.  INVASIVES PRESENTATION