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WATER
REBORN:
A Story about Stream 'Daylighting' in the San Francisco Bay Area |
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GARY
MASON, ASLA
President |
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Wolfe Mason
Associates - Landscape Architects and Environmental Scientists
6573 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609 tel 510.594.8160 - fax 510.594.8165 - www.wolfemason.com |
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| ABSTRACT: |
| Water is one of nature's
most powerful elements and must be treated with respect. Everyone would
also probably agree that water is essential to our existence. In the past,
people who built cities recognized the importance of rivers and streams
to their sustenance. In the last century, communities started taking them
for granted. Water was channelized, straightened or buried in the name of
flood control and public safety. Now, citizen activists and concerned professionals,
such as ecologists, hydrologists, engineers and landscape architects, are
fighting back. They are finding 'lost' waterways and incorporating them
back into the essential infrastructure of their communities. One method is by 'daylighting' buried waterways. 'Daylighting' restores the natural drainage system using surface waterways by removing them from the pipes in which they were entombed. 'Daylighting' still addresses flood control and storm water management objectives but also adds value by maximizing ecological and water quality benefits. 'Daylighting' as a component of stream restoration is not simply having water run through channels above ground. Hydrologists and fluvial geomorphologists have specific criteria for what constitutes a 'restored' stream that will be discussed in this presentation. The highest concentration
of 'daylighting' activity in the United States can be found in the San
Francisco Bay area. Case study projects from the San Francisco Bay Area
will be highlighted: This presentation aims to spark interest and consideration of 'daylighting' as a viable part of water resource design and management for our cities. It is important that design solutions evolve and become more comprehensive. They must extend beyond the traditional drainage focus to a watershed approach that integrates land use and natural resource planning with storm water infrastructure. This approach, grounded in respect for natural systems, attempts to translate the requirements of science and engineering into a common language that people can understand. It is also begins to recognize stream corridors as potential amenities in site and urban design. The goal is to physically connect people to the natural systems where they live. Then people can see and feel that nature is all around us; that it is a part of our daily lives. "It is time to stop thinking of cities as being in one place and nature as being some place else." - Unknown About Wolfe Mason
Associates (WMA) Our primary focus
areas include: |
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