The Narwhal

How do you prevent urban flooding? This Vancouver neighbourhood’s ‘rainway’ could be a model

Greening the Grey

London’s surge towards nature-based flood protection.

Somerset floodplain plan 'will boost river's biodiversity'

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If You Don’t Already Live in a Sponge City, You Will Soon

Matt Simon

Oct 17, 2022 7:00 AM

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capitaldaily.ca/news/water-detectives-water-always-wins-erica-gies

Article in Capital Daily by Erica Gies.

'How ‘water detectives’ are protecting cities from flooding and scarcity, one stream at a time'

Sponge City Revolution (pdf)

Scientific American article by Erica Gies ericagies.com

Restoring natural water flows in cities can lessen the impacts of floods and droughts.

"To Yu is the founder of the internationally acclaimed landscape architecture firm Turenscape. Yu is at the forefront of a global movement of urban planners, water managers, ecologists and engineers who are trying to restore natural water cycles.

The work is a kind of un-engineering: giving water space to expand and contract to lessen flooding and slowing it down so it can soak into the ground, thereby preventing shortages later. Practitioners preserve or restore floodplains and wetlands, unearth buried creeks, and create bioswales, retention ponds, sunken parks, green roofs and permeable parking lots.

Unlike hardscapes, green infrastructure can also clean water and re-create habitat for wildlife. And it gives urbanites access to nature, increasingly recognized as a pillar of mental health."

An excerpt from “Walking on Water” by Frances Backhouse.

Originally published in Maisonneuve Magazine, Fall 2020.

Reprinted with permission of the author. © Frances Backhouse, 2020.

Here is that interview:

Daylighting Creeks Interview

An interview by Gregor Craigie of CBC Radio Victoria

On February 25, 2019, Movie Monday screened the film LOST RIVERS which looks at daylighting projects in London, England; Seoul, Korea; Brescia, Italy; Yonkers, New York and a few other cities. The film examines the history of urban rivers around the world and current approaches to better managing and appreciating them. As public outreach, Gregor Craigie of CBC's On the Island interviewed Dorothy Field (for RBCR) and Soren Henrich (for Bowker Creek Initiative) about two creeks in Victoria and their projects' goals of daylighting and remediating them, as well as various innovative approaches to deal with storm water run off. These issues become ever more crucial as the seas rise and disastrous storm events flood our towns.

Many thanks to Bruce Saunders of Movie Monday and Gregor Craigie for their support as well as to the many neighbours who filled the theatre to capacity and stayed for a Q&A afterwards.

From THE TYEE

‘Never Give Up on Any Waterway’ Bringing new life to Burnaby’s buried and abused creeks, streams and wetlands.

Focus Magazine article "Towards rewilding a city creek" by Maleea Acker.

An interview with Dorothy Field about Rock Bay Creek Revival. Jan/Feb 2017 (or download PDF)

An article in Popular Science

Ghost streams' sound supernatural, but their impact on your health is very real. (or download PDF)

Viktor Schauberger, the Austrian water wizard.

"Viktor Schauberger (1885-1958) had a deep understanding of the role of the Divine in Nature’s evolutionary process. He regarded water as a sacred organism. He made an extraordinary contribution to knowledge of the natural world, intuiting what we now recognise as the quantum or subtle energy effects of water. His understanding was built up from shamanic and experiential observation of Nature in the untamed Alpine wilderness. His motto: “Observe and Copy Nature”. He was critical of textbook theory and the arrogance and lack of imagination of ‘experts’ and refused to go to college, believing that he would lose his intuitive gifts."