Many cities and towns were initially located near rivers or lakes for water supply or transportation. While rivers are usually bridged, many feeder streams have been made into cement boxes hidden away underground. In other cases the stream bed may be lined with rock or concrete but left open to the air. In either case, vegetation and aquatic and terrestrial life is usually severely impacted or even completely eradicated. Winter floods and the Clean Water Act's non-point source pollution regulation have forced many cities to consider restoring natural streams, riparian areas and wetlands. This allows meeting storm water management and water quality goals while realizing both economic and ecological benefits. Urban stream restoration includes regeneration of native vegetation buffer strips and limited ground disturbance. Restoration can create physical connections to pristine or less-disturbed habitats through "protected corridors". Towns can reestablish stream habitat complexity, provide passages through migration/dispersal barriers (e.g., under-road tunnels), control polluting run-off, and monitor water quality parameters. Stream restoring vegetation also slows storm water surges by about 10%, lessening impacts on downstream human habitation.

Restored urban streams can provide wildlife habitat and migration corridors, places for trails, slow the flow of flood water and allow groundwater recharge The City of Aspen daylighted an urban creek and converted a city street to a pedestrian mall.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved Maryland's plan to carry out an unprecedented joint effort to restore 100,000 acres of wetlands, forests, and eroding farmland along streams that flow into the Chesapeake Bay. (EDF newsletter, Jan. 1988, www.edf.org). "A single rock in a stream provides at least four habitats. Algae grow on the surfaces which are always wet; the dry top supports lichens; mosses thrive on the wetted margin between the two; and many creatures hide in crevices under the rock." (Taming the Flood, Jeremy Purseglove, Oxford Univ. Press, 1989). In 1995, Blackberry Creek was "daylighted" (opened) from an underground culvert to a natural creek channel on the grounds of Thousand Oaks School in Berkeley, California. Nearly 20% of our urban land is subject to flooding, and half of this urban land is already developed. This has resulted in death, damage, and economic loss and recovery expenditures of billions of dollars in a typical year. (Tennessee Valley Authority). Urbanization causes water quality problems such as sedimentation, increased water temperature (hence lower dissolved oxygen), and loss of habitat for fish and other creatures. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has an excellent short report summarizing these issues (www.epa.gov/owow/nps/urbanize/report.html). The City of Portland, Oregon processes about 20,000 cubic yards of fallen leaves into storm water filters annually. Urban street runoff passes through a vault, where cylindrical cartridges filled with leaves remove approximately 80% of all suspended solids, metals, phosphorous, hydrocarbons, and other pollutants. This system requires about 10% the space and cost of a traditional swales or ponds. Contaminated compost, in the best case is used in landscaping along highway medians, and in the worst case is landfilled. Similar programs are in place in Puyallup, WA and Orange Co. CA. (Environmental News Report, Sept. 1, 1997). Santa Clara County, California uses differential fees to fund flood control programs. "Property owners pay one of five different rates, based on the relative amount of storm water runoff expected from each parcel. The amount of a parcel's runoff relates directly to its size and use. Generally, because developed properties are more impervious to rainfall infiltration, they generate more runoff and pay higher assessment rates. The County manages some creek channels for multiple use, including jogging and bike trails, and wildlife enhancement (Santa Clara Valley Water District, 5750 Almaden Expressway, San Jose, CA 95118 (408) 265-2600). "Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water-bugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud-turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb, brooks to wade, water lilies, woodchucks, bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hay fields, pinecones, rocks to roll, sand snakes, huckleberries and hornets; any child who has been deprived of these things has been deprived of the best part of his [or her] education." Luther Burbank

The Central Estates Residential Development conveys its storm water through a natural drainage course which retains and purifies runoff; provides open space, habitat, and pedestrian paths.

	The Coalition to Restore Urban Waters publishes a quarterly newsletter, CRUW News: contact Waterways Restoration Institute, 1250 Addison Street, Suite 107, Berkeley, CA 94702, (510) 848-2211 or Wetlands Conservancy 729 SE 33rd Street, Portland, OR 97219 (503) 239-4065. The Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN) is a non-profit organization that promotes watershed sustainability, www.earthforce.org/green. Creek Care Guide for Residents and Businesses published by Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, National Park Service (415)744-3975 is a helpful guide to controlling pollution, erosion, and maintaining valuable habitat. The U.S. EPA Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds has a website with a large amount of good information, www.epa.gov/owow.
Public/Private Ventures to restore creeks can include:
	Special Assessment Districts Redevelopment Designation/Project Creek Redevelopment District Private development incentive for creek enhancement Economic Incentives Public Interaction State Conservation Corps
Funding Strategies for creek restoration:
	Bond Issues / General Obligation Bonds Sales Tax Billboard Tax Bed Tax Donations Settlement Fines (from polluters) Development Fees Fundraising Activities Non-profit funding organization Grants U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funds State Department of Fish and Game funds National Park Service Funds Soil Conservation Service Funds State Department of Water Resources Urban Stream Restoration Grants

To learn more about Urban Stream Restoration, contact Seth Lancaster at: slancaster@shn-engr.com

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