Coastal waterways face numerous threats – from sea level rise and storm surge flooding to pollution.
So Palo Alto, California, is working on a pilot project to help address some of these problems together.
The city plans to create what’s called a horizontal levee on San Francisco Bay.
It’s a sloping wetland that provides a transition between the open bay and its heavily developed shores.
Heidi Nutters is with the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, which is helping lead the project.
Nutters: “Wetlands have an amazing buffering capability to decrease the impact of wave action during storms.”
And the project provides another benefit. It helps remove pollution that the city’s wastewater treatment plant is not designed to handle.
Treated wastewater – which ordinarily is discharged to the bay – will be piped under the wetland.
The water irrigates the plants, and as the water passes underground, the soil filters out phosphorus and nitrogen that can harm fish and wildlife.
Nutters: “Overall, people will see an enhanced wetland, and then below ground, there will be this magic happening to also be improving water quality.”
So it’s a holistic strategy to help protect vulnerable waterways and the communities along their shores.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
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