As If We Planned to Stay
Denver is located in a semiarid steppe climatic region. Rain is sporadic and total annual rainfall varies between 10 and 20 inches. Given the scarcity of water, we and many other communities engage in some water practices that would be challenging to justify to a visitor from another planet:
On the one hand: We’ve built a complex and impressive system of water-collecting and water-distributing infrastructure with tunnels to move water intent on flowing to the Pacific Ocean under 14,000-foot peaks to our side of the Continental Divide, a reservoir requiring the relocation of an entire town, and an army of lawyers and engineers to protect “our water.” With that expensive imported water, we grow many grasses, trees, vegetables and flowers not native to semiarid steppes.
On the other hand: When it rains hard, we ask an agency called “Wastewater Management” to chase the offending stormwater underground or “away” as quickly and invisibly as possible. When historic drainageways, clearly defined by topography and geology, had the temerity to locate themselves in the path of our Jeffersonian grid-inspired street network, our predecessors put some of those creeks and gulches in buried pipes and covered them with roadways, airport runways and supermarket parking lots.
On a recent morning, I joined other volunteers in a monthly creek cleanup on Westerly Creek. Six hours later, Mother Nature sent high water which replaced the trash we had just picked up with “new trash.” On the same weekend I had a chance to view my newly purchased book, WorldChanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century, published in 2011. Consider this very different water paradigm, as spelled out in that book.
“We need urban infrastructure that allows us to live in harmony with the natural systems that sustain us – we need to start thinking of the whole planet as home… It is time, to paraphrase writer Wallace Stegner, to live on this planet as if we planned to stay.”
Mother Nature’s streams provide a number of “services” simultaneously. Streams collect and distribute water over short and long distances. Streams enhance and maintain water quality. Steams nourish riparian vegetation and wildlife; they accommodate flood and drought. Streams are scenic wonders; home to recreational and educational opportunities. Streams serve as transportation corridors and create a sense of place.
If we were to mimic Mother Nature, we would consider more daylighting of Westerly Creek. Progress is being made from 23rd to 17th avenues, with a new bridge at Montview Boulevard, and also from 13th to 11th avenues, at the New Freedom Park. The flooding potential at 14th Avenue remains an area of concern.
An expert in floodplain management and stream restoration, Brian wants your feedback at westerly_connect_brian@ comcast.net or 720-939-6039.