What Can Greater Park Hill Learn from the September 2013 Flooding?
Restoring Our Watersheds – Map 1 (1950 creek) Restoring Our Watersheds – Map 2 (July 2011 flooding)
Can we in Greater Park Hill learn anything from Colorado’s recent flooding that would change significantly the way we view our streams and watersheds? Are we ready to take such a different vision and act on it?
Last month I visited a city with downtown bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure far beyond what we see in downtown Denver. Alternative transportation facilities are just one component of green infrastructure – infrastructure combining multiple functions such as flood protection, stormwater management, open space, trails, non-motorized transportation, promotion of health, etc. in an ecologically sustainable manner. I researched four cities in this country that I knew were working diligently on green infrastructure: Philadelphia, Chicago, Portland, Ore., and Seattle. I found the following language in Seattle’s The Living Lattice: A Network of Neighborsheds:
“Open Space Seattle 2100 took up the mantle to engage the design and planning profession’s role as public advocate and educator… By dividing the city into 18 urban watershed study areas, we broke new ground in approaching urban planning by using watershed units rather than political boundaries. This natural framework helped participants to transcend traditional social rivalries while illustrating critical ecological and mobility connections within and between watersheds.”
I thought immediately of two watersheds in Greater Park Hill that saw high flows during the September 2013 rains: Westerly Creek and Montclair Creek.
I’ll start with some watershed history in the vicinity of the two supermarkets near 14th and Kearney, using USGS maps dated, respectively, 1950 and 2013. The 1950 map is a reasonable representation of conditions shortly after World War II.
After WWII, a dry creek still crossed 13th Avenue somewhere between the meat department at Safeway and the current intersection with Krameria Street. Krameria only went one-third of the way south from 14th toward 13th because of the “bottomland” conditions. The creek channel crossed 14th Avenue immediately east of Kearney and then turned west to cross Kearney just north of 14th, where it entered wetlands north of 14th between Kearney and Jasmine, and more wetlands between Jasmine and Jersey.
In simple terms, the transformation has been enabled by burying the creek in a pipe system and by placing 3 to 6 feet of fill within the three blocks from Jasmine to Leyden since 1950. So, now what’s to be done?
Next column, I’ll look at specific locations in those two Greater Park Hill watersheds where some pilot green infrastructure projects might be undertaken.
Brian Hyde is an expert in floodplain management and stream restoration. He wants your feedback at westerly_connect_brian@comcast.net or 720-939-6039.