Restoring Neighborhood Streams Press Release

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PRESS RELEASE

Restoring Neighborhood Streams Planning, Design, and Construction

By Ann L. Riley

Washington, DC (July 11, 2016) – With urban development on the rise, city design with an environmental component is sorely needed and award-winning hydrologist Ann L. Riley knows how.

After directing numerous urban stream restoration projects, she has discovered that it is feasible to restore dynamic, functioning stream ecosystems in some of the most difficult, constrained urban settings. Streams can be assets to the cities they inhabit to both humans and wildlife, and do not need to be flood and erosion hazards.

Restoring Neighborhood Streams is a detailed guide for restoring urban streams that provides replicable methods to foster a mutual relationship between the built and natural environments. The book follows nine case studies of long-term stream restoration projects in the northern California area, using 15-30 years of records. The lessons drawn can be applied in communities anywhere.

Most of the case studies are located in working-class, lower to middle-income neighborhoods under similar economic and social pressures as other neighborhoods around the country.

One example is the case study of Strawberry Creek in the Berkeley area, which was one of the earliest instances of daylighting, or removing culverts to reveal the original stream, as a restoration method. Not only did this project demonstrate that culverts were a model for the management issues associated with urban streams, but it also discovered that removing them could have great social impact on the neighborhood, from crime reduction to commercial development. Through her analysis and practical experience, Riley presents case studies like these, drawing out their successes and failings and describing changes in restoration practice over time as part of the

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historic, institutional, and social context of each project. The lessons learned can increase project performance and avoid costly and time-consuming mistakes.

Riley’s book also demonstrates a devotion to describing the competing schools of restoration influencing current design practices. While much of the book is dedicated to the case studies and solutions drawn from them, what stands out is the spectrum of tools Riley calls on, from hydrology, hydraulic geometry, hydraulic engineering, fluvial geomorphology, fish and plant community biology, soil bioengineering, and community planning. If designers, engineers, and the public are open to the idea of sustainable stream systems, then natural waterways have the potential to become an asset to the cities they occupy.

Restoring Neighborhood Streams gives better solutions for restoration projects, as well as the tools to build better cities in the long term.

Ann L. Riley has served as the Watershed and River Restoration Advisor for the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board of California since 2001. Since the 1970s Riley has worked with government agencies, policy institutes and non-profits organizations on stream and floodplain management and restoration. In 2004 she was awarded the Salmonid Restoration Federation Nat Bigham Restorationist of the Year Award and in 2003 earned the Governor's Economic and Environmental Leadership Award.

Restoring Neighborhood Streams: Planning, Design, Construction Island Press Paperback Original Publication Date: July 12, 2016 288 pages | $70.00 Hardcover |$35.00 Paperback | $34.99 E-Book ISBN: 978-1-61091-739-1 | 978-1-61091-740-1 | 978-1-61091-741-4 http://islandpress.org/book/restoring-neighborhood-streams Founded in 1984, Island Press works to stimulate, shape, and communicate the information that is essential for solving environmental problems. Today, with more than 1,000 titles in print and some 40 new releases each year, it is the nation’s leading publisher of books on environmental issues. Island Press is driving change by moving ideas from the printed page to public discourse and practice. Island Press’s emphasis is, and will continue to be, on transforming objective information into understanding and action. For more information and further updates be sure to visit www.islandpress.org.

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