Daylighting (streams)

The daylighted Saw Mill River in Getty Square, Yonkers, New York, had been covered by a parking lot.
A short stretch of Lower Marin Creek in UC Village in Albany, California has been daylighted.

Daylighting is the opening up and restoration of a previously buried watercourse, one which had at some point been diverted below ground.[1][2] Typically, the rationale behind returning the riparian environment of a stream, wash, or river to a more natural above-ground state is to reduce runoff, create habitat for species in need of it, or improve an area's aesthetics. In the United Kingdom, the practice is also known as deculverting.[1]

In addition to its use in urban design and planning the term also refers to the public process of advancing such projects.[3] According to the Planning and Development Department of the City of Berkeley, "A general consensus has developed that protecting and restoring natural creeks' functions is achievable over time in an urban environment while recognizing the importance of property rights."[4]

  1. ^ a b Wild, T. C.; Bernet, J. F.; Westling, E. L.; Lerner, D. N. (September 2011). "Deculverting: reviewing the evidence on the 'daylighting' and restoration of culverted rivers". Water and Environment Journal. 25 (3): 412–421. Bibcode:2011WaEnJ..25..412W. doi:10.1111/j.1747-6593.2010.00236.x. S2CID 111280203.
  2. ^ Khirfan, Luna; Peck, Megan Leigh; Mohtat, Niloofar (2020-08-01). "Digging for the truth: A combined method to analyze the literature on stream daylighting". Sustainable Cities and Society. 59: 102225. doi:10.1016/j.scs.2020.102225. ISSN 2210-6707.
  3. ^ Khirfan, Luna; Peck, Megan; Mohtat, Niloofar (2020-01-01). "Systematic content analysis: A combined method to analyze the literature on the daylighting (de-culverting) of urban streams". MethodsX. 7: 100984. doi:10.1016/j.mex.2020.100984. ISSN 2215-0161. PMC 7381689. PMID 32728527.
  4. ^ "Joint Creeks Task Force Planning Commission Public Hearing: March 22, 2006" (PDF). Creeks Task Force. Planning and Development, City of Berkeley. 2006-03-22. Retrieved 2006-06-06. [dead link]