This webinar is about ‘Daylighting’ Streams which is the restorative process of removing obstructions and impervious surface from a buried watercourse to restore them to their more natural condition. It is an important tool for improving water quality, reducing flooding, and for creating habitat and parks. The benefits for humans and nature of a restored riparian stream corridor are exponentially greater than the impervious cover and uses that buried them. 

Daylighting streams is an often-overlooked approach in watershed restoration. Locations for these projects include industrial cities, college campuses, and historic towns. They range in scale from neighborhood interventions to city scale projects. Urban designers and planners are advancing such projects as not only local opportunities, but regional contributions to improving watersheds. This topic is especially important while addressing redevelopment of brownfield and other contaminated areas.  

Join the Watershed to learn about design and engineering in the process of daylighting streams. We will discuss the opportunities and challenges of these projects, the role of the communities and professionals, and positive outcomes while looking at case studies of projects built in New Jersey and in Virginia. Since exposure to natural systems is extremely positive to our mental and physical health, daylighting streams can create healthier communities.