The Brooklyn neighborhood in SE Portland adjacent to the Willamette River was once called Brookland because of the network of creeks that flowed through it on their way to the river. Brooklyn Creek, the mainstem of this creek network, flowed from headwaters on the west slope of Mt. Tabor, a dormant volcano that dominates the eastern horizon of much of close-in SE Portland. The creek has been funneled underground for most of the past century, but it continues to act like a creek during very wet weather, flooding neighborhood basements and streets.
Beneath the streets of most cities in the United States lie creeks and streams imprisoned in culverts. About 300 miles of creeks are believed to be buried under the streets and buildings of Portland, particularly on the east side. In 2009 the city embarked on a project called Tabor to the River, part of its Grey to Green initiative to restore some of the natural functions of its underground streams. Most of these streams cannot be daylighted—meaning, freeing them from underground culverts and restoring them to more of their natural state—because too much is now built on top of them. But the function they once served to control how rainwater reaches the river can be replicated through the construction of green streets. Existing parking strips are graded and planted with water-loving plants that absorb rainfall, as well as storm water runoff that enters through curb cuts. These bioswales clean stormwater runoff and allow it to infiltrate into the groundwater.
Ecoroofs, rain gardens and tree planting will also contribute to this re-naturing of SE Portland. A major component of the Brooklyn Basin project is neighborhood involvement. Neighbors are being consulted about the placement, design and plantings of proposed swales on their block and encouraged to participate in maintaining the plantings.
The Brooklyn Basin Project helps the community that lives on top of where this creek once flowed, to understand that in fact they are living in a historic watershed. In many ways, the streets they live on now serve as tributaries to the Willamette River, as Brooklyn Creek once did. Tabor to the River Project will help clean the runoff from streets and roofs before it enters the river, doing the best we can in an urbanized environment to make our streets healthier tributaries to rivers they feed.
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