"Why would anyone go to the trouble of digging up a culvert and recreating a surface waterway?" begins Daylighting: New Life for Buried Streams. In Arcata, California (pop. 15,000), a group of environmentally minded citizens, local students, and a high school teacher not only saw the value in restoring the Jolly Giant Creek, but they went through the trouble to recreate this community resource. Urban stream restoration is a relatively new phenomenon. Communities from Berkeley, California, to Providence, Rhode Island, have worked to restore fish habitats, improve stormwater runoff, and create valuable recreational and aesthetic amenities for local residents.

Beginning 6 miles from the Pacific, the Jolly Giant Creek flows through the Humboldt State University campus, Arcata High School campus, and Arcata's downtown before emptying into the ocean. Starting in the mid-1990s, approximately 160 feet of the Jolly Giant Creek was daylighted and an additional 340 feet of the urbanized channel was also restored to its natural state.

Daylighting is the process of opening waterways that are buried in culverts or pipes, covered by decks, or hidden from public view in other ways. Waterways are re-established in the old channel if feasible or diverted to a new channel to avoid existing buildings or streets. The benefits of urban stream restoration are plentiful. In communities across the country, restored streams provide recreational amenities and urban greenways for pedestrians or bicyclists and build civic spirit as local residents, government officials, and businesses work together to create a successful project.

Active learning. Seeking to develop an outdoor laboratory, Arcata High School biology teacher Lewis Armin-Hoiland proposed daylighting a section of the creek that passed underneath a corner of the high school's property. Working with the university and an ongoing ecosystems restoration class, teams of students examined the creek's hydrology, ecology, and current use to develop designs for daylighting and restoring the stream. "We were able to build a broad coalition of support within the community and create a project where everybody benefits from the results," states Armin-Hoiland.

The first phase of the project undertaken in 1991 included the removal of approximately 100 feet of culvert passing through the high school property. In its place, construction crews installed a sedimentation basin 30 feet wide, 15 feet deep, and 80 feet long to collect sediment carried from the creek headwaters. During this phase a 75-foot-long pond, covering approximately one-third of an acre, was developed to provide a fish habitat.

"My high school students have shown extreme interest and dedication to wetland restoration. They are excited to get out and mend the habitat destruction that their parents' and grandparents' generations have caused. My students have brought urban creeks back to life, and by doing so, we have also brought hope about healing our earth back to life," stated Armin-Hoiland in his acceptance speech of the National Wetlands award.

Expanding the scope. Phase two of the project began in 1995. Focusing on a downstream property the city acquired for the development of a park, Armin-Hoiland facilitated the creation of a design to build a new community amenity on the site of two former logging mills that had stood vacant for years. Original city plans called for the creation of basketball courts, baseball diamonds, and a railroad museum. After reviewing the city's plan, concerned citizens and the newly formed Friends of Jolly Giant determined that the existing plan was not creek-friendly.

Through a series of presentations, city meetings, and an aggressive letter-writing campaign, the organization convinced the city to allow the neighborhood to plan its park as a natural landscape with passive recreational activities.

The channelized mill site underwent restoration in late 1995. The city and the Redwood Community Action Agency (RCAA) worked to remove concrete slabs, culverts, and wood waste to reestablish the stream's original geometry. Special attention was given to minimize high-water overflow by recontouring the floodplain. To provide stormwater retention RCAA created a new channel with increased berms built with the excavated fill.

Funding for the project came from a number of local, regional, and national sources. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Challenge Cost-Share grant of $120,000 and additional resources from the California Department of Water Resources Urban Streams Restoration Program made initial stages of the restoration successful. These funds were highly leveraged with the local donation of time and material. The city of Arcata contributed between $35,000 and $40,000 of in-kind services, and a local contractor, whose family owned the mill sites, donated labor, material, and equipment to the project. Thousands of volunteer hours from students, RCAA staff, and the community made the revegetation and ongoing assessment and monitoring of the project possible.

Moving beyond economic impact. The impact on the adjacent neighborhoods and downtown are very evident. Areas that were once vacant or abandoned lots are now available parkland for residents who are using the creek and its surroundings for personal enjoyment. "The restoration project has helped unify the community and highlight an area that we can all be proud of," states Armin-Hoiland.

The restoration project emphasizes the improvement of water quality, fish habitat, vegetation, and inclusion of appropriate land uses. With these guiding principles in mind, Armin-Hoiland is instilling in his students a sense of pride and accomplishment in restoring the amenity. "Many of the students involved in the project during their high school years have continued on to college to study biology and other sciences," adds Armin-Hoiland.

The creek is now a focal point of the campus and the park as opposed to being hidden on the periphery. To make the program a success, Armin-Hoiland recommends that communities start with a clearly defined plan, set achievable goals, and elicit help from the community. "People are eager to help anywhere they can on projects like this. They can see the results of their work and feel good about the end product," notes Armin-Hoiland.

For more information, contact: Lewis Armin-Hoiland, 1720 North Street, Arcata, CA 95521.

Or see: Daylighting: New Life for Buried Streams, by Richard Pinkham, Rocky Mountain Institute, 2000.