Planning for wildlife: Evaluating creek daylighting as a means of urban conservation

摘要

Creek daylighting is the deliberate effort to reinstate previously buried watercourses to the surface either through redirection of sub-surface flows to new above ground channels, or through the re-routing of storm water runoff. Projects designed to do this have been implemented and proposed throughout North America for a variety of reasons. These reasons include, but are not limited to, perceived benefits in storm water management, downtown revitalization, or as a means to improve wildlife habitat within urban areas. The discussion in this report focuses on creek daylighting as an effective means of urban conservation---are creek daylighting projects beneficial to threatened urban wildlife by providing wildlife habitat? Criteria for urban conservation were developed through an examination of conservation and urban conservation literature. These criteria were then applied to eleven daylighting projects in North America. These projects were studied through the literature, and were chosen to represent a variety of projects, put in place for various reasons. Based on this analysis, it was concluded that few daylighting projects are effective means of urban conservation. The work does, however, suggest how, through some modification of design, creek daylighting projects may have an important role to play as both urban conservation areas and connections between urban conservation areas.