On February 8, project partners from the Rheem Creek Flood Risk Reduction project gathered alongside neighbors to celebrate the completion of a project initiated in 2019, an effort led by the City of Richmond alongside American Rivers, Contra Costa County, Urban Tilth, The Watershed Project, and Restoration Design Group. I walked in to find tables arrayed with family-friendly activities; coloring books for the local kids, plant identification guides, and storybooks. Sitting at those tables were project partners, local representatives, and community members, talking, smiling, and enjoying a day in the sun. Past the tables a gate opened up onto recently restored Rheem Creek, with woody mulch lining the tops of the banks, saplings planted along the steep banks of the creek, and flows nowhere near the top of the bank. The project is doing its job!
In December, an atmospheric river pummeled Northern California, bringing with it heavy rainfall. But if you were in the Rollingwood neighborhood in Western Contra Costa County, you probably didn’t need to bring your rainboots. For two decades, residents had been dealing with flooding as Rheem Creek, which was choked with nonnative vegetation, sediment, trash, and other obstructions, overtopped its banks and spilled out into the streets. Drainage pipes flowed in the opposite direction and homes were flooded and damaged. But this past December, after the construction phase of the project funded by the CA Natural Resources Agency had concluded, Rheem Creek flowed safely and swiftly through the backyards of its neighbors.
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Myself and others from the project team joined the neighborhood on a mild winter day as those who were instrumental to this project were recognized for their hard work and success. It had rained the previous weekend, and it was exciting to see how a weather event that would have flooded the streets before this project was implemented had already drained out of the watershed by the time we arrived. Instead of residents scrambling to protect their homes, we could share a warm, sunny day full of laughter, excitement, and wonderful conversation centered on the Rollingwood community.
The Rheem Creek Flood Risk Reduction project is a great example of how bringing people together can serve the community, and how urban creek restorations can transform from an idea into a reality. The project site transects numerous residential properties in the City of Richmond, and impacted homes and streets in unincorporated Contra Costa County, so bringing it to life took creativity, cooperation, and input, combining the dedication and leadership of the City of Richmond, Contra Costa County, the expertise and experience of multiple environmental nongovernmental organizations, and the input of the community to create a positive change for a neighborhood that has been dealing with the effects of a changing climate. And the project isn’t a “one and done” effort. We are currently collaborating with our project partners, including a coalition of community members, to monitor and maintain the creek over the next two years and to help the community maintain the creek in the long term.
And this important work continues elsewhere! American Rivers is looking towards more urban creek restoration across the cities of Northern California, with projects initiated in Sacramento, Brentwood, and Stockton. The work at Rheem Creek is important in its own right, but also serves as a model for how to bring greenspace and all the benefits of flood risk reduction to the communities that need it.
