31st Street Green Street Demo Project - One to Call My Own!

Three-and-half months later and life Keeps Moving On, here in the Berkeley/Oakland/San Francisco home front. Still working on water issues, with exciting news on my project with Urban Releaf, a grassroots tree planting organization. The 31st Street Green Street Demonstration Project officially broke ground today, October 21. It's the same site I blogged about before here.

31st Street is located in the Hoover neighborhood of West Oakland, a neighborhood with a median household income of ~$20k and faces serious lack of tree canopy and greenery, high asthma rates linked to air pollution from nearby freeways and diesel truck serving the Port of Oakland, and many, MANY other environmental, social and economic disadvantages. Urban Releaf is bringing The Greens (federal, state, and local dollars) to this community in the form of Greens (jobs, youth development, environmental education, and of course, trees!). We are also contributing to science by designing and implementing innovative tree wells that will help retain storm water and reduce storm water pollutants.


The groundbreaking/media event went really well! In attendance were the media, many of our long-time government, community and business partners and supporters, including CA Dept of Forestry & Fire Protection (CALFIRE), CA Dept of Water Resources, California Releaf, City of Oakland, retired Senator Don Perata, Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, the Black Repertory Group, St Mary's Senior Center, UC Berkeley's urban forestry guru, Prof Joe McBride and his PhD student Lara Roman, our board members Pam Wallace and David Ralston, etc etc. Thank you everyone who pulled serious weight to make this event happen and help the 31st St green street move forward!

UC Davis' Dr. Qingfu Xiao is the lead scientist on this project, designing a monitored experiment to quantify water flowing into and out of the tree well and get a grasp on the retention capacity of our innovative tree wells. The tree wells will contain special soils that save water in two ways:

• First, the mix of red lava rock and soil helps retain storm water that would otherwise run off directly into the City's storm drain, relieving burden off of the City's infrastructure system in the future.
• Second, trees and soil help filter out pollutants in storm water and prevent them from entering our precious Bay habitat.

According to the USDA Forest Service Center for Urban Forestry Research, trees in urban areas mitigate air pollution, beautify the neighborhood by adding greenery and shade, save on heating and cooling costs, build a sense of community, and provide opportunities for green job training -- all in addition to saving water. Trees also address global warming by making streets safer and more attractive for walking and biking, as an alternative to driving, and by sequestering carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

Construction for a pilot test tree well is targeted for November 13-19, pending our permit approval from the City of Oakland. We will then apply the prototype tree well to and come up with other innovative designs for the rest of the two-block project area. In a couple of years, fingers crossed, insya allah, 31st Street will be transformed into a pleasant walking environment, a community asset, and... a national demonstration bringing together the myriad benefits of our city's trees!

Cities all over the world are facing water crises and are seeking water-sensitive tree well design and approach to urban forestry. The CA Department of Water Resources Urban Drought Assistance Program provided funding for this project to educate local residents on California's water shortage and the importance of conserving water. The project also received funding from the West Oakland Project Area Committee Neighborhood Projects Initiative Program.