Prior to the 6th Street rain gardens, stormwater from the street and nearby buildings discharged directly into Codornices Creek untreated.  The rain gardens now capture and treat this water and calm traffic on 6th Street for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists using the Codornices Creek Trail.

One of the four rain gardens built to receive stormwater from the street and neighboring buildings prior to entering Codornices Creek.  RDG lead the design of the bioretention system from rain garden sizing to planting and irrigation design.

The Richmond Greenway Bioswale project is a community-based, water quality and urban greening collaboration.  The goal was to demonstrate that greenways can comprehensively embrace green infrastructure.  The Bioswale encompasses alternative transportation, urban forestry, demonstration gardens, and natural stormwater management. 

The original site, a weedy ditch along the Greenway, conveyed untreated stormwater to San Francisco Bay.  Using specialized soils, open swale grading, and native riparian plants, the Bioswale has become an exemplary community greening demonstration site.  Stormwater is now treated before entering the Bay and the Bioswale functions as a educational tool for adjacent Lincoln Elementary School, The Watershed Project’s programs, and the community at-large. 

Addressing the health of impaired urban waterways requires watershed wide interventions in addition to in-channel restoration.  Increasing infiltration, slowing runoff and taking steps to clean the water prior to entering the channel network are all examples of RDG's employed strategies to improve our urban watersheds.

As an example, RDG designed the Codornices Creek Trail with permeable asphalt to reduce the amount of impervious surface adjacent to Codornices Creek and to route excess runoff from the trail to the broad vegetated floodplain prior to entering the creek.