Project Spotlight – New Bioswales at Booker T Anderson Jr. Park

The Watershed Project’s Greening Urban Watersheds team has been hard at work this past year building bioswales, rain gardens and other community built projects in Richmond.

Each month we will highlight a different project. Last month we featured a new swale at Carlson Meadow and before that a brand-new mural at 17th Street on the Richmond Greenway.

This month we are featuring a new bioswale at Booker T Anderson Jr. Park (BTA). Funded by the State Coastal Conservancy, The Watershed Project turned 6,660 square feet of the parking lot and median into two bioswales! One is at the center of the parking lot and the other is at the edge of the parking lot, adjacent to the Baxter Creek, which runs through the park.

These bioswales will filter stormwater runoff from the BTA parking lot before it enters Baxter Creek. The design uses the slope of the parking lot to direct rainwater into the bioswales. The plants and soil within the bioswale filter out pollutants so that they do not end up in the creek or the San Francisco Bay, protecting both wildlife and human communities. Furthermore, by slowing the flow of water into the creek, the bioswales help prevent erosion and flooding. Additional benefits of the bioswale include reduction of the urban heat island effect and carbon sequestration.

Come see this new bioswale and stay tuned for a celebration!

Thank you to our partners, community members and dedicated volunteers! If you’d like to help out a future workday, see our Events page or contact sharon@thewatershedproject.org for more information.