You may not think about floodplains all that much.
In the past we tried to “control” rivers so we could “use” the floodplain – straightening unruly rivers and building levees to keep the water in its place. We built whole cities where rivers once meandered. Now, salmon runs are disappearing and people live in the path of dangerous floodwaters.
Floodplain management needs a re-think. Our challenge is to modernize our approach so floodplains can sustain us – all of us – as our climate changes and population swells.
Challenge accepted.
What’s Floodplains by Design?
OUR STORIES
LEQUE ISLAND
45 years and 250 acres later, the Skagit Wildlife area gets its salt marsh back.
Photo credit: Courtney Baxter/TNC
AGRICULTURAL RESILIENCE
A plan for farmers grown from farmers to re-envision agricultural land in Snohomish County.
Photo credit: Courtney Baxter/TNC
WORKING TOGETHER AND THINKING BIG IS HOW WE GET THERE.
OUR IMPACT
On-the-ground actions are what matter most.
There’s no one path to get there. From moving levees back to provide habitat and flood storage, to preservation of agricultural lands from development: our projects are varied and seek innovative solutions to floodplain management.
On-the-ground actions are what matter most.
There’s no one path to get there. From moving levees back to provide habitat and flood storage, to preservation of agricultural lands from development: our projects are varied and seek innovative solutions to floodplain management.
NEWS STORIES
Leque Island: 250 Acres Open to the Tide
By Kat Morgan, Associate Director for Puget Sound Conservation Seven years ago this fall, I wore a hard hat and safety vest to visit The Nature Conservancy’s Port Susan Bay Preserve as a major estuary restoration project was underway. 150 acres of former estuary was...
2019 FbD Project List Announcement
The Department of Ecology (Ecology), along with our partners the Puget Sound Partnership (Partnership) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), are announcing the release of the Floodplains by Design (FbD) 2019-21 project list. This project list supports Ecology’s request...
New Phase Begins in Ongoing Flood-Protection Effort Along Naches River
Check out this interview by Terry Keenhan, Yakima County Water Resources Manager, about the new phase of flood-protection along the Naches River.
WATCH: See What We Did At The Storytelling Training!
Curious about how those stories came to be at the Spring FbD Workshop? Watch the behind-the-scenes video below to get a sense!
WATCH: Restoring the Health of the Yakima River Basin Together
Check out this video about the integrative work of individuals in the Yakima River Basin!
Watch: Fish-Farms-Floods
Check out this new series of videos developed to spread the win-win-win news of collaborating for fish-farms-floods. These videos highlight the Floodplains for the Future that is a subset of Floodplains by Design projects in Pierce County, Washington. Floodplains by...