CRC is facilitating the installation of 25 rain garden systems and water cisterns for low-income homeowners in East Palo Alto. By creating more permeable sources and opportunities for water to naturally sink, these gardens will reduce runoff pollution and inundation threats.

As such, they will also help prevent displacement risk by reducing the risk of flood damage while enhancing property values. Indeed, homeowners often assume the risk of flooding without insurance due to high cost. This situation already led to displacement in East Palo Alto and many residents remember the painful flooding event of 1998, which caused 40 million dollars in damages and displaced dozens of residents.

The gardens will feature native tree and plant species as well as edible species that will form a site-specific plant palette. These rain gardens, coupled with the cisterns, will not only reduce the risk of flooding but will also provide additional food sovereignty to a community disproportionately burdened by the high cost of fresh food and water allowances in the area.

Widespread community education, outreach, and public engagement is a key component of this project. Several workshops, tablings, and canvassing events will be necessary to recruit participants for the project and raise awareness in the community about the benefits of Nature-based Solutions to climate change.

Garden ambassadors will be recruited and trained to install and maintain nature-based infrastructure and water cistern systems. Continuing employment and upkeep of the gardens will provide opportunities for 10 community members to develop transferable skills and earn prevailing wages.

Rigorous modeling work will be conducted to understand the flood mitigation potential of rain gardens and determine their optimal placement and the scale at which benefits of reduced flood risk outweigh investments necessary to promote widescale adoption. A white paper will be produced, outlining best practices and results from this work.