Pier 5 Pop Up Wetland Plants Clean the Harlem River

December 10th, 2013 Posted in Front Page News, Pier 5 Pop Up Wetland - first of its kind, Projects, Water Committee

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Pier 5 Pop Up Wetland and Plants

Cleans the Water that Runs off the Highway

This extraordinarily creative “best management practice” captures stormwater runoff from the elevated Major Deegan Expressway with a “pop-up wetland”. The wetland is filled with ordinary native plants which remove pollutants, allowing clean water to drain to the river. Rain passes through a large pipe into a first flush basin, then to the wetland with overflow into the prairie meadow.

Pier 5 Pop Up Wetland Children’s Mural

From the elevated highway to the sidewalk

Where our water comes from and goes to

The Harlem River communiites

Bridges runoff to the Harlem River

Dump No Waste – Drains to Waterway of the Harlem River

Swimming on the Harlem River

Examining the discharge from the highway scubber above

Canoeing on the Harlem River

A new framework for urban development

From highway to sidewalk to drain directly to the Harlem River

Structures built to capture water

Enhanced Tree pits in Soundview

Community Profiles

Doing the math to build the planters

5000 Native Plants capture pollutants

Taking measure

Wetland overflows to prairie meadow

Fall planting is complete

Funding for this project is made possible through a grant from the WCS-NOAA South Bronx Waterfront Partnership and Congressman Jose Serrano.

This is a project of the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, the Harlem River Working Group, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Other major partners are: dlandstudio, Gaia Institute, Highbridge Community Life Center, Sustainable South Bronx, U.S. Geological Survey, the National Parks Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, NYC Parks Greenbelt Native Plant Center, New York Restoration Project, and others. It is part of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership program. In 2011, the Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) announced efforts on seven pilot locations, one of which is the Bronx & Harlem River Watersheds (New York).

Additional Links:

Mott Haven Herald