December 17, 2025

The Race Against Runoff: Juggling Rains, Drains and Urban Design

Few of us give stormwater a second thought — at least until it backs up. That’s why watershed planner Sarah Minick is so excited that an innovative new park in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood has been named accordingly. “It actually says ‘Stormwater Park’ on Google Maps,” she gushes. Completed in 2022, the 1.2-acre park offers a lush promenade, underneath which lies a network of drains, pipes, and channels that together help capture and clean stormwater. It’s just one of many new green stormwater infrastructure projects across the city and Bay Area where engineers and water managers are pushing the design envelope to handle dirty runoff rushing toward the Bay and ocean — but can they keep up with increasingly severe storms? Photo: CMP Landscape. (Top watermelons: Kris Richmond)

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F O O D

Growing Better Tomatoes with Less Water

If you visit any Bay Area farmers’ market during the dog days of summer, odds are you’ll find bins labeled “dry-farmed tomatoes.” The red, golf-ball sized tomatoes grow and ripen during the summer drought without a single drop of water. And scientists still don’t know how they manage to thrive on neglect. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz are looking for the keys to this local crop’s resilience. Photo: Mark DeGraff.

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H E A L T H

Oakland High Schoolers Sample Local Kayaking

Two AC Transit bus rides and a mile walk later, 14 Oakland High School students arrived at Ballena Bay in Alameda on a sunny but crisp Thursday morning this fall. More than half the students had never been kayaking before. Once everyone was ready, SeaTrek guides led the students down to the dock, helped them into kayaks, and pushed them into the water. Students learned how to work together as a team and about the natural environment around them through a program called Oakland Goes Outdoors. Photo: Riley Ramirez

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New Study Teases Out Seawall Impacts and Wetland Benefits

Experts predict the San Francisco Bay Area will bear two-thirds of the damage from coastal flooding in the state this century, putting 400,000 residents and $150 billion in property at risk. A new study suggests much of that damage will be the result of sea level rise, and can be avoided with a combination of shoreline protection strategies. An important consideration of these strategies, however, is their impact on Bay water levels. Photo: Ellen Plane

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Santa Clara Helps Homeless Out of Harm’s Way

Last month, Santa Clara County agencies ramped up efforts to prepare the unhoused community for flooding season. Their efforts began as powerful atmospheric storms pounded the Bay Area in November, overflowing waterways and dropping temperatures across the nine-county region. Valley Water actively provides notice about flood risk to people living along local creeks. Staff also work with homeless advocacy groups to encourage residents to pack their most critical items and move into shelters or to higher ground. “We’re doing our best to keep folks out of the channel,” says staffer Colin Kortman. Photo: Valley Water

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Bluesky

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