Developing drainage infrastructure that incorporates native plants and natural features is the focus of researchers at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, who recently received a $3.25 million grant from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to support efforts at nature-based flood control and ecosystem management in the Chesapeake Bay region.
The nature-based features could augment current common infrastructure, such as levees and concrete floodwalls, to create living structures that can change with environmental conditions and human behavior. The team’s efforts could help repair damage to the natural environment, slow natural processes like beach erosion, or redirect floodwaters.
The grant project, “Urban Planning With Integrated Natural Systems,” is an early-stage research and development project combining the efforts of universities, local organizations and federal agencies. The project will study several sites in the Chesapeake Bay, which covers 64,000 square miles with a watershed encompassing parts of six states.
This story originally appeared on the University of Virginia's website. To read the whole piece, click here.