The highly urbanized Rahway River watershed in New Jersey suffers from frequent flooding due to extensive development and destruction of riparian wetlands and floodplains. A diverse group of stakeholders worked together to restore a 1.8 ha site on the floodplain to riparian wetland.

The Kissimmee River Restoration project aimed to restore over 40 square miles of river/floodplain ecosystem in Central and South Florida after two major hurricanes in the late 1940s caused mass flooding and property damage throughout the upper basin. The project encompassed two primary components: backfilling the C-38 canal and changing water level management practices.

This project was focused on restoring a half-mile floodplain and terraces along Glorieta Creek within Pecos National Historical Park (NHP), which had been historically mined for sand and gravel and bulldozed into levees and two reservoirs. The main goal was to restore hydrological function by removing the levees and reservoirs and recontouring the creek channel.

Central Meriden, Connecticut, is continuously devastated by flooding due to urbanization and loss of wetland habitats. The city led a daylighting project to re-naturalized the river that had been covered by industrialization. Businesses in the Hub were relocated and 1700 linear feet of concrete culverts over 30 feet wide were demolished, excavated, and removed.

The Coonamessett River in Cape Cod has seen declines in fish populations and degradation to aquatic habitat from a history of mill construction and cranberry cultivation. The Town of Falmouth removed one of the dams on the river, restored a bog to wetland conditions, replaced two undersized culverts, and rerouted flows around another dam. 

The Lower Elkhorn Basin Levee Setback (LEBLS) Project is working to increase flood resiliency and ecosystem benefits in California’s central valley. For this project, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) constructed a 11,500-meter setback levee to expand the Sacramento and Yolo bypasses by about 450 meters. 

Nason Creek was degraded into a straight, disconnected, habitat devoid stream in the 1950s due to levee, railroad, and powerline construction. Chelan county worked to restore habitat, reconnect Nason Creek to its floodplain, and relocate human constraints. This project removed a levee, rerouted a powerline corridor, and restored creek habitat. 

A 1960s-era levee on the Dungeness River resulted in a straighter channel, increased water velocities, reduced habitat, and a decline in the effectiveness of the levee. This project removed part of the old levee, built a setback levee, and relocated a road bisecting the floodplain. 

The San Antonio River was historically modified to reduce flooding, leaving it devoid of its ecological function. The Mission Reach Ecosystem Restoration and Recreation Project aimed to reduce flooding, restore the riverine ecosystem, and provide recreational opportunities to a 13-kilometer stretch of the river.  

Muskegon Lake’s shoreline and wetlands were severely degraded from industrial waste disposal, shoreline land use, and stormwater management. The Amoco Fish and Wildlife Habitat Restoration Project restored wetlands and wildlife habitat at a 9-hectare site. A constructed shoal system, the removal of a concrete wall, and a planted embankment restored wetland habitat.