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There is water, water everywhere around New York City, from the Atlantic Ocean to small, narrow coves. There is also underground water, in the streams that were buried as the streets and sewer lines were laid and the buildings rose.

Today, the city is seeking to bring an underground stream to the surface as part of an ambitious green infrastructure project.

As my colleagues Winnie Hu and James Thomas explain, one of the goals is to prevent another flood like the one that followed Hurricane Ida, when the creek in question – Tibbetts Brook in the Bronx – spilled out. on the Major Deegan Expressway, blocking dozens of cars, buses and trucks. Another goal is to reduce pollution in the Harlem River from sewer overflows.

The $ 130 million project would unearth Tibbetts Brook, a feat of engineering known as “daylight.” Environmentalists and local activists have campaigned to dig it up for years. A changing climate with more frequent and intense storms now makes it necessary. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader, said he would work with city officials to organize funding for the $ 1,000 billion infrastructure deal and federal relief money in pandemic case.

The submersion of Tibbetts Creek did not prevent the 2.2 billion gallons of water it carried each year. The water went through the same pipes that carry domestic wastewater and runoff water to the treatment plants. And when the remains of Ida submerged the pipes in September, the stream made its way to Major Deegan and “made us an international symbol for what happens when the city doesn’t prepare for flooding.” Said Robert Fanuzzi, chairman of the Bronx Environmental Quality Council, an advocacy group.

[Why New York Is Unearthing a Brook It Buried a Century Ago]

There is nothing new about resuscitating long buried streams. According to Jenny Hoffner, vice president of US river conservation strategies, cities of Auckland, New Zealand, Detroit to Seoul, have considered taking off the causeway and exposing streams and streams to deal with the the double crisis of obsolete infrastructure and climate change. an advocacy group.

Tibbetts Creek’s natural lighting plan is to redirect it above ground for a mile, part of the way along a new greenway on a former railway right-of-way. Removing the creek from the sewer system would reduce combined sewer overflows into the Harlem River by 25%, or 220 million gallons per year, according to the city. “This makes it one of our most profitable projects,” said Angela Licata, deputy commissioner in the city’s Department of Environmental Protection.