Under sunny skies, community members and local officials gathered Saturday to celebrate the reopening of the newly spruced up McLaren Community Garden, which features a series of rain gardens designed by Lotus as part of the SFPUC’s Visitacion Valley Green Nodes project. The new green infrastructure will manage 800,000 gallons of stormwater each year from approximately 1.5 acres of impervious surface, while providing a pedestrian and habitat connection to McLaren Park from Leland Avenue. “I am thrilled to see the community and environmental improvement projects at McLaren Park,” said Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). “We are lucky this year to have gotten so much rain, but that’s not always the case. The new rain garden will help us to reuse hundreds of thousands of gallons of rainwater each year. We need more projects like these that bring benefits to local communities while helping advance our broader environmental goals.” The ribbon-cutting ceremony was followed by community yoga, gardening activities, and a walking tour of the rain gardens where community members were able to see the bioretention areas in action after the rainy week. Attendees also learned about how the City is implementing green infrastructure through capital projects, programs, and grants to sustainably manage stormwater. Read more about the Visitacion Valley Green Nodes here!

The EPA recently awarded the Holloway Avenue Green Street Project with an Honorable Mention as part of its 2018 Performance and Innovation in the State Revolving Fund Creating Environmental Success (PISCES) program. The project (also referred to as the Lake Merced Green Infrastructure project) is located within the Ingleside Neighborhood and is one of eight SFPUC Early Implementation Projects that have been constructed or are currently being constructed as part of Sewer System Improvement Program. Completed in 2017, the project converts a nine-block stretch of an urban residential street and important bike route into a high-performing green street that also provides pedestrian and bike safety improvements. Parking lanes were reconstructed with pervious concrete pavement to manage roadway runoff and bioretention was incorporated into new corner bulbouts and sidewalk planters to manage sidewalk runoff while also adding greenery along the corridor. The new green infrastructure measures will remove approximately 1 million gallons of stormwater each year from the City’s combined sewer system.

Lotus Water led the planning, stormwater modeling and preliminary design of this project. Additionally, we are providing post-construction performance monitoring and analysis and performing maintenance inspections.

Green Thumbs + Green Nodes for Visitacion Valley

Award for Holloway Green Street