Urban Conservation

South Wilmington Wetlands Park

During nearly every major storm event, residents of the Southbridge neighborhood in Wilmington find their streets and sidewalks flooded with nearly 2.1 million gallons of raw sewage and stormwater. Situated within a tidal floodplain of the Christina River, Southbridge has experienced chronic flooding, intenstified by sea-level rise.

Since the early 2000s, the residents of Southbridge have been advocating for solutions through the Southbridge Civic Association. In 2014, the community’s decades-long efforts paid off with the city’s approval of the Southbridge Wilmington Wetlands Park project. Now nearly complete, the project has reengineered the neighborhood’s aged plumbing to separate 36 acres of combined storm and sanitary sewers

Once the sewer is separated, the storm sewer overflow will run into an engineered wetland, where it will supply water for a nearly 30-acre “wetland park.” TNC has supported the project for many years, providing critical funding to backstop the city's acquisition of a final parcel, which expanded the project footprint from 17 to 27 acres.

This award-winning community park includes a range of natural habitats, from freshwater tidal marsh to shrub meadows and upland forests. A boardwalk traverses the park to connect Southbridge with the bustling riverfront to the west. This project illustrates how restoring nature in cities can offer healthy natural ecosystems while addressing community challenges such as flooding.

Greening Wilmington

The Nature Conservancy partnered with the City of Wilmington, the Delaware Center for Horticulture (DCH), Wilmington Neighborhood Conservancy Land Bank and Creative District Wilmington to clean and improve a vacant lot in West Center City using best practices in public greening.

“This joint effort is a wonderful example of people with a common objective coming together to help make Wilmington a cleaner, more attractive city, and also improve the quality of life for the residents of West Center City,” said Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki.

Work at the 5th and Madison Street lot began with DCH’s Branches to Chances trainees planting eight trees, generously donated by Mt. Cuba Center, and participants in the Challenge Program installed a wooden fence around the perimeter of the lot. The lot cleanup is the first of several greening projects scheduled for the West Center City area. 

“Working with partners we hope to turn vacant lots into productive uses the community desires,” says Maria Dziembowska, TNC Delaware's Director of Urban Conservation.

Brandywine-Christina Revolving Water Fund

The Brandywine-Christina watershed provides over 100 million gallons daily to 500,000 area residents. Yet most of its waterways are unsafe for recreation and water treatment is costly. The Revolving Water Fund will coordinate the financing and prioritizing of conservation projects in the watershed—often at a cost far lower than traditional efforts. That’s good news to any area resident who turns on their drinking water tap.

Looking Ahead: Planning a Greener, More Equitable Future

For decades, cities across the country have been experimenting with solutions to legacy problems faced by many urban communities in the United States—problems rooted in the nation’s history of racial discrimination in housing and urban planning.

Sharing experiences, lessons, science and best practices both locally and globally is what sets TNC apart. Now that TNC's conservation efforts in Wilmington and Philadelphia are being integrated into one program, TNC stands to have a more regional conservation impact, embedding both cities into the broader landscape of the lower Delaware River.

As the nation works to rebuild the global economy, the recovery process must include opportunities not only to resume our old way of life, but also to rebuild businesses, industries and jobs in ways that enhance equity, strengthen resilience and support a healthy environment. Economic recovery and environmental action must go hand-in-hand. Nature’s future is our future.