Name: Natural Flood Protection
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Could shellfish beds protect New York from flooding?

Natural Flood Protection

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<div class="rich-text"><p>
	Landscape architect Kate Orff believes that cultivating the blue mussel and other native shellfish could be a solution to prevent flooding in New York City. She imagines a future where shellfish beds and small islands in the harbor guard the city from high water.</p>
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<div class="rich-text">Could shellfish beds protect New York from flooding?</div>

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<div class="rich-text"><h3>
 Natural Flood Protection
</h3>
<p>
 October 31, 2013
</p>
<p>
 NARRATOR: The towering skyscrapers of lower Manhattan won’t be floating anytime soon. But planners here are trying to learn from the Dutch, as they forge a new relationship with the water.  While some experts insist on giant barriers to keep the sea out…
</p>
<p>
 KATE ORFF: We’re going to pull up the ropes and check them out.
</p>
<p>
 NARRATOR: …others like landscape architect Kate Orff, believe in a softer approach.
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<p>
 ORFF: This is a typical blue mussel that we’re looking to recruit on this rope.
</p>
<p>
 NARRATOR: Orff says the blue mussels clinging to these ropes could be a lifeline for New York Harbor, and help the city survive a wetter future.
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<p>
 The mussels are a keystone species, the first small step toward Orff’s grand vision: a harbor filled with vibrant shellfish beds and small islands, offering a natural defense against high water.
</p>
<p>
 ORFF: You can’t just think of resiliency as closing the gates, you know, putting up a giant seawall, but rather through introducing reefs and offshore islands. Ecological systems and marine life can play a role in making a more resilient harbor.
</p>
<p>
 NARRATOR: New York Harbor was once filled with healthy oyster beds and mussel-covered reefs. After nearly being wiped out by pollution and dredging, today the mollusks might be making a come back. Not only could they help keep the harbor clean, but some say that big beds of shellfish could weaken incoming waves, and offer protection in a storm.
</p>
<p>
 ORFF: I think we’ve learned over the past 100 years that you cannot isolate these problems. We live in an ecosystem where everything is interconnected.
</p></div>

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