On Thursday, April 25, 2024, moderator Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe chatted with historian Carmen Bolt, the DOEE’s Nicholas Bonard, and community activists Sebrena Rhodes and Brenda Lee Richardson about the issue of flooding in the nation’s capital.
The land where Washington, DC is today was never a swamp, but it was built over creeks and pockets of wetland among rich farmland, including plantations. In 150 years of building, city planners fundamentally changed the topography of DC, visible and concealed. Tiber Creek, an icon example, turned from stream to canal to buried sewer over the years—resulting in part of the city’s wastewater overflow issues, now being rectified by enormous projects like the Northeast Boundary Tunnel. But even as the city completes such projects, the ever-present threat of climate change looms over the District: major storms become more frequent and intense, leading to an increased risk of damaging floods and threats to infrastructure. Curated by Carmen Bolt, PhD candidate in history from American University, this program is the latest installment in the DC History Center’s Context for Today series of online conversations with thoughtful and thought-provoking historians, activists, journalists, and community members.
To learn more about flooding as an environmental justice issue facing Washington, DC at a local level, visit the DC History Center Libguide