Vegetation will ultimately win

Martha B. Hopkins, March 6, 2014 
More than 45 years after her letters to the editor helped to win the battle against channelizing San Francisquito Creek from El Camino to the Bay, Martha B. Hopkins writes again:

Palo Alto Weekly - April 4, 2014 - Page 18


The Almanac - Viewpoint - April 2, 2014 
Letter: Vegetation always wins over cement


Daily Post, March 18, 2014
Fighting battles
Dear Editor: "Don't fight lost battles" is an important concept when one is involved in battles like trying to prevent a beautiful, wooded waterway from being turned into a cement-walled storm drain in the name of flood control. It is gratifying when one "wins," as described in my self-published 1975 book "A 'P/U' history of Menlo Park: (partial and unofficial)." But if one lives long enough, the same battles may be fought again by conscientious people in the next generation. Upstream land use and previous political decisions may cause downstream flooding. East Palo Alto and the Bayside parts of many communities were built before we had a more thorough understanding of drainage patterns, floodplains and the properties of saturated soils. And these days, we are forced to change our thinking on climate itself when we see high cement structures being drowned as water levels rise around the world. The so-called "hundred year flood" is now not an adequate basis for planning our surroundings. One of the first things done in building or upgrading communities is tending to the landscaping. In many communities, wiser politicians and planners are even replacing parking spaces with trees. There is a difference in what happens to a person's mind, brain, soul, heart or whatever you want to call it when looking at a cement wall or even a rock-lined creek bed versus beautiful trees. When it comes to cement versus vegetation, vegetation will ultimately win. 
Martha B. Hopkins 
Tucson
Daily Post, March 18, 2014
Used copies of Martha's 1975 book can be found online. Her chapter on Water, The Creek and Water Management is reproduced below.

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