In 2019, the Alder River was a concrete trench — a flood-control channel engineered to be invisible, functional, forgotten. Children who grew up nearby didn't know it was a river. They thought it was a drainage ditch. Five years later, it is alive. The rewilding project removed 1.2 kilometers of concrete channel and replaced it with a naturalized floodplain. Native sedges and willows were planted on the banks. Gravel beds were introduced for spawning fish. A network of stone paths and meadow t
