Planting Water Providence
Create the Conditions
Let the Web of Life Breathe —
depave · plant · tend
2025 - Ongoing
It began in front of my house, each heavy rain forming a river along the pavement’s edge, water rushing toward the Woonasquatucket River, and I found myself standing there watching it — observing flows forming and reforming, imagining the ground being able to receive it, imagining the whole street punctuated with small acupuncture points of porous surface filled with native vegetation, places where water could be retained, slowed.
I wish you could experience the moment when concrete is lifted and soil meets air again — the way soil, air, and the water cycle begin to interact again, and life too, all life; the transformation over time of a sealed, impervious surface, the way something that once felt fixed begins to soften, and through the act of depaving water slows where it once rushed, and the ground begins to breathe, and almost imperceptibly life returns — not because we placed it there, but because conditions are allowed to exist again, because water retention is invitation, because when water stays plants grow, roots follow and microorganisms follow and insects follow, and what once felt hard and closed becomes porous, relational, alive — through the simple act of creating a propensity, a predisposition for life to emerge again.
This became possible through the support of Groundwork Rhode Island and the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council through a joint residential grant offered as part of the “River Friendly Homes” initiative to reduce stormwater runoff. My role in it has been that of initiator, advocate and documenter — continuing to watch, to advocate for this impervious-dominated street, to trace growth and becoming over time, and to invite others to see what becomes possible when water is retained. Water is life.
The rainfall that served as a catalyst to what water was asking for on my street
Planting Water is an emerging Providence, Rhode Island–based group and practice dedicated to helping rain remain where it falls — instead of rushing off impervious surfaces into nearby waterways — so soil, plants, microorganisms, insects, and degraded urban landscapes can regenerate.
Through depaving, soil restoration, and intentional native plantings, it restores the water cycle from the ground up — supporting life at every scale.
An initial instinct is to invite neighbors to plant together. Another one is to facilitate spontaneous gatherings where people step out into the rain, document where water accumulates, and cultivate an embodied understanding of the importance of creating water retention opportunities within concrete-dominated infrastructures.
For now, this practice is rooted in the Smith Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island, where observing stormwater flowing along a street directly into the Woonasquatucket River revealed the need for upstream water retention within the urban fabric.
A next step is to continue stewarding and planting the depaved section of sidewalk by deepening the planting areas with diverse, dense, multi-layered native species.
The depaving of the sidewalk was completed with support from Groundwork Rhode Island and the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council through a joint residential grant they offer as part of the “River Friendly Homes” initiative for stormwater runoff in the watershed. In parallel, we will continue advocating for the city to implement the originally planned curb cut so that stormwater flowing along the street can be directed into the site and meaningfully retained.
The photos above capture the Groundwork Rhode Island team in May 2025 during the depaving process. The Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council team provided the native plants and planted a serviceberry tree.
This work is part of a broader movement unfolding across the world — and especially throughout the United States — where communities are actively depaving and implementing green infrastructure and nature-based solutions to address urban heat island effects, flooding, degraded water quality, and the loss of vegetation and biodiversity, while also restoring beauty and ecological vitality to the places they call home.
And it is deeply inspired by Brad Lancaster’s pioneering efforts in rainwater harvesting in Arizona. You explore his work here.
Through depaving, soil restoration, and intentional native plantings, it restores the water cycle from the ground up — supporting life at every scale.
An initial instinct is to invite neighbors to plant together. Another one is to facilitate spontaneous gatherings where people step out into the rain, document where water accumulates, and cultivate an embodied understanding of the importance of creating water retention opportunities within concrete-dominated infrastructures.
For now, this practice is rooted in the Smith Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island, where observing stormwater flowing along a street directly into the Woonasquatucket River revealed the need for upstream water retention within the urban fabric.
A next step is to continue stewarding and planting the depaved section of sidewalk by deepening the planting areas with diverse, dense, multi-layered native species.
The depaving of the sidewalk was completed with support from Groundwork Rhode Island and the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council through a joint residential grant they offer as part of the “River Friendly Homes” initiative for stormwater runoff in the watershed. In parallel, we will continue advocating for the city to implement the originally planned curb cut so that stormwater flowing along the street can be directed into the site and meaningfully retained.
The photos above capture the Groundwork Rhode Island team in May 2025 during the depaving process. The Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council team provided the native plants and planted a serviceberry tree.
This work is part of a broader movement unfolding across the world — and especially throughout the United States — where communities are actively depaving and implementing green infrastructure and nature-based solutions to address urban heat island effects, flooding, degraded water quality, and the loss of vegetation and biodiversity, while also restoring beauty and ecological vitality to the places they call home.
And it is deeply inspired by Brad Lancaster’s pioneering efforts in rainwater harvesting in Arizona. You explore his work here.