i grew up in fulton, new york, and have seen firsthand the impacts on our local lake. lake neatahwanta is a 715-acre lake. the lake has faced pollution, water quality, and algae-bloom issues for decades.

i hope that by watching this video, viewers can better understand the driving factors of the eutrophication (or the presence of excessive nutrients) of the body of water, what has been done to try to revitalize it, as well as current hopes and plans to help get the waters quality, and toxic blue-green algae blooms under control.

tucked away in the mountains, i was cradled by the soft towers of redwoods, the shush of the fog lazily passing through their leaves, and speckled, warm light whispering across my newly born cheeks. my eyes tracked the sway of redwoods from my first day of life, grasping to understand their constant conversation, their secret language. 

during the summer of 2020, my family and i had just moved to the city. we warily tracked the many wildfires that surrounded last chance on our phones. even then, miles away from the fires, the smoke choked the air around us. white ash would float down on us like twisted snowflakes. my mom looked up from her phone, her face drained. last chance is gone. it all burned, she said.

grief clawed at my chest. a thread that i had not fully appreciated–one that connected me to those trees no matter the time or distance–was singed. when we drove past last chance after the fire, we were stunned to silence. the wall of green was replaced with a sweeping darkness. the light that had woven through the forest to touch lucky eyes was now full of opaque ash. the swaying redwood towers were reduced to stiff, black sticks.

i could no longer hear even their softest conversation. the little wooden house that held playful racoons and guarded the memories of my first smiles, had been brought to the ground. 

when last chance burned, i forever lost a connection to myself and part of my family’s story. but california is a land of loss, one whose soils and peoples know too well the ache of utter destruction. the state of california was born in an era where the violent severance of connection to land was an industry. 

from the spanish missions in the 1700s through the discovery of gold a century later, the “california genocide” of indigenous nations has set ablaze the sacred histories, knowledge, and identities of generations of california native people. in this brutal campaign, indigenous systems of generosity, reciprocity, and love towards the land was driven to the edge of extinction, as were land sovereignty and rights. today, we are facing the repercussions of the imbalance and greed of a settler-colonialist society. 

i have spent my early career as an ecologist trying to understand how to regain the balance of our ecosystems while centering our human relationships to the land and each other. but the most basic environmental standards are being erased. new and massive fossil fuel projects are being proposed off of our coasts. 

my work– from monitoring arctic rivers to observing changes in wetland plant communities– is inherently slow, and the threat of the climate crisis is dauntingly fast. each paper that i write, every site that i survey, feels like a drop of water desperately thrown at flames that roar above my head. but the drop evaporates just from the heat. how can my two hands possibly hold a whole world on fire? 

as the climate crisis roars in fury, california will keep burning. we will lose stories, entire languages, and pieces of ourselves. but california is also a land of resistance. i am finding my way through the fire by learning with the survivors. 

through immense brutality and violent separation from their land, west coast tribes thrive. local communities and even the federal government have been beginning to understand the importance of integrating traditional ecological knowledge (tek) into the conservation and restoration of our natural lands. 

i refuse to lose that momentum – even as the current administration tightens its hold. as the daughter of an educator, i understand the importance of cultivating collective love for a place. it is slow work. and truthfully, we don’t have time to bring back all that was lost. but i can love my home and work my hardest to save a piece of it. 

part of that work is to push myself and my own community of ecologists, students, and educators to integrate traditional ecological knowledge (tek) wherever we can, from our schools to research institutions. today, indigenous groups lead the most hopeful environmental projects in the country like the undamming of the klamath river, the integration of cultural burns into yosemite national park, and the inter-tribal management of the chuckwalla national monument. simultaneously, i am investing in my own local ecological knowledge – the knowledge that is developed by staying. holding my love for this land, i see a way through the flames.  

i am now working at the woodwell climate research center in massachusetts, away from my family and away from the glowing forests and twinkling pacific ocean. until i make it back to her, i hold california in my heart wherever i go. when the flames of crisis surround my heart, i pull the memory of the redwoods and i conjure the soft winds of her hills. the flames lower. we cannot let our connection to the land burn. 

holding the inevitable loss of what we love, we must continue to invest in our local ecosystems however we can–see them flourishing and lean into their constant conversation. i will continue my work – tending to the recovery of our wetlands, coaxing the hidden meanders from our uncovered rivers – and when the speckled light from the regrown redwoods hits the cheeks of my own child, i will be able to show her what was burned, and what was saved. 

every wednesday this semester, coastal resilience educator lisa auermuller drives two hours from her home in tuckerton, a coastal town of southern new jersey to teach at rutgers university. it might be a long commute, but for her, it’s worth it because it’s a reminder of the gap between science and people. she’s spent more than two decades of her life bridging that gap.

since joining the jacques cousteau national estuarine research reserve in 2002, auermuller has been helping new jersey’s coastal communities understand the changing ocean tides. now as a rutgers professor and the executive director of megalopolitan coastal transformation hub — a multi-institution project that helps coastal regions adapt to climate change, she stands at a busy crossroads of science, policy, education, communication, and community.

in the class she teaches, coastal climate risk and resilience, auermuller tells students that effective collaboration begins with listening. by understanding others’ perspectives, she says, they can learn to communicate at the right level, speak to shared values, and build trust instead of simply pushing their own agenda. she also weaves lessons from a previous course, communicating science with decision makers, where students practiced turning research into action: writing policy briefs, press releases, and science journalism pieces, and simulating conversations with local leaders to learn how to present complex information clearly.

auermuller recalls two examples from her work that illustrate the power of environmental education to create change. “a team of us at rutgers started to set out to develop an online tool called the new jersey flood mapper,” she says. the goal for the project, launched in 2013 to help laypeople visualize where sea level might start affecting coastal communities.

the idea was to make science visible for everyone. 

the new jersey flood mapper allows anyone, from local officials to homeowners to explore what sea-level rise could mean for their communities. users can zoom in on a neighborhood to see which roads or properties might flood under different conditions and scenarios, or which areas are most exposed during storm surges and high tides.

the map lets users explore different sea-level rise scenarios for the coming decades and century based on noaa’s sea-level rise projection to show how future flooding could evolve over time. developed with continuous feedback from residents, the tool has evolved to include new layers such as tidal flooding, resilience planning, and future sea-level projections.

her second example came from the classroom, where she watched students rethink their entire academic or career paths after realizing the power of translating and communicating science for others outside academia. “they thought their path was purely more academic, research-oriented. but we’ve had students come back and tell us, like, this (the class) completely changed the way i thought about where i wanted to take my career.” 

two of her former students went on to intern with the u.s. department of state, supporting the bureau of oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs. another pair of students took positions in congressional offices. those experiences, auermuller says, reflect how strong communication skills can open doors far beyond academia.

auermullers say real change happens when people see themselves in science and communicate it together. whether on a map or in a classroom, auermuller’s work is about the same thing: helping people see that the coast is not a distant subject, but something they all belong to.

“although my degrees are in marine science, i knew that when i ended grad school, focusing only on research was not going to be satisfying for me. i found a lot of pride in helping people understand that they’re connected to the coast in a way that they don’t even know why they’re connected.”

she described her work as creating spaces where everyone could collaborate. “it’s really important for our researchers to have the opportunity to connect, and hear from stakeholders and community members, to really understand what the issues on the ground are.” auermuller trains graduate students in the skills to educate, translate information clearly and also be a good advocate for the work they’re doing.

“i think when i look at the class and have conversations with everyone, i just feel so inspired that there’s this much energy focused on wanting to do things in a more informed way. i hope they leave even further inspired and, like, have some of the skills now in a way they might not have before they came to class, giving it even more tools to be able to, like, put that energy to really good use.”

teaching climate change is never easy, she says. one challenge is honestly conveying the risks and opportunities that people face. “if you only present the negative, people are going to shut down and they’re going to feel overwhelmed, like they can’t do anything about it.” she added that to communicate climate risks, we also have to make sure that people truly understand what they can do as an individual or as a community.

“but being with the students gives me hope,” she said. “it gives me hope that we have a chance of making better choices than we have in the past as a society and we have a better chance of connecting our information to our children.”

the ocean conservancy, an environmental nonprofit working to protect the world’s oceans, hosted its annual international coastal cleanup on the anacostia river at anacostia park on sept. 27. the effort aims to keep the river free of debris and trash, but also addresses the deeper challenge of reducing flood risks for the anacostia community, said sarah weller, senior manager for the international coastal cleanup. 

“the debris causes more flooding if it’s in there, either floating at the surface or caught up in natural debris,” weller said.

prior to the cleanup, weller said volunteers would be cleaning the area near the river and expected to collect 400-500 pounds of trash.

weller said the ocean conservancy only does one river clean-up per year on the anacostia river. but the anacostia riverkeeper, an organization measuring and preventing pollution in the river, hosts river clean-ups throughout the year. their volunteers have removed more than 182,000 pounds of trash since 2014.

rising flood risks

riverkeeper trey sherard of the anacostia riverkeeper said rainwater sweep debris and trash from city streets into the river. as a result, there is less room in the natural riverbed for water from the next storm. the rain still needs somewhere to go, so it floods out into the neighborhood.

“there’s going to be more water trying to get down here anytime it does rain,” sherard said. 

sherard added that the flooding residents see most often is along the road of the anacostia park — where the volunteers cleaned up trash at the event. 

research from first street, an organization monitoring locations at risk to climate change, said 22.4% of properties in the anacostia historic district have a risk of flooding. 

flooding is also tied to public health problems like increased respiratory and related allergic health effects due to dampness and mold, a yale school of public health study found. residents living east of the anacostia are twice as likely to report “fair or poor health” compared to those west of the river, an aarp study reported.

george washington university geography department chair david rain said there are other factors making anacostia more prone to flooding. he said the ground in the neighborhood is mostly clay and sand, materials which cannot reliably support the weight of a house. the instability of the ground causes foundations to crack and lean to one side, lowering houses closer to rising water.

there has also been increased rainfall within the past decade, which, along with anacostia being on a floodplain, is leading to a higher risk of flooding compared to the overall risk of the district of columbia, he said.

taking action in anacostia

one volunteer, mia elliott, said it was her second time at the river clean-up through the ocean conservancy. she is originally from los angeles, and said her connection to the ocean prompted her to volunteer. 

she said she notices litter on the streets of the city which often get caught in the waterways.

“i mean, obviously that’s, like, horrible for the residents and the environment,” elliott said. 

a 68-year-old community member and environmental advocate of anacostia, brenda richardson, said she has been a victim of flooding. richardson said she lives in a townhouse which is over 100 years old. she added that every time it rains and water goes over the curb, her basement floods.  

“it’s just something i’ve come to grips with,” richardson said. “and i’ve learned to deal with it.” 

the d.c. department of energy and the environment, or doee, aims to improve conditions for residents like richardson with its riversmart program. meredith upchurch, 55, associate director of the doee’s natural resources administration, said the goal is to stop stormwater from going into rivers and streams. 

upchurch said doee sends contractors to homes to recommend how to stop or slow stormwater. according to a doee pamphlet, these projects include rain barrels, planting trees, and more. 

but riversmart may not be a permanent solution. even before the government shutdown beginning oct. 1, the u.s. house of representatives cut $1 billion from the district’s budget, threatening programs like riversmart.

according to richard jackson, director of the doee, the d.c. council prioritized protecting the program.

“we’ve been able to have money added to it,” jackson said, “but this was purely from a local enhancement.” 

now, with federal funding lapsed, the future of riversmart funding remains uncertain.

but weller from the ocean conservancy said community clean-up efforts remain a crucial tool for combating flood risks around the world. in addition to the conservancy’s annual clean-up in anacostia, the organization hosts different international coastal clean-ups in europe and africa. 

“these volunteer clean-ups are really important for flood prevention,” weller said.

editor’s note: coverage of water stories is made possible, in part, by the walton family foundation.  the editorial content is determined by planet forward staff and students. we thank the walton family foundation for their continued support.

the contents below have been edited for length and clarity.

mario castroviejo: from your perspective, what is the biggest challenge climate change communication faces right now?

maria carmen erviti: when i started studying, climate change denial was limited to the english-speaking world, with americans being the most polarized on the issue of climate change and so on. but in europe, there was a broad consensus on climate change. however, it seems that in recent years it has been questioned more, and i understand that this has been in a political context, with the entry of far-right actors into parliaments in different countries, etc. now that there is more polarization, perhaps the new global situation has led to more misinformation circulating on the subject.

mc: how can misinformation be combated?

mce: one of the projects i am currently involved in is with a fact-checker, maldita.es, which is looking for a new way to combat misinformation called “argument checking” in a project called “ac/dc: argument checking vs. disinformation content during climate emergencies and crisis.” instead of just saying that something is not true, it is about engaging in dialogue with the false argument.

for example, if someone says that the [2024 rainstorm that caused flooding in valencia] was an attack by morocco using climate manipulation technology to ruin the harvest, questions are asked to dismantle the argument, such as why morocco would have that technology and how it would do it. it is a way of asking questions so that the misinformation dismantles itself.

mc: why has climate change lost space in the public agenda?

mce: i think that sometimes we get tired, because we have been talking about climate change for decades and we get saturated. what really interests us as an audience are the latest developments and the latest news.

after so long, climate change becomes an abstract issue, and to connect it with reality we need events, like the floods and fires in spain and europe, and relevant spokespersons to put it on the media and political agenda. although the issue may seem worn out, extreme weather events serve as constant reminders of climate change in the media.

mc: in your research on coverage of those recent events, is the media bringing up climate change in the narrative?

i am currently studying the coverage of this summer’s fires in the regional press of the spanish autonomous communities affected. it struck me that in the newspapers, it is ordinary people, such as affected neighbors and firefighters, who mention climate change when talking about the disaster.

many [contain] quotes in which, for example, one neighbor says to another, “climate change has really hit us hard.” it is not only experts who talk about climate change, but also the general public is associating it directly with what has happened to them.

mc: do you think this awareness will translate into action?

mce: there will be no other choice. i don’t know how to put it, but there is no other choice but to rebuild what floods in spain destroyed. and now there will be no other choice but to do something about forest management. climate change has many implications. so we have to respond to those implications.

that’s the job of politicians, but one of the things that has surprised me is that climate change is not only talked about by university scientists, professors from such-and-such a university, forestry engineers who run such-and-such a thing, but also by ordinary people — that is, ordinary people who assume that what has happened is in the context of climate change.

mc: in climate communication, what kind of narratives work better: alarmist or hopeful messages?

mce: alarmist images, such as floods or cyclones, have an impact and show the seriousness of the problem, but they can overwhelm people. when you see something that overwhelms you, the human reaction is, “i can’t cope with this,” and in that sense, you are left powerless to combat the problem. on the other hand, hopeful images give people the feeling that they can contribute in their own way to doing something for the planet, and they are more positive.

mc: how did you get started in climate change communication?

mce: after working in television for seven years, i knew i wanted to do a doctoral thesis related to this medium. my supervisor, bienvenido león, suggested some topics, and climate change seemed the most interesting to me. i have to admit that at the time i was a little skeptical about this topic myself, and i thought, well, if i start researching it, i’ll come to understand it. and indeed, through my research, i was able to see that it is extremely important because it has so many implications, and i immediately realized that the skeptical arguments had neither strength nor scientific support.

mc: what do you see as the most urgent task for climate communication in the years ahead?

mce: i think that right now, the issue of misinformation is what causes the most trouble. we would need to review the most recent public opinion polls on climate change, but i think that most people do believe that climate change is happening and that it is a significant problem. however, misinformation causes a lot of noise, and it is true that it seems to be gaining more and more followers.

on saturday, june 14, ohio county in the west virginia northern panhandle experienced devastating floods. the rain fell quickly, with 4 inches of rain accumulating within 30 minutes. nine people were killed and at least 100 homes were damaged.

“we got the alert at 8:45, seconds before she yelled, ‘logan, there is a car floating down the creek,’” logan pickens, a resident of triadelphia, w. va., said, describing the moment he and his wife jenna realized they were in real danger. 

after the west virginia floods, it took over a month for president donald j. trump to approve a major disaster declaration and an emergency declaration for ohio county, leaving residents at a standstill amongst the rubble that was once their home. 

this is not the first time trump has deserted a state amidst destruction. last september, hurricane helene hit north carolina, killing dozens of people.

in late may, the trump administration denied north carolina’s request to reimburse 100% of the state funds used for aid caused by hurricane helene. according to abc, a statement from north carolina gov. josh stein said, “the denial will cost state residents ‘hundreds of millions of dollars.’”

unfortunately, the neglect experienced at the hands of the trump administration is no surprise, as he continues to deny federal disaster aid across the country.

the aftermath of the storm in ohio county remains tragic.

sunday morning sunlight revealed the total damage that was not visible through the pouring rain and dark night sky. skeletons of where homes once stood, their wooden bones scattered on the swampy ground. the insides of buildings had become the outsides, with washing machines resting on the hoods of cars and shower curtains hanging from trees.

i remember driving my sister and i to get a free tetanus shot after helping a family friend clean out her flooded basement. the water was up to our waists. unable to see anything, we reached aimlessly for possessions, unable to identify them as they were covered in mud. 

we drove past big wheeling creek, observing the firemen wading in the water. “oh my god,” my sister said. “that fireman is throwing up on the bank. do you think he found a body?”

entire roads had caved into the creek, the exact body of water that had engulfed them the night before. as we drove by, we watched kids in muck boots hang off the backs of four wheelers, riding over the rubble. others made their way by foot, carefully trekking through the mud with buckets and shovels in hand. 

no one really spoke to each other. the destruction was loud enough.

changing flood risks 

the first sign of potential flooding was at 3:40 p.m. on saturday, june 14, when the national weather service predicted “scattered areas of flash flooding expected going through this evening.” at 8:06 p.m., another flash flood warning was sent out.

jeff oechslein, a meteorologist for wtov9, a local news station, explained that the exact location of potential flooding could not be determined because thunderstorms were so small-scale.

however, flood maps, which are managed by the federal emergency management agency, are created as a tool to show which areas within a community are prone to flooding. 

as explained on fema’s official website, “the mapping process helps you and your community understand your flood risk and make more informed decisions about how to reduce or manage your risk.”

according to the national flood insurance reform act of 1994, under section 575, flood maps should be updated once every five years. the flood maps for wheeling, triadelphia, elm grove, and valley grove, w. va., have not been updated since june 2006, over 19 years ago.

outdated maps may not accurately represent the level of flood risk for an area, leaving people who are likely to experience flooding without an understanding of their risk and without flood insurance, west virginia university associate professor of geography aaron maxwell explained. 

“fema flood maps don’t account for climate change,” dr. jamie shinn, maxwell’s colleague and an assistant professor in the department of environmental studies at the state university of new york, said.

shinn believes climate change has contributed to the floods that have continued to strike the nation this summer. she is well aware of the landscape and climate of west virginia and surrounding areas, as she is a part of the research team that helped to develop the west virginia flood resiliency framework and was formerly an assistant professor of geology and geography at wvu. 

“we know the increased intensity of rainfall from climate change is increasing storms and floods,” dr. shinn said.

without aid, a community responds

as climate change increases the frequency and danger of natural disasters, trump continues to make cuts to climate change research and fema flood mitigation programs, which a state like west virginia relies on.

the west virginia flood resiliency trust fund has no money, as a proposal to allot $50 million to flood relief assistance was rejected by the west virginia house of delegates in april. this means the area can only make a full recovery from the flood with aid from fema.

the radio silence from the president following the flooding and destruction of their homes left many west virginians wondering: where is fema? and where is trump?

patty templin, a longtime wheeling resident, was on her front porch calling for her dog when the flood began. 

templin’s entire garage and basement were flooded, destroying her car and many valuables, including clothing that belonged to her late husband, tim. along with these items was a “maga” hat. 

templin expressed confusion about the lack of flood assistance from fema and support from trump. “he went to texas,” she said. “he was in pittsburgh and i thought, ‘well, if he is in pittsburgh, why can’t he come here?’ it actually did upset me. it’s like we don’t exist.” 

trump visited texas on july 11 to view damage left by floods there. the president had not acknowledged west virginia’s flooding at the time. 

“we always thought he would have our backs,” templin said, referring to her and tim’s unwavering support for trump. “we always vote for who we thought would help us. i don’t know if i would vote for him again.”

logan and jenna pickens, who reside in elm grove, experienced extreme destruction to their home in the flood that left almost everything destroyed. the couple explained that they each submitted the fema survey reporting the damage to their home and items twice. 

jenna pickens described feeling betrayed by trump’s inaction to declare the flooding a disaster.

“it felt like he was turning his back on us,” she said.

in contrast to the lack of aid given by federal funding, the pickenses expressed deep gratitude for the aid and help offered by the residents of wheeling and the surrounding communities. 

“my biggest thing is the community being together,” jenna pickens said. “it was very encouraging to have people coming out of the woodwork to donate things to you and volunteer.”

on june 22, 2025, ohio county received $11.7 million in individual assistance. there has still no allocation of public assistance aid, which would repair public areas like roads and bridges.

despite the lack of assistance from fema and from the federal government as a whole, triadelphia, w. va., and countless other towns that have experienced devastating effects from natural disasters persist. 

logan pickens summed up the unity, history, and resiliency of west virginia in one simple sentence: “west virginia has always fought to protect ourselves because no one else has.”

since 2021, floods from lake tanganyika and the rusizi river have swallowed gardens and destroyed homes, displacing families who count on the water for their livelihoods, and pushed wildlife out of their shrinking habitats.

this disaster is not an isolated event. burundi is among the 20 countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to the united nations. historically, “lake tanganyika’s water levels have peaked every 60 to 66 years, recorded in 1878, 1938, 1964, and now again”, said albert mbonerane, former burundian minister of environment and founder of action ceinture verte (acve). since 2020 the tanganyika lake has been overflowing. but unlike previous cycles, this time the damage is worse.

“construction in wetlands, farming on riverbanks, illegal dumping, and ignoring environmental laws have turned a predictable rhythm into a humanitarian and ecological catastrophe,” mbonerane said.

el niño’s heavy hand on gatumba

according to unicef, many of the people in gatumba are small scale fisher-traders, relying on fishing and petty trade for their livelihoods.

between late 2023 and early 2024, burundi faced unusually heavy rainfall. to athanase nkunzimana, ph.d., a lecturer and researcher in geographical sciences, environment, and population at the university of burundi, this was no surprise, and, he said, scientists saw it coming.

“by july 2023, forecasts had already warned about the upcoming rainy season between november 2023 and march 2024. when el niño is intense, as in 2023–2024, east africa receives heavier rainfall, and gatumba flooded again by february,” he said. the double threat came from rising waters of lake tanganyika and the overflowing rusizi river. entire neighborhoods along the lake’s coast in bujumbura were forced to evacuate, from kajaga to kibenga — a distance covering 13 kilometers, or approximately eight miles.

gatumba’s location makes it especially vulnerable. with a slope of barely reaching 2 degrees, the land is almost flat. as a result, when lake tanganyika’s water level rises, the rusizi river cannot drain effectively. “there’s a phenomenon of diffluence, (meaning that) water stagnates or even flows backward, though it’s not always visible. this slow drainage floods low-lying areas like gaharawe 1 and 2,” nkunzimana said.

the lukuga river drainage, a solution to recurrent floods in gatumba

the lukuga river is lake tanganyika’s only natural outlet. “historically, it drains 6% to 18% of the lake’s water into the congo river, but sediment is blocking its flow,” mbonerane said. when the lukuga cannot carry water out, the lake becomes a giant basin without relief, especially when fed by the swollen rusizi river and many other rivers which flow into the lake. 

“dredging the lukuga river would restore its natural outflow and prevent some of these catastrophic floods in gatumba,” mbonerane said.

burundi’s water code, a legal framework enacted in 2012, sets rules to protect its lakes and rivers. around lake tanganyika, a 150-meter (approximately 164 yards) buffer zone must be kept, while inland lakes need 50 meters (55 yards), rivers flowing into the lakes 25 meters (27 yards), and other rivers 5 meters (5.5 yards). on top of that, a 4-meter walkway is required to keep these areas clear and safe. but nkunzimana believes these rules are outdated and poorly enforced.

“we should set safety limits based on elevation — 778 to 780 meters for buffer zones — to ensure people are really protected. for rivers, the current 25-meter buffer should be measured from the major riverbed, not the minor one,” he said, as one suggestion. yet construction continues in buffer zones, despite laws, increasing the risk to communities.

building levees won’t save gatumba

according to humanitarian agencies in burundi, gatumba has faced repeated mass displacements in recent years due to relentless flooding. according to an article published by unicef usa, floods swept away about 10,000 homes in gatumba in 2020. across burundi at that time, more than 100,000 were reported as internally displaced by the international organization for migration. in just the past two years, thousands have been evacuated multiple times, including 12,000 people in 2024 and more than 10,000 in 2023, with many ending up in temporary camps or resettlement sites. 

some residents of gatumba are calling for the construction of levees along the rusizi river to prevent flooding. etienne habonimana expressed his frustration, noting that even those few families who were relocated from gatumba are considering returning.

“we feel abandoned, like children without parents. our living conditions are dire. our homes and crops have been destroyed, and although we were promised that the rusizi would be drained, nothing has been done so far,” habonimana said. “we were displaced to gateri, but life there is extremely difficult. many organizations such as iom, wfp, and ocha have done their best, but conditions remain harsh. families are living in tents.”

habonimana suggested that building a levee along the rusizi’s banks could be one of the solutions, allowing the community to contribute to national development. “members of the diaspora are willing to help. they brought in machinery to start draining the rusizi, but their efforts were blocked. they were removing sand from the river and trying to clear the overflow points that flood gatumba, yet they were denied permission to continue,” he added.

however, experts warn that building levees is not a sustainable solution for this location. “even with a levee, if tanganyika lake levels remain high and block the river’s drainage, the water will find another way,” nkunzimana said. “it’s not a durable solution for gatumba, though it might work for rivers like the mutimbuzi and others.”

mbonerane points to the u.s. experience with the mississippi river, where after devastating floods in 1927 and 1993, u.s. authorities realized levees alone were not enough. they restored wetlands, relocated communities, and managed floodplains — a model burundi could adapt.

a national environmental emergency

for mbonerane, the crisis in gatumba reflects a larger environmental emergency that requires urgent national attention. in addition to dredging the lukuga river to restore the lake’s natural drainage, he advocates practical solutions, including:  launching large-scale reforestation along riverbanks to rebuild natural buffers, establishing effective waste management systems in bujumbura to prevent pollution from reaching the lake, enforcing zoning laws and relocating illegal settlements from flood-prone areas, and educating both leaders and communities about environmental regulations while ensuring strict enforcement. 

“these are not impossible tasks. they require political will, resources, and community participation,” he said.

while el niño has worsened rainfall patterns, both nkunzimana and mbonerane emphasize that climate change, poor urban planning, and environmental neglect have magnified its impact.

“el niño is a trigger, but human activity is the fuel. if we keep destroying wetlands, polluting rivers, and building in the wrong places, the next flood will be worse,” mbonerane said.

nkunzimana believes that long-term resilience will come only from a multidisciplinary approach: “hydrology, climatology, urban planning, and social sciences must work together. disaster prevention is not just about emergency response. it’s about planning, coordination, and public awareness.”

in the absence of such collaboration, gatumba’s residents continue to live under the shadow of the next flood, rebuilding homes and lives with each season, only to see them swept away again. the waters of lake tanganyika will eventually recede.

but for gatumba residents, the question is not just when the floods will end, it’s what will be done. for now, the people of gatumba live between land and water. while many fear that an irreversible tragedy may be on the horizon, advocates like mbonerane continue to seek proactive change.

editor’s note: the views and information presented herein are those of melchisedeck boshirwa and do not represent the mandela washington fellowship, the u.s. department of state, or irex.

“the calm after the storm” explores how community members rely on one another during and after severe storms in northern florida. throughout the uncertainties, and direct impacts on their homes, these survivors’ stories demonstrate the incredible power of cooperation and togetherness.

these intertidal objects form an ecological installation that protects eroding shorelines while providing shelter for sea life. designed by object territories, a design firm based in brooklyn and hong kong, the installation is being tested in the waters off randall’s island as a nature-based solution to coastal erosion. the project will soon expand to the coastline off nearby governors island as part of an initiative that will provide entrepreneurs with real-world labs for testing prototypes that address climate-change solutions.

a living lab for testing

the trust for governors island, which operates and manages much of the island, welcomes entrepreneurs to use the 172-acre island and its two miles of waterfront and helps funding innovative projects through its annual climate solutions challenge.

clare newman, ceo of the trust for governors island, says the trust is positioning the island as leader in piloting climate solutions for the new york city region. “let people come and try stuff,” newman said. “you’re not testing in isolation in a lab, but in a real-world environment and you can see how people respond.”

last year, object territories was one of six winners selected for the trust’s challenge on water abundance. in addition to $10,000 in grant support, the winners will have access to the island to develop and demonstrate their projects.

access to these kinds of living labs is critical for object territories, as the firm seeks to improve upon their intertidal objects. their prototypes first came to life in hong kong. the city hired the team, along with several others, to design coastal armoring units and sea wall panels. this effort kick-started their initial research and resulted in two different prototypes that were tested in the hong kong harbor: the octahedron and the rock pool, a miniature tidal pool that siphons water and sea life in and out.

the intertidal objects are a constant work in progress. “each time we try to improve by adding elements, like increasing the surface area with more dents to help self-shade or applying different textures,” said marcus carter, co-founder and architect of object territories.

when the team discovered, for instance, that larger holes made it easy for predators to come pick off baby oysters, they added smaller concavities that oysters can wedge in until they grow big enough to push out and have a better chance of surviving. they also applied different textures to the forms that make it easier for barnacles and algae to attach, enhancing the aquatic ecosystem and adding new voids for fish to lay eggs in.

“we also made sure that the objects could be placed in any orientation, forming a visible, almost gordian texture,” carter said. what stays the same in every installation, however, is the geometrical form, which easily integrates in existing stone sea wall structures.

working with nature, protecting by design

according to the new york city mayor’s office of climate and environmental justice, climate change is causing cloudburst events, coastal storms, and sea level rise to become more frequent and intense. in addition to creating a habitat for sea life, the intertidal objects offer a nature-based solution to help protect shorelines from the devasting ecological impact of coastal erosion and storm surges.

figuring out how to better protect new york city has been part of the public conversation since hurricane sandy hit new york in 2012. flooding became a reality for residents throughout the city and raised the question of how to fortify shorelines in ways that are not at war with nature, unlike the bulkheads or seawalls that have long been used to protect people and property. these traditional concrete structures may address immediate threats, but are inflexible to the faster changing climate and they can cause problems elsewhere, like loss of biodiversity and habitat degradation.

by contrast, the intertidal objects can be integrated into hard existing stone sea walls and promote a living shoreline. “they are only one ingredient in a very layered landscape,” carter said. they add an extra dimension to an existing sea wall, transforming it to a smart structure that not only protects the coastline, but also creates bio habitats. “or you can stack them like lego’s to build an artificial coastline,” carter said.

resilient defenders

providing object territories with access to governors island offers another opportunity: public education. in addition to being an ideal location to situate and experiment with their objects in the water, the island provides ample locations to showcase the concrete forms on land. visitors can see, touch and learn about the forms, which could give rise to potential collaborations with landscape-architecture firms.

the intertidal objects will soon be tested and placed in the existing stone coastline at governors island, gradually becoming camouflaged within and inhabited by new communities of aquatic creatures in the tidal waters of the east river.

the pilot will also monitor the objects on both locations under starkly different water conditions: the brackish water surrounding randall’s island and the faster-moving waters at governors island, closer to the mouth of the harbor. engineered to support natural spaces, the intertidal objects may soon add an essential layer of protection for new york shores, the people, and sea life.

according to the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, “the 10 warmest years in the historical record have all occurred in the past decade.”

from reporting on communities living through water scarcity in iraq to sea-level rise in egypt, author and climate security journalist peter schwartzstein has spent over a decade documenting how climate change fuels conflict, violence, and displacement. in this video interview, schwartzstein joins dre pedemonte to discuss his new book, the heat and the fury: on the frontlines of climate change, and explore the powerful link between ecological disruption and geopolitical instability.

amid this turmoil, schwartzstein and his book’s global anecdotes share how grassroots organizers and local communities are responding with growing strength and ingenuity. 

and together, we ask: is there hope — and how do we find it?