The concept for Lifting the Creek is not the same as daylighting a stream. Some of the pipes are up to 20 m underground, and removing the whole landfill to cart away and destroy another landscape is not the intention.
Lifting the Creek is about creating a new stream channel on the surface of the landfill. There may be some buried springs that sadly we can never recover, but we are able to keep rain water from entering the landfill and becoming contaminated by capping the landfill with a waterproof clay layer. We can contour the new layer to allow the surface water to flow towards and down a stream channel. The stormwater pipes from the houses and roads can also be directed to this stream channel. Wetlands at several places up the valley can help regulate the water flow from almost nothing in dry spells to a torrent during heavy rain. The wetlands can also provide moist habitat for wildlife when the general flow has stopped.
This concept is basically a natural stormwater management system, which is now a much more common and well-tested solution for urban areas as piped infrastructure fails to cope with greater demand and heavier rain events.
The diagram below shows a cross section through the landfill and the general concept.
