Though Southern California is often associated with an arid and dry desert environment, in recent years there has been a significant increase in rainfall, making urban stormwater management a challenge.
During the Spring 2026 term, students in Woodbury鈥檚 Sustainable Practice and Design Studio designed and built a new 7-foot-by-3-foot. bioswale 鈥� a landscape feature that collects and filters polluted stormwater runoffs and allows it to soak it into the ground 鈥� directly in front of the Sustainability Hub on the North Campus.
Led by Professor Henry Yang and Lead Student Designer Cydia Sosa, the project tackles a major campus issue 鈥� stormwater runoff. Professor Yang states this, 鈥渨hile the Burbank area may not experience constant heavy rainfall, impervious surfaces like the adjacent parking lots cause significant runoff during storm events. This water quickly sweeps debris, toxic grease, and other pollutants across the campus grounds, presenting a unique environmental and architectural challenge.鈥�
To mitigate these pollutants, students in the class said they approached the site as a living laboratory, utilizing data-driven design to ensure maximum efficiency for the bioswale. The team researched native vegetation types and local soil media, running complex calculations on local rain intensity, runoff volume, and runoff velocity.
The system features a highly efficient subsurface treatment process:
“Water is the most essential and scarce resource disguised by the illusion of its abundance,鈥�
Yang said.
Students said building the bioswale was as much a lesson in collaboration as it was in engineering. As lead student designer, Sosa said she managed most of the physical construction herself, while simultaneously coordinating with project stakeholders and managing diverse opinions.
The project marks a major milestone, Sosa said. Sosa will continue her research this year in a global study abroad program to build knowledge of sustainable practices, strategies, and perspectives.
While a 7-foot-by-3-foot bioswale may seem like a small footprint, the class emphasized that the project鈥檚 true goal is to shift community mindset. 鈥淏y treating water as a precious resource rather than a waste product, the installation stands as a physical reminder of the importance of green infrastructure and subsurface water treatment in modern urban planning,鈥� said Yang.
The bioswale was made possible by members of the student body, faculty leadership, and key university support including Professors and project leads Henry Yang, Emily Bills, Antonio Anfiteatro, Michael Elbert, and Louis Avila.