In 2002, city engineers in Albany moved a 1,500-foot section of Patroon Creek into a large underground pipe, covering the urban stream to make room for nearby development. Eighteen years later, the city changed direction. In 2020, workers removed the culvert inside the 72-acre Tivoli Lake Preserve, bringing the stream back to the surface as part of a major "daylighting" project. The work was designed to restore the creek's natural flow, create more green space and improve flood protection for nearby communities. Water monitoring since the stream was uncovered shows how important the extra space has become. According to a success story published by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), flow data collected by the US Geological Survey (USGS) showed that peak flows at the site exceeded 500 cubic feet per second in three of the five years after the project was completed. Engineers had identified 500 cubic feet per second during early feasibility studies as the maximum amount of water the old underground pipe could carry before overflowing into nearby neighbourhoods. If the stream had remained inside the 2002 pipe during those heavy rain events, stormwater could have backed up into surrounding residential areas. Instead, the wider open channel and restored floodplain gave the water more room, allowing the surge to move safely through the preserve towards the Hudson River.
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