With much of California's massive snowpack yet to melt, downstream communities remain on high alert for flooding. Hundreds of homes were destroyed or damaged during the record-breaking winter, which tested the state's aging flood infrastructure. Now, communities are looking for ways to protect themselves from future floods.

Today, NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer talks about a new approach: just giving rivers some space to flow. Levees are being removed and moved back, creating natural floodplains that are designed to fill with water when rivers run high. The idea is to take pressure off downstream levees by giving water somewhere to go farther upstream.

Read more of Lauren's reporting:

  • California is still at risk of flooding. Maybe rivers just need some space
  • The latest to be evacuated from California's floods? Bunnies

Got questions about science? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. We'd love to hear from you!

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This episode was produced by Brit Hanson, edited by managing producer Rebecca Ramirez and fact-checked by Lauren. Robert Rodriquez was our audio engineer this episode.

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