By Sarah Haselton Urban Creeks face a multitude of challenges that threaten the overall health and biodiversity of our watershed. The Watershed Project has continuously acted to protect our local creeks, monitor local water quality and manage stormwater. Runoff from our lawns, roofs and streets possess a threat to creeks and overall watershed health. A very important issue our creeks are faced with today is water main breaks. If you have ever seen a water main break, you can imagine that there are dramatic repercussions! There are many environmental consequences to a water main break …
Flirting With Water, Love Through Time
By Haleema Tahir It is a truth universally acknowledged that the youngest child in a group of children must, by necessity, do all activities with the same efficiency if not better. It was because of this, that one day I found myself face-to-face with you. My god, you are loud. And you are in my way. Did you have to flirt and dance right in the middle? I don’t think I like you very much. Listen, you, I need to get across to the other side. That’s where the action is. This is the first time I am allowed outside the house with the older cousins! And you aren’t helping. I toe just to the edge of …
Trees I have Loved – Strawberry Tree, Arbutus ‘Marina’
By Paula Urtecho I volunteer with an organization called Richmond Trees. The other day as I was planting trees in neighborhoods around Richmond, I drove past several Arbutus ‘Marina’, commonly known as Strawberry Tree, that I had planted in a sidewalk strip some years prior. They had grown exponentially since I’d last seen them, with sturdy bright red trunks and resplendent foliage and flowers. My heart did somersaults when I saw those trees! I remember the first time I laid eyes on a specimen of Arbutus ‘Marina’ in San Francisco. I was immediately …
Henry the Heron
By Dan Kirk Henry the Great Blue Heron lives in the San Francisco Bay, often seen in and around boggy wetlands. Sometimes on the Bay Trail you can see Henry standing still, about 4 feet tall, peacefully resting, or patiently waiting to snag a fish. When the sky is cloudy, and the water is grey/blue, Henry camouflages with the surrounding environment or rather, visa versa. Only when against the backdrop of, say, the green succulent ice plant, or the pale ivory of pampas grass does Henry’s location become visible, subtly revealing a popping blue figure with an S-shaped neck and dark long knobby …
A Wet and Muddy Adventure in Wildcat Canyon
By Olivia Rose On an overcast, drizzly thursday, I along with several members of The Watershed Project staff rolled up to Wildcat Canyon, excited to celebrate this beautiful place with students from Ohlone Elementary. As a new member of staff, this would be my first field trip, and I was admittedly a bit nervous. Luckily, as I watched students pile out of cars and vans I could tell I wasn’t the only one. Some of the students were obviously very excited to be there, some a little tired, and with less than ideal weather, others were very skeptical about the whole thing. After greeting each …
Whitney Dotson Remembered : Champion of Open Space for All
By Paula White I first met Whitney back in 2005 during a field trip organized by the Sustainable Urban Planning class I was taking at Merritt College. Whitney met us at the Richmond BART station and we caravaned to Fred Jackson Way and Gertrude in North Richmond, where we talked about the history of the area and nearby Parchester Village, where Whitney lived most of his life. At the time, Whitney was in the midst of the fight to preserve Breuner Marsh from development, a decades-long battle that culminated with the 2017 opening of the Dotson Family Marsh. Whitney came across as very humble, …
Explore Contra Costa Creeks!
By Helen Fitanides For the last few months, we’ve been working with Flow West to build an app that brings together our monitoring data with that of other groups, and presents it in an interesting and interactive way. We’re happy to announce that the app is now live! Please visit it here, and read below for a tour of the app. On the main page of the app you can learn about all of the water quality features that we monitor in a creek, which have been grouped according to type, such as vital signs, which includes temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, and turbidity. Click on a …
Demystifying the Shark
By Dan Kirk The other night, during the lunar eclipse in Cancer, we sat next to a fire on the beach during the highest tides, or the “King Tides” of the year. There were crab shells all around, and we joked that the eclipse was summoning the crabs (crab is the astrological symbol for the zodiac sign of Cancer). Looking into the fire, then back out into the water, then up at the sky, then at my dog, I felt surrounded by beauty and mystery. I wanted to do something about it, I wanted more. The idea of running into the dark, loud, lapping ocean was becoming more and more like a risk I wanted …
