Spring is officially here -- a season of awakening, new life, and warmer weather! All things to celebrate, perhaps this year more than ever. This April, in honor of Earth Day, The Watershed Project invites you to join us in celebrating planet Earth through three fun challenges that involve exploration, education, and a donation to support your local watershed! Join the Watershed Exploration Challenge! Explore your watershed through three different courses. Each course has a map and directions that lead you to checkpoints that explain natural and cultural history in Albany. Collect …
Ebb & Flow
The Newsletter of The Watershed Project
Geology of Cerrito and Codornices Watersheds
By Kathy Baylor What’s in your watershed? What’s UNDER your watershed, the rock and soil, forms the basis for everything IN your watershed. The Cerrito and Codornices Creek watersheds are the result of millions of years of land movement along the Hayward Fault system. Bedrock erodes and eventually weathers to soil that supports plant growth which, in turn, feeds and shelters many animal species in the watershed. It all starts with the rocks, and the Bay Area has some pretty complicated rocks. The upper part of both the Codornices and Cerrito Creek watersheds includes a geologic unit …
Seafood Shopping for a Healthier Watershed
By Eric Hyman Most Bay Area folks realize that their food choices have a compounding impact on the resources found in both our immediate and wider natural world. And just as an element of mystery surrounds the watersheds we live in - the water often weaving its way out of sight, underground, beneath pavement, and so on, only to reappear unexpectedly (maybe) as it migrates towards the Bay - the complexity of decision making when buying seafood routinely alludes the average grocery shopper. For starters, seafood is the only wild food product that humans consume on a mass …
Recognizing Fragility in the Exercise of Re-imagining Earth Day
By Dan Kirk Think about Earth Day differently this year. For me, the way I’m reflecting on Earth Day is poetic and conceptual and non-linear (dare I say, cyclical). As much as we are resilient, as much as trees are strong, as powerful as the ocean is, the Earth is small and we are fragile. And how about in this moment where we focus on resilience in order to reimagine futures, we also welcome fragility and vulnerability in our process of re-imagining how we connect with our environment and even how we celebrate Earth Day. I recently witnessed a poet re-examining her work. She is a …
What’s in your Watershed: Olympia Oysters
By Eric Hyman Don’t let the name fool you. Though most commonly referred to by the same name as the capital city on Washington state’s Puget Sound, Ostrea lurida, or the Olympia oyster, is native to the entire West Coast, from northern Baja up through British Columbia into southern Alaska. It also has the distinction of being the only oyster species native to our coast, as the two more commonly grown (and eaten) species, miyagis [Crassostrea gigas] and kumamotos [Crassostrea sikamea], are both Japanese imports brought to California in the early to mid 20th century. Those in …
Women’s History Month Reflections: A Discussion with Environmental Educator and Board Member Carrie Strohl
Women’s History Month can feel redundant, or it can be a time for personal or community reflection. We hear from Carrie Strohl, a board member here at The Watershed Project, about her personal growth and experiences as an environmental educator and advocate for women and youth leadership, her reflections on Women’s History Month, her “sheroes'' and the challenges she continues to face in a patriarchal society. Discussion hosted by Dan Kirk, the Education and Communications Coordinator. DK: Briefly describe your career/passion path and how did that lead you to your current board …
My Green Collar Corps Experience at The Watershed Project
By Gabriela Suarez Cruz I began working for the Watershed Project when I was 19 at the beginning of my first year at Contra Costa College as a Biology major. The Green Collar Corp program worked great with my school schedule and I saw the opportunity to gain experience in the environmental field because I could go on to work alongside environmental professionals, both in the field and in the office. Many of the tasks and projects I completed helped me learn what it’s like to work with a non-profit organization. I learned about and became more familiar with what watersheds are and how …
Gearing Up for Earth Day Through East Bay Map Appreciation
By Paula White I love maps, especially historical maps; they offer a bird’s eye view of a place, capture its contours, and provide a resume of the culture of its inhabitants. My favorite maps are both beautiful and informative, opening a window into the past. If you’ve ever wondered what the San Francisco Bay Area was like before the Gold Rush and massive immigration to California, take a look at these maps: This map of the Native Peoples of the East Bay shows the 23 tribal groups who lived in what is now Contra Costa and Alameda County. Following European colonization, the original …
