Hello TWP Friends and Supporters, What a difference a year makes! In contrast to last year-end, when I was writing to you about the pandemic’s harsh impacts on our communities, fiscal year 2021-2022 has seen The Watershed Project move back into full gear with our programming. And 2022 is our 25th Anniversary year! I am so grateful to have seen so many friends at our party at Riggers Loft in Richmond in late June, Rock the Bay, helping us celebrate 25 years of accomplishments. Thank you. As I look at the history of 25 years of The Watershed Project, I see the …
Ebb & Flow
The Newsletter of The Watershed Project
We Work Better When We Work Together – Participatory Design for Sea Level Rise Adaptation in North Richmond
By Naama Raz-Yaseef If you read newspapers or listened to the news recently, you probably heard something about the concerns over sea level rise. Models that estimate how much and when the sea level will rise show that the San Francisco Bay could rise by up to 1.9 feet in 30 years and by up to 6.9 feet by the end of the century. The impact of sea level rise will be amplified during storm surges and high tides. In North Richmond, this means that in the next century, during large storms, most of the shoreline will be submerged, flooding the Richmond Parkway, the West County Wastewater …
What’s in your Watershed? | Water is the Way
By Audrey Matusich Over the years, the “What’s in your Watershed?” segment of this newsletter has featured many incredible plant, animal, and even fungi species. This segment has been dedicated to sharing stories of animal encounters in our watersheds, as well as providing facts about each highlighted species and its role in its relative habitat. Now that November is here, a month of gratitude and giving, I thought it would be fitting to reflect and give thanks to the one thing that all watersheds have in common…water! Living on the “blue planet,” water makes up a majority of the …
“First Flush” Stormwater Quality Monitoring
By Dan Kirk Many of us in California get excited for the first rain of the season, even if you’re not one of us at The Watershed Project who literally waits outside for the “first flush” (first hefty rain of the season) with rain gear on and a bunch of stormwater monitoring equipment and data sheets. What are we up to with our gear? Yes, you guessed it, we monitor water, specifically we test the stormwater for pollutants. On November 1, Satoko Mills, our water quality monitoring leader, brought stormwater monitoring gear to Booker T. Anderson Community center parking lot, where in …
Oyster Reef Ball Monitoring in November 2022
Join us for oyster monitoring at Point Pinole Regional Shoreline! We will have an Oyster Reef Ball Monitoring at Point Pinole Regional Shoreline to see and count the oysters on the reef balls and observe their environment. Over the course of several years, volunteers built 100 reef balls which were deployed in 2013 as substrate for the native Olympia oyster. Twice a year we go out and survey everything that’s growing on the reef balls, including algae, oysters and other invertebrates. Due to the tide schedule in the spring we’ll be heading out in the evening, with light from headlamps …
The Benefits of Vermicomposting: Sustainable Gardening, Climate Change, and Empowerment
By Maggie Chen As the seasons shift and the temperatures begin to cool, we begin to prepare ourselves for the season of fright! And what is more frightening than spooky, scary skeletons nestled in dark soil with wriggly worms? While worms and decomposing skeletons are often referenced under a gory and scary Halloween theme, we can shift this narrative by giving some love and appreciation to all the wonders and work that worms do in the mitigation of climate change impacts. A wonderful way to utilize worms is through vermicomposting! Vermicomposting is the …
What’s in your Watershed? | Benevolent Bats
By Audrey Matusich October has finally arrived, marking the start of the spooky season. Whether you are taking a trip to a local pumpkin patch, staying in to watch a scary movie, or dressing up like an assortment of creepy monsters, it is easy to get into the Halloween spirit. As a result, I thought it would be appropriate for this month’s “What’s in your Watershed?” article to feature an animal that is often associated with the spooky season, the bat! When one first thinks of bats, they may express feelings of discomfort or fear, as this creature is often connected to vampires or haunted …
Welcome New Youth Field Crew Manager: Pinkie Young
Pinkie Young is The Watershed Project’s (TWP) new Youth Field Crew Manager, who will hire and mentor a set of young paid interns (ages 17-24). TWP is honored and excited to have Pinkie join and grow our TWP team! Below, in a conversation with Dan Kirk, Pinkie shares a little bit about her passions and challenges working in the environmental field, her interests and hobbies and a Two Truths and a Lie game that readers can participate in, among other exciting things. Dan: What watershed do you live in and why is it special to you? Pinkie: I live in the Baxter Creek watershed, so South …
