By Juliana Gonzalez Coastal Cleanup Day 2010 was a record-breaking event in the battle against ocean pollution. In Contra Costa County alone, more than 2,500 people, equipped with reusable buckets and endless enthusiasm, turned out at 35 creek and shoreline cleanup locations. Volunteers stopped over 17,000 pounds of trash from reaching the ocean-- a heroic accomplishment. Thank you, thank you, thank you for doing your part to help care for our precious water resources. The most common types of trash collected along shorelines were food wrappers, plastic bags, cigarette filters, Styrofoam …
Ebb & Flow
The Newsletter of The Watershed Project
Nature’s Soap and Water | Wetlands Prevent Spread of Disease
By Erik Vance Anyone who lives near the Bay or walks along the shoreline knows the land and water share a constant connection of give and take. Sediment flows from the mountains, through the marsh, into the Bay. Meanwhile, salmon go exactly the opposite direction, bringing a little of the open ocean into Sierra foothills. It turns out that this link is even tighter than anyone had ever guessed. Scientists at the University of California Davis recently did a series of tests to see how easily diseases can transfer from land to water. They were looking at a particularly nasty bug, called …
What’s in Your Watershed? | The Vibrant Bay Checkerspot Butterfly
By Stefanie Demong It's autumn in the Bay Area and this native butterfly is wearing all the right colors. Bay Checkerspots, of brush-footed butterfly descent, boast two-inch black wingspans dotted bright red, yellow and white. This butterfly's spots suggest its other big claim to fame. The insect's checkerboard-like habitats inspired Paul Ehrlich's theory of metapopulation. It was the checkerspots' scattering across the Bay that led the infamous Population Bomb doomsayer to identify groups of spatially distant populations of the same species that may still interact. Ehrlich began …
Hercules To Rescue Wetlands | Bay Area City Undertakes Large-scale Restoration Project
By Jeff Embleton and Dan Gillenwater The mighty City of Hercules is doing its part to restore what has been lost. This East Bay city is currently engaged in trying to restore the 12-acre Chelsea parcel, located near the mouth of Pinole Creek where it meets San Pablo Bay, to tidal marsh. The project site is adjacent to the Chelsea by the Bay and Hercules by the Bay communities. By 1950, more than 45 million acres of all wetlands in America had been destroyed. In the North Bay Area alone, more than 80% of the tidal wetlands have been decimated. The wetlands were drained and filled so that …
Be a Trash Hero this Coastal Clean Up Day | Join Us for the Planet’s Largest Volunteer Event
By Juliana Gonzalez On the morning of September 25, 2010, Richmond High School student Pablo Rodriguez will don his gloves and get his bucket ready to clean up the East Bay shoreline. So too will students in Mexico, The Netherlands, and more than 90 other countries around the world, cleaning up their local shorelines. This unified effort is inspirational in the face of a growing amount of trash accumulating in our oceans, running through our rivers and fouling our shorelines. During the International Coastal Cleanup Day, the entire planet pitches in to reduce marine debris while making an …
Flotsam Flotilla Hits the Bay | Join the Fun on Coastal Clean Up Day
By Erik Vance There are lots of ways to enjoy the Bay and enjoy your watershed. You can hop on a sailboat, take a swim, or just walk along a shoreline and squish your toes in the sand. But perhaps none is as intimate and revealing as a trip in a kayak. Sitting right next to the water not only gives you a workout, but it puts you in the perfect place to see the Bay. Since your boat makes almost no noise, the wildlife takes little notice of you. Kayakers regularly spot seals, sea lions, skates, and even porpoises in the Bay these days. Since the days of the native Ohlone people and their …
What’s in Your Watershed? | The Brazen Burrowing Owl
By Aniko Drlik-Muehleck Sighting an owl is a rare and thrilling experience given their nocturnal behavior--they're silent, reclusive characters that only come out at night in search of prey. Or so you thought. In fact, right here in the Bay Area we live alongside a curious little fellow you're likely to see in the daytime! But sadly, the Western Burrowing Owl, Athene cunicularia hypagaea, is no longer a common sight during the night or day. As grassy prairies turn to urban sprawl, their numbers dwindle. Thankfully, concerned bird lovers are taking action to rebuild burrowing owl habitat. …
The Demise of the Plastic Bag | The Plastic Bag Lobbyists Won This Round, But We’re Not Giving Up!
By Linda Hunter Californians seemed on the verge of joining a growing league of cities and countries around the world that have banned plastic bags. But the American Chemistry Council spent millions on a deceptive campaign to defeat AB 1998, The Plastic Bag Ban Bill, claiming that it would cost California jobs and that we should instead focus on recycling plastic bags. In truth, plastic bag recycling is simply not happening. Fewer than 2% of plastic bags are actually recycled because it's not a viable business option. The recycling argument appears to be just another of the many …
