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Hello Friends of the Coastal Watershed Council, CWC is as busy as ever. First Flush came and went, another huge success, thanks to our many volunteers and supporters. Our school programs continue as we shape the next generation of watershed stewards. And some monitoring programs have just finished up, such as Urban Watch, while others await more rain before we head back out into the field. We've relaunched our website, and are continuing to work on tools to help each individual make a positive impact as we pursue our mission: to preserve and protect coastal watersheds through stewardship, education and monitoring. To pay for these valuable programs, we're constantly pursuing grants and contracts with local and regional partners. We're also approaching you, our base of support in the community, for donations. Please consider how unique the work we do is. If you can support CWC's mission in any way, please do so today. Thanks in advance, and Happy Fall to you all!
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 Volunteer Appreciation Party Reminder
Remember to join us for the Volunteer Appreciation Party at the CWC office from 5-7 pm on Wednesday, November 10. The Rain Date Betting Pool winners will be announced as well as some First Flush monitoring results.
Come enjoy some food, beverages and excellent company - our way to show our appreciation to all of you - our wonderful volunteers!
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CWC Brings Watershed Education to San Lorenzo Valley Schools CWC, the City of Santa Cruz and San Lorenzo Valley Elementary and Middle Schools have teamed up to provide Kindergarten through 6th grade students a series of watershed-related lessons and activities. The focus of the curriculum is to make students aware of the threats of sedimentation, leaky septic tanks and other common sources of pollution in the San Lorenzo Valley. Through hands-on activities, students will discover their connectedness to their watershed and why they need to take care of it.
Kindergarten through third grade students have just completed a week of lessons that included a series of experiments growing native ferns (which will eventually be planted along an eroding creek trail) and an up-close and personal look at the 3-D watershed model. 4th and 5th grade students will be learning about their watershed in December and January. In the Spring, 6th grade students will learn how the presence of benthic macroinvertebrates is related to water quality.
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CWC Revamps Website with Updated Stewardship Toolkit!
 We recently relaunched our website at CWC to more clearly represent our three core programs: stewardship, education and monitoring. It's also a bit more stylish, we hope. Please check it out, and be sure to share your thoughts as you do. We welcome the input. As part of the rewrite, we've updated some key resources, such as our Stewardship Toolkit. If you're interested in reducing stormwater runoff from your property and improving the hydrologic functioning in our local watersheds, then CWC's Watershed Stewardship Toolkit is worth checking out! It's a best bet for individual homeowners, renters and business owners who want to take these responsible steps to protect local watersheds. The Stewardship Toolkit provides information on alternative stormwater management measures, installation techniques and numerous resources. Please let us know what you think of the website and updated Toolkit! |
 First Flush 2010 Update
The annual First Flush event was officially called at 12 pm on Sunday October 17 (yes, it happened in daylight). Our warm and sincere thanks to everyone who helped to make this year's event another great success!
Volunteers were eager to get out in the field and within the hour a total of 41 fabulous volunteers joined CWC staff in collecting stormwater runoff from 12 storm drains and 3 stream sites in Santa Cruz, Capitola, Live Oak and Aptos. Way to mobilize teams!
Samples were delivered to Monterey Bay Analytical Services for analysis of bacteria, nutrients and metals. An additional sample was collected for the folks at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) to assist with studies of the connection between stormwater runoff and harmful algal blooms in the Bay. Laboratory and field results will soon be available - so stay tuned. |
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CWC Engages New Interns
Each year CWC offers internship opportunities to students and recent graduates in our area. In the past we have had interns from UCSC, Cabrillo and the Monterey Institute of International studies. The benefits are mutual: interns gain hands-on experience in the field as well as the office and CWC receives valuable help with programs, ideas, and enthusiasm from these inspired students and graduates.
 This quarter we are pleased to introduce Megan Gehrke and Sooni Gillett. Megan is a fourth year Environmental Studies major at UCSC. She has studied conservation biology, environmental policy and assessment, geology and GIS. She enjoys field work and hopes to find a job working in habitat restoration or research before moving on to graduate school.
Sooni has a BA in Geography and Environmental Studies and is currently a graduate student at UC Davis studying Agricultural Development and Restoration Ecology. For the last year, Sooni worked as a research assistant on a Bill and Melinda Gates Grant to "identify and improve post-harvest technology for small-scale farming communities in Africa and Asia." She spent the summer in Sri Lanka on a tropical field ecology course. She also holds a certificate in Non-profit Management.
The Coastal Watershed Council is fortunate to have these two fabulous interns on-board!
Welcome Megan & Sooni!
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