Patagonia Supports CWC's Watershed Protection 

CWC is happy to learn that the Santa Cruz Patagonia outlet has chosen us as a recipient of their Voice Your Choice awards. CWC is one of three local nonprofits chosen to receive a portion of their $5000 award. Every day in March, you can visit the Patagonia outlet to vote for CWC, and at the end of March the nonprofit with the most votes gets the most money. Many of you already shop at Patagonia, so during March, please ask in the store how you can vote for us. Yes, it's a popularity contest, and we want to win! We're happy to be selected along with the Ventana Wilderness Alliance and Watsonville Wetlands Watch for this award, and we congratulate them as well. Vote for CWC at Patagonia in March - one vote per person per day. We'll remind you come March. And a big thank you to Patagonia!

Free Film Series Continues in Capitola!

CWC is again showing its free environmental film series in Capitola. The theme this month is pesticides and other harmful chemical compounds which persist in the environment. On Wednesday, February 23, join us in the Capitola City Hall Community Room to watch a doubleheader of two award-winning one-hour films.  

At 7pm we'll start with A Sense of Wonder, a documentary-style film about Rachel Carson's famous fight to teach America about the threat of toxic substances in our environment. Then at 8pm we'll watch Drumbeat for Mother Earth, an account of the unique threat toxic chemicals pose to indigenous peoples. Both films are sure to educate, inform and inspire each of us to become better stewards of the Earth. The environmental film series is sponsored by the City of Capitola Public Works Department.  

New Brighton Middle School Installing Storm Drain Markers

CWC's Capitola Stormwater Education program is up and running at New Brighton Middle School.6^th grade students in Kathy Kelley's math and science classes have designed beautiful storm drain markers that will be placed next to twenty storm drains on the school's campus.Students also mapped three sections of the school and calculated the amount of runoff that goes into nearby Noble Gulch creek.After a class discussion on pollution and effects of storm water runoff on the local environment, students and CWC staff came up with a plan to install storm drain markers. CWC's science education activities at New Brighton Middle School are funded by a NOAA B-WET grant and the City of Capitola.

Carneros Creek Water Quality Monitoring Continues

Though January held little rain Carneros Creek still flows and teams of volunteers continue to monitor the Northern Monterey County creek on a weekly basis. 

To date there have been seven monitoring events with two collections for monthly lab analyses. A total of 13.32" of rain has now fallen at the Triple-M Ranch, the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association's (ALBA) local headquarters off Hall Road in Las Lomas. Last week's team sited two Pacific Chorus Frogs at the Blohm Road site and Mallard ducks and Canada geese are often seen.

Recently project partners  CSUMB, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Reseach Reserve, ALBA and CWC shared data from the project's first year, 2010, to assist with evaluating the effectiveness of organic farming practices and wetland restoration in improving habitat and sediment and water quality in Elkhorn Slough.  

We've many more events to go before the season end and we look forward to seeing all of you out there! Contact Debie Chirco-Macdonald at (831) 464-9200 or djchirco@coastalws.org if you are interested in learning more about the project.

CWC Supports Education in Felton

CWC is active again with more classroom visits to students at San Lorenzo Valley Elementary and Middle Schools in Felton.This spring, students will be going out in the field to Fall Creek to learn how professionals monitor water quality.Students will learn about the importance of benthic macroinvertebrates (BMIs) in the creek and how to identify them.

CWC is also brainstorming ideas for a best management practice (BMP) on the San Lorenzo Valley Elementary School campus to lessen the school's impact on the San Lorenzo River watershed while educating students about storm water runoff.

CWC's Education Coordinator, Bridget Posson, will be making an appearance at San Lorenzo Valley High School in a few weeks for their annual "Science Night" event.  Bridget will be joining other local scientists and educators to talk with high school students about different careers in science.The Watershed Academy at the high school is the culminating force behind this valuable event. CWC's efforts in San Lorenzo Valley schools are supported by the City of Santa Cruz Water Resources Department.   

Snapshot Day 2011 Approaches!

The 12th Annual Snapshot Day is fast approaching and will occur on Saturday, May 7th in Santa Cruz, San Mateo and Monterey Counties. The community-based event provides an annual "snapshot" view of the health of rivers and streams that flow into the Monterey Bay. In partnership with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) and hundreds of community volunteers, we systematically sample the stream waters throughout the central coast of California during this one-day event.

Volunteers are trained by CWC and MBNMS staff to record field measurements and collect water samples for laboratory analysis. The volunteers who collect this valuable data play a key role in our communities as stewards of our watersheds. The information provided is used by resource agencies, local governments and community groups to protect and improve the health of our local watersheds.

So come out and get your feet wet! Join us on Saturday, May 7th! Trainings will be held on the following dates (please plan to attend one training):

Santa Cruz: Sunday, May 1, 12-3 pm at Natural Bridges State Beach

Monterey: Saturday, April 30, 12-3 pm at REI in Marina

San Mateo: TBA

Cambria: Tuesday, May 3, 5-7 pm

To get involved, please contact the CWC office at: 831-464-9200 or via email at: djchirco@coastalws.org.