WWW Annual Picnic on Tarplant Hill

A group of 25 enjoyed the food, the company, the birds,
and the Tarplants on Tarplant Hill, across from
Landmark School on Ohlone Parkway.

About a dozen picnickers eagerly
followed John Pritchard, Restoration Specialist, to learn about the Tarplant
and visit our native plant restoration area.

At our our annual picnic on July 11^th, 2010, at Tarplant Hill, the sun was out, an amazing flock of white pelicans put on a show above, and the food was quite gourmet! Jim Van Houten gave the group a history of Tarplant Hill and how WWW came to acquire it. Left, Restoration Specialist John Pritchard is shown providing a fascinating tour of the restoration site.

Interpretive Sign Dedicated on ESHA

On Saturday, June 5th, 2010, enthusiastic supporters of Freedom Rotary and the Watch dedicated an interpretive sign on the Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area (ESHA) adjacent to the WERC at Pajaro Valley High School. The PVUSD Maintenance Department, students and teachers from PVHS, and the Watch have been working since 2004 to turn 80 acres of former agricultural fields back into native grasslands, wetlands, and forest. Students and volunteers have contributed over 3,000 volunteer hours.

Photo shows Gloria Garing, Freedom Rotary President, Secretary Heather Geddes, and Genie Dee, WWW Outreach and Development Director, who participated in the dedication of this beautiful sign at the rear of the WERC, marking the ESHA. Following the dedication, the Rotarians participated in a restoration project led by Jonathan Pilch, Restoration Director. The sign captures the Watch's vision for these lands as a restored nature preserve and an outdoor classroom for learning about the local sloughs and environment. Freedom Rotary paid for the sign, an original design by local artist  and WWW supporter Caroline Rodgers, and Walt Zander, PVUSD Maintenance Superintendent, installed it. Click here for closeup photo of the sign.

Snapshot Day

On May 1, 2010, in partnership with the Coastal Watershed Council, WWW kicked off the wetlands water quality monitoring portion of Project Tierra, Santa Cruz’s official Snapshot Day.

Committed volunteers are adopting a wetland site and collecting water samples regularly throughout the year at the site. Over time, we will begin to notice water quality trends that will help us to make important decisions on land restoration. Results will be posted on an online interactive database that will enable staff, teachers, and others to manipulate and compare data. Over the course of several years, our data may be able to answer larger and more regional questions about restoring water quality. If you would like to participate, please contact Noëlle Antolin, 831-728-1156 ext. 5 or noelle@watsonvillewetlandswatch.org.

New Grazing Specialist

Laura Kummerer grew up in San Jose and graduated from UCSC with a major in Latin American Studies. She fell in love with the vibrant life of our freshwater wetlands in 1998 when she worked with farmers along the banks of the sloughs. When Laura is not out in the wetlands she loves to bicycle, swim and hike all over the Ventana wilderness in search of wildflower blooms and swimming holes.    

Since 1998, Laura has been developing creative strategies to restore the degraded upland habitats of the slough system. She initially worked for the Watch in a community based restoration program to remove invasive weeds on the slough edge, revegetate critical areas, and involve young and old members of the community in all aspects of restoration.

For the past four years she has been working at High Ground Organics Farm to restore 20 acres of land that connects the farm with the freshwater habitat of Harkins Slough, experimenting with rotational grazing and the large scale growing of locally collected grass and wildflower seeds as a means to restore coastal prairie grassland. She looks forward to continuing this project at the Watch and feels that this new partnership will allow for the successful restoration efforts in the sloughs to reach out even further.

Students Restore Red-legged Frog Habitat

In February, the PVHS Advanced Placement Environmental Science class restored red-legged frog habitat on the newly acquired Land Trust of Santa Cruz County farm property on a pond near Watsonville Slough. Matt Freeman from the Land Trust and Kelli Camera from the Santa Cruz Resource Conservation District spoke to the students about the habitat, green jobs, and the importance of this restoration work.

Here we see students learning about the habitat they are restoring and the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County property. Staff support was provided by Jonathan Pilch, John Pritchard, John Moreno, and Mary Paul, as well as our 2 new CSUMB interns, Ashly Farland and Alicia De Worken and our docents Cathy Gamble and Jim Mattson.

Matt Freeman, SC Land Trust, talking to the students	Kelli Camera from the RCD speaks to the group
Jonathan and John demonstrate planting	Posing after a good day’s work

Musical Planting a Big Success

Fifty-five volunteers showed up on March 27th to put in 1,336 plants, restoring a wet meadow that had been full of poison hemlock. Volunteers planted to the tunes of bluegrass band Microtonic Harmonic. Many thanks to all who volunteered, to Mary Paul for coordinating the event, and to Microtonic Harmonic for donating their services.

World Wetlands Day Links Us to Pakistan

We are not alone in our work. As a result of our connection with World Wetlands Day, we received an e-letter from the Deh Akro Wetlands Watch in Sindh, Pakistan! Click here to learn about their wetlands preservation work.

Action Pajaro Valley Studies Water Issues

The Water Supply Subcommittee of this group is looking hard at the many issues surrounding Pajaro Valley water, especially since the previous fees assessed to support the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PVWMA) were ruled illegal by the court. These issues include:

• Overdraft of the basin
• Saltwater intrusion
• Land subsidence (sinking)
• Need for additional supply
• Flooding

Because of its reputation for objectivity as well as its concern for the environment, WWW has been suggested as a host for a possible public forum. The forum would focus on educating the community on some of these issues, including a potential augmentation fee to support the PVWMA. For future news, watch this website. You can also learn more at the PVWMA website and the Army Corps of Engineers website.

World Wetlands Day a Big Success

This event, held at the Nature Center on February 6th, drew over 75 local community members to participate in conservation activities, demonstrating yet again how much Watsonville really cares; both program leaders and community members alike.

RESTORATION. Over 35 people participated in the invasive plant removal and native planting in the wetland area behind the Nature Center. This would not have been possible without the help from WWW docents Bridget Dumas, Sharon Hazel, Brenda Hermosillo, and Victor Riegos. This was a great turnout considering the rain that lead right up to the first shovelful of weeds and dirt!

LITTER CLEAN-UP. More than 15 parents and children participated in wetlands trail litter clean-up activities lead by Nature Center staff Cindy Scott and Cristy Cassel along with WWW docent Athena Barrios. Participants received prizes and several very “interesting” items were removed.

ARTS, CRAFTS AND GAMES. Nature Center staff and WWW docents Athena Barrios and Melita Israel offered wetlands themed bingo games, bird crafts, conservation art projects, and litter leader games available for children throughout the day.

Over 98 countries worldwide participated in this event! Click here for more information.

Feb. 11: Second-Graders at Landmark Elementary Do Planting on Tarplant Hill

Two students having fun planting
Trails Specialist John Moreno helping out	Docent Cathy Gamble checks out a plant
The Cal Fire/CDC Fire crew also worked on Tarplant Hill, doing site preparation for volunteer planting that occurred on Feb 16th. Shown above, staffer John Pritcher after starting the crew.	Volunteers do their part

Training for Project-Based Science

On Saturday, November 7^th 2009, 16 teachers from all over the Bay Area attended a Project-based Science Institute at the WERC. The Watch is partnering with the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) to support middle school and high school teachers to implement outdoor projects related to Project Tierra, our citizen science wetland biodiversity monitoring program.

Healthy freshwater wetlands are home to many interconnected organisms. Aquatic invertebrates make up the foundation of this delicate food web and are good indicators of wetland health. Staff and docents taught teachers to sample aquatic invertebrates in West Struve Slough and then to identify their species and interpret their data. Two teachers will return with their students to participate in Project Tierra's aquatic invertebrate monitoring this winter.

Rebirth of the Wetlands Altar Project

Through the vision and hard work of a very creative team of volunteers, the altar, The Rebirth of the Wetlands, was built. The intention for the project was to combine the natural features of our local wetland habitats (birds like the red tailed hawk, cormorants and white pelicans, and native plants like rushes, cattails, marsh marigolds, and bee plant) with traditional Day of the Dead altar components like the arch, brightly colored flowers, and representatives of the four elements (candles for fire, birds for air, rocks for earth, and glass for water).

While it was a true collaboration, each volunteer contributed his/her own special skills.  Bob Lyons built the sturdy infrastructure, Bill Best tackled the arch engineering, Cathy Gamble made the wonderful stained glass birds and water pieces, and Virginia Taylor added the color through flowers and tissue paper. Shown at left are Bill and Virginia.

We also wanted to draw attention to the importance of young people's involvement in the wetlands.  On the outside of the left panel are student art works, including two “Found Art” pieces created by students after a slough cleanup session and a student’s poem.

Visit our altar and all the others at the Pajaro Valley Arts Council Gallery at 37 Sudden St. in Watsonville; the exhibit runs through Dec. 6, and the Gallery is open Wednesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays & Sundays, 12 to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

WWW at Santa Cruz County Fair

Eight volunteers and two staff worked over several days to create this miniature wetland for the Santa Cruz County Fair. The Watch was excited to be part of the Fair and to make more residents aware of this precious resource, the Watsonville Sloughs, located in the heart of Watsonville.

Part of the exhibit is shown at right.

Volunteer Linda Youmans

Linda is a native of Watsonville and went to Watsonville High.  Her family spans four Watsonville-area generations, starting with her husband’s parents and extending to their 3 children and 4 grandchildren.  She also includes her “granddogs” in her family.

Four years ago, after the death of her husband, a newspaper story about the docent program caught Linda’s eye.  She decided to give it a try and was delighted by the lovely people and upbeat spirit she found. Today she is one of the pillars of our program. She says, “It is great to feel needed, and it is a blessing that I get to be a part of this”.

Thank you, Linda, for being such a wonderful member of our docent family!

Restoration and Education Grants

Below are details of work Watsonville Wetlands Watch is accomplishing in the sloughs with the support of grants and partners.

Stewardship Council Grant

Watsonville Wetlands Watch staff has partnered with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to design a project based learning opportunity for Pajaro Valley teens. The Stewardship Council Youth Development Initiative funded $75,000 for the partners to work with teachers in developing project based activities, get kids outside, in the wetlands, and to address community based conservation issues. Teachers are trained over the summer on project based learning and will implement the activites through field experiences.  WWW will support teachers through the resources and expertise found in the Fitz Wetlands Educational Resource Center.  Through classroom projects, activities, and field experiences, teens will discover the unique watershed located in their backyard.

Talk: “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch”

Mixture of plastic and plankton collected in the north Pacific. Plankton is the base of the ocean food chain that feeds all seafoods.

Many community and WWW volunteers and staff audience members were deeply moved during a recent talk at Fitz Wetlands Educational Resource Center. The well-attended audio-visual presentation, “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” was given at the August 6^th docent meeting by Ximena Waissbluth of the Surfrider Foundation. She shared photos and facts about this gigantic gyre of plastic debris which spreads across hundreds of miles of the north Pacific. We saw birds trapped in plastic rings and learned that fish are now ingesting plastic, which not only harms them, but means it gets into our food supply.

One solution proposed is for the public to support Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation, which would make producers pay for the cost of non-degradable items.

To learn more about this growing problem, see the articles in Yahoo News and on the Algalita.org website.