Story of the San Lorenzo River: Past, Present, and Future

The Story of the San Lorenzo River, Saturday, Jan 11th, 10-11:30am, Calvary Episcopal Church. Free
• Randall Brown, local historian, and Fred McPherson, an organizer of the 1970's citizen group, Save the San Lorenzo, present a history of human impact on the river and citizen action to restore it.
• John Ricker, County Water Resources Director, presents on the current state of the watershed and what needs to be done
• Taking Action: Responses from Brock Dolman, and locals involved in watershed restoration.

Do you know where your water comes from? What about what watershed you live in? Or what can you do to protect and preserve your watershed?

On January 10th-12th, local Santa Cruz organizations will team up with watershed restoration expert Brock Dolman, founder of the Watershed Advocacy, Training, Education & Research (WATER) Institute, for a series of events open to the public to learn what our community needs to do to care for the watershed.

Basins of Relations with Brock Dolman, Friday, Jan. 10th, 8pm, Kresge Town Hall. Free admission. Dolman presents the vision of healthy watersheds as fundamental to human existence

The Story of the San Lorenzo River, Saturday, Jan 11th, 10-11:30am, Calvary Episcopal Church. Free
• Randall Brown, local historian, and Fred McPherson, an organizer of the 1970's citizen group, Save the San Lorenzo, present a history of human impact on the river and citizen action to restore it.
• John Ricker, County Water Resources Director, presents on the current state of the watershed and what needs to be done
• Taking Action: Responses from Brock Dolman, and locals involved in watershed restoration.

San Lorenzo River Walk with Don Alley, Fisheries Biologist, Sat, Jan 11th, noon to 1pm. Meet at the River St. and the pedestrian bridge, downtown Santa Cruz.

Permaculture Approach to Watershed Restoration, Sunday, Jan 12, 9:30-5:30pm; info & registration at http://kresge.ucsc.edu/commonground/

Cosponsoring organizations: Common Ground Center at UCSC; Coastal Watershed Council; Desal Alternatives; Ecology Action; Resource Conservation District; Regenerative Design Institute; WATER Institute.

Background

The City of Santa Cruz is under pressure from state and federal fisheries agencies due to the steep decline in populations of native coho and steelhead salmonids in the San Lorenzo river and streams on the North Coast. Our water agencies’ diversion of water from streams is a major factor that impacts fish population. Another major factor is high loads of sediment pouring into streams from disturbed soils: roads, logging and other development. The river's tributaries are federally listed as impaired due to high levels of sediment and pathogens.

Citizen action in the early 70's resulted in a County watershed management plan adopted in 1979. An update to the Plan in 2001 noted that "stream sedimentation has not improved substantially since adoption of the 1979 Plan." However, a recent study indicates a hopeful reduction in sediment runoff into the river system. As yet, there has been no revival of salmonid populations.

Currently there is a renewal of citizen action to care for the San Lorenzo and area streams, including the Coastal Watershed Council’s prioritization of river restoration.