November 15, 2006
After years of collecting local genetic-stock native plants and then having them grown for us at commercial nurseries and various volunteers' homes, SPAWN (Salmon Protection and Watershed Network) now has its own nursery site! Complete with a small greenhouse and a larger shade-house, SPAWN will now be able to close the cycle from collection to out-planting for its restoration projects. We also hope to be able to distribute some plants to local landowners, encouraging our neighbors to plant more natives in their landscaping.
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Rainwater Harvesting System Benefits Creeks, Salmon, and School
This summer SPAWN partnered with the Lagunitas School to construct a new kind of "creek-friendly" project designed to protect local creeks and salmon populations.
The model project, a rainwater-harvesting system, captures rainfall from the roof of a playground lunch-shelter during the stormy winter months and diverts it into a 30,000-gallon cistern that will serve to irrigate the school's Organic Garden Project during the dry summer period. Left un-captured, the runoff would have drained into a 10-inch storm-drain that empties out onto an already eroded bank on Larsen Creek, a salmon-bearing creek in the San Geronimo Valley.
This project saves precious water, saves the school money on their water bill, and reduces erosion, as well as creates a scaleable project, which if replicated throughout the watershed could help to re-charge our underground aquifer, reducing the impacts of development that cause our creeks to go dry, stranding baby salmon in the summertime.
Capturing and re-using water on site could save society and the environment enormous costs associated with building more dams to meet the water needs of a growing human population. It also eliminates the energy needed to pump water from its source to treatment plants to users, and removes the need to treat water with chloramines since the water is used for irrigation and landscaping only.
And the idea is already catching on. The school's facility committee is considering adding another catchment system off the roof of the school's future gymnasium. SPAWN aims to help facilities managers and local homeowners come up with innovative ways to reduce their ecological footprint and help protect the environment for future generations.
"Coho Spawning" Creek Walks to Resume in November
With the spawning season quickly approaching, SPAWN is currently taking reservations for its naturalist-led creek walks to see spawning coho in the Lagunitas Watershed. Spots fill quickly, so we recommend that people make their reservations early.
For more information, visit www.SpawnUSA.org or call the Coho Hotline at (415) 488-0370, ext. 2.
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Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN)
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TOC for Forest & River News, Fall 2006