With spring in the air, the Coastal Watershed Council’s Habitat Enhancement Site is in the best shape of the project’s existence. Wildflowers are blooming, bees and butterflies are pollinating and lizards and colorful birds are frequent visitors. The project is located along the Santa Cruz Riverwalk Park and you are highly encouraged to walk, roll, run, hop or dance past the site (located on the east bank of the San Lorenzo River between Soquel Ave and Laurel St bridges).
A recent compilation of blooms from CWC’s Instagram
Compared to other stretches of the Riverwalk in downtown Santa Cruz, CWC’s restoration project site hosts a dense community of native plant species of ecological and ethnobotanical significance.
If you think all it took was a one-time casting of seeds, you couldn’t be farther from the sweat and shovels truth. The site would be just a small fraction of what it is today without CWC’s incredible volunteers, including Watershed Rangers afterschool students from Gault and Bay View Elementary Schools!
Volunteers at a River Health Day event at the San Lorenzo River
At the beginning of March, these 4th and 5th grade students and CWC Educator Sam Adelson arrived at the San Lorenzo River via school bus to meet up with River Ecologist and site manager Kaiya Giuliano-Monroy for an afternoon of planting Juncus patens, a native species of rush. Joining the team was Laurie Egan, CWC’s Programs Director, and Sam Rolens, Director of Communications for Santa Cruz City Schools (SCCS), to document the field trip.
Kaiya and Watershed Rangers prepare for action!
The YouTube video speaks for itself. I invite you to click the link below, sit back and enjoy the brief, impactful production highlighting our recent afterschool adventure:
What a great opportunity to collaborate and show the community what teamwork looks like at CWC! In further partnership with SCCS, stay tuned for a press release highlighting CWC’s Youth Community Access grant which brings state cannabis tax dollars to support this afterschool program for the next two years.
To stay up to date on developments and successes within Santa Cruz City Schools, visit the weekly SCCS Community News webpage and Video News YouTube channel. To join a Coastal Watershed Council River Health Day as a volunteer, please sign up here.
This work is made possible because of generous funding and support from Santa Cruz County CORE and partnership with Santa Cruz City Schools. Thank you for the continued dedication to environmental education and strong, healthy communities.