Educating and inspiring communities
to protect our local watersheds
We all live in a watershed. No matter if you are in the middle of San Francisco's financial district or on a cherry farm in Contra Costa County, water trickles and gushes around you on its journey to one of the world's greatest estuaries--the San Francisco Bay. Our lives are interconnected through our relationship with our watersheds. They are the containers for our homes, schools, and places of work. Everything we do, from mountaintop to marsh, affects the health of local water, soil, air, wildlife, our families and communities.
The ecological and cultural importance of our relationship with our watersheds is undeniable. Unfortunately, our ties to precious water resources are rapidly unraveling. San Francisco Bay has become the most altered aquatic ecosystem in the United States. What was once a paradise for shorebirds, waterfowl, oysters and salmon, is now a soiled afterthought to development of new mines, mansions and malls. Today, the debris and gravel-filled Bay bears little resemblance to the natural wonderland that was celebrated by the Ohlone, Patwin, and Miwok people over 10,000 years ago.
Learn about your watershed today. Take a workshop or support a local community group. Together we can protect the Bay Area's many creeks, waterways, and watersheds.
What's in Your Watershed?
The Beneficent Ground Beetle
Most gardeners know that lady bugs are master defenders. They protect plants from menacing aphids right before your eyes in the light of day. But cute lady bugs are not the only garden guards. There are other beneficial creatures living in your garden, working the night shift to control pest populations.
Current Project News & Highlights
Watershed Teaching Tools Workshop Coming in August
Our comprehensive five-day training provides educators with the knowledge and resources they need to bring hands-on environmental education into their classrooms. The topics covered are: watershed, marsh and creek ecology of the San Francisco Bay; gardening concepts for a healthy watershed; ways to reduce pesticides and toxins around your home and school; pollution prevention and resource conservation; and integrating and evaluating environmental education activities into your curriculum.
Contact Adam Hale at (510) 665-3539 or email adam@thewatershedproject.org for more information and to sign up!
Hope Gardens Blooming Around the Bay
Inspired by Barack Obama's campaign for President, the Victory Garden movement, locavore philosophy, and the beauty of the natural world, The Watershed Project has created the Hope Gardens program. We believed the President when he said that the spirit of hope is powerful and can help us get through tough times. If, as a people, we can unite in the spirit of hope, we will strengthen our communities and ourselves. The Watershed Project is encouraging residents around the Bay to plant a garden in the name of HOPE.
