The Coastal Watershed Council wants you to fall in love. Since 1995, this nonprofit group has sought to ignite Santa Cruzans with a passion for the San Lorenzo River and the desire to explore, enhance and protect this waterway that flows through the heart of the city.
Painted on a cement wall along the Third Street Levee, a sign reads “Agua Es Vida—Water is Life.” The human body is 60% water, and in Santa Cruz that means we are the San Lorenzo River, and the river is us. When we drink water, wash our derrière, make our wine, water our gardens, we become the San Lorenzo River. It flows through the middle of our town and through every cell in our bodies.
The Coastal Watershed Council’s goal is to make people feel safe at the river and provide opportunities for people to connect with nature, to learn, to recreate.
Executive Director Laurie Egan tells me the CWC’s work is all about instilling love of the San Lorenzo River in kids. They work with communities adjacent to the river, and Egan says she hears kids on the school bus field trips saying, “Oh, that’s my aunt’s house,” or “Hey, my mom works there.”
Immersion Learning
The CWC staff and volunteers take them to the river to immerse them in nature. “We’ll have kids don their little waders and get to go into the river itself to look for aquatic bugs and species that help to indicate water quality,” Egan explains.
“Putting on waders is intimidating even for an adult,” she says. “Waders are these funky pieces of equipment and you’re stepping into them. And as you step into the water, it feels cool against your skin and vacuum seals the waders. The kids are trepidatious at first, so our educators will hold their hand to get them in the water.”
Egan says that by the end, “The kids are all smiles, having a blast, finding way more bugs in the river than they ever thought, seeing all the birds and different species. They have the best time.”
The Coastal Watershed Council’s goal is to get Santa Cruz to embrace the river as a focal point of our community—as our drinking water source, as critical habitat for threatened and endangered species, and as a place we can all spend time in nature in our daily lives. She says there will come a day when we can drink our double-lattes on a fancy Front Street coffee-shop patio while we gaze over this stunning river.
Recovering Our River History
“The San Lorenzo River is alive, a live thing that is part of our life’s blood,” Egan says. When the indigenous Awaswas people lived in this area, thriving for 10,000 years, they knew better than to build permanent structures in the floodplain. The mouth of the San Lorenzo River used to be a wetland, and the Awaswas would migrate as the estuary changed size.
Egan says that all changed when the Spanish colonizers came: “They built more permanent structures. We lost that connection to nature.”
The CWC wants to repair that connection by working with the schools through “watershed rangers, environmental education programs and climate change education.”
The CWC has hosted events like the Share a Meal and Share a Story event in San Lorenzo Park, where people from different backgrounds eat together and share their stories. The Wes Modes Secret History Project interviewed and filmed over 20 people about their connection to the river. The CWC’s Watershed Rangers youth education program also shares stories about people who love the river.
And hundreds of volunteers removed invasive species. Egan says, “We’re not only removing the invasive species but we’re seeding new native ones. We’re increasing the biodiversity in these spaces on the river. We worked with over 300 volunteers last year.”
The Coastal Watershed Council is roots driven, community focused and dedicated to engaging both young and old residents to work for what the future holds for this river. Egan says, “Really, instilling love of this river is what is key for us.”
To learn more, visit coastal-watershed.org.
Giving Time
From now through Dec. 31, readers can donate to SantaCruzGives.org. Founded by Good Times in 2015, Santa Cruz Gives has raised more than $5 million to help local charities (63 this year). These are some of the participating groups along with a very brief description of the projects these donations will fund.
Diversity Center of Santa Cruz County—Producing a documentary about people who saved lives during the AIDS crisis.
Ecology Action—Organizing leadership training to prepare locals for climate change impacts.
Queer Youth Task Force—Putting together a website resource to raise awareness about trans issues.
Regeneración: Pajaro Valley Climate Action—Mentoring 10 or more students on how they can advocate for climate action.
San Lorenzo Valley Museum—Crafting an educational program on early San Lorenzo Valley industries.
Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery—Creating the Enchanted Forest Adventure, a new exhibit at the museum.
Shared Adventures—Making the group’s activities for individuals with mobility challenges more family oriented.
Veterans Surf Alliance—Serving the community with beach cleanups and storm cleanups, and providing help to other organizations.
Vets 4 Vets Santa Cruz—Connecting veterans with each other and the broader community through community-focused events.
Watsonville Wetlands Watch—Planting projects on school campuses that offer hands-on learning opportunities.
Santa Cruz Gives is funded by the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Applewood Foundation, Joe Collins, Driscoll’s, Inc., Monterey Peninsula Foundation, 1440 Foundation, Santa Cruz County Bank, and Wynn Capital Management, as well as the generosity of the readers of Good Times, Pajaronian and Press Banner.
