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Winter Doesn’t Stop Students from Dipping Into Creeks
by Beth Etgen, UCCS Vice President – Education “Wow! I never knew that creeks could be homes for so many kinds of animals.” “I get it, a creek food web sticks everything together.” “Water bugs look like monsters.” “I‘ve seen junk in the creek near our house and it looks ugly.” These were some of…
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Time is Ripe for “Scoop the Poop” Pilot Program
Courtesy of Sacramento County Stormwater Quality The Sacramento County Stormwater Quality Program has partnered with Arcade Creek Recreation and Park District and local volunteer groups to develop a cost-effective pilot program called "Scoop the Poop." The program aims to reduce the bacteria found in local waterways caused by the improper disposal of pet waste in…
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Frank Cruzen Remembered
by Alta Tura Frank Cruzen, co-founder and first president of the Sacramento Urban Creeks Council, passed away on August 29, 2006. Frank accomplished many things before he took on the challenge of advocating for creeks in Sacramento County. After he and his wife Marie raised their family, he retired from Pacific Bell and could have…
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Creek Critters: Water Striders
by Bonnie Ross Among aquatic insects, long-legged water striders are about the easiest to see. They live on the water surface film and they tend to congregate in large numbers. One genus, would you believe, lives on the surface of the ocean, sometimes many miles from land! Water striders belong to the family Gerridae within…
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Sacramento’s Other Kings
by Bill Templin Dry Creek and its tributaries are noteworthy for having the only documented salmon run of any of the area's creeks. These runs occurred both before and after construction of the Natomas East Main Drain (now called "Steelhead Creek") and levee which were constructed around 1914-15. Read our Historical Overview of Sacramento's Creeks.…
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Mourning Doves
by Bill Templin As much as you might think that those mourning doves that you see in your back yards are locals, many of them are probably migrating from as far north as Canada in the late summer and up from Mexico in the spring. Mourning doves, like ducks and geese, are migratory game birds…
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Arundo Eradication and Control Program
by Frank Wallace Project Director, Sacramento Weed Warriors What is the Problem with Arundo? Arundo (also called Giant Reed) is a bamboo-like grass that thrives in moist soils and Sacramento's hot climate. It can grow up to 30 feet tall, as much as 1 foot a week in the summer! Arundo chokes out valuable native…
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Pesticides in Creeks:
The Argentine Connectionby Dave Tamayo, Sacramento County Storm Water Program A favorite activity of my childhood was collecting big “red ants” (Pogonomyrmex sp. harvester ants) and creating ant habitats in a jar so I could watch them forage and dig. Even better, a friend of mine had his very own red ant colony just outside his kitchen…
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Adventures of a Creek Week Site Leader
by Kris Olsen Leading a site? Sound unappealing? Not at all. I mean, if you are bringing your own crew, you need to juggle maps, e-mails about parking, and possible hazards; but on the upside, you get to boss people around for half a day and they actually listen to you. This year’s adventures began…
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Cliff Swallows
by Bruce Swinehart No story of Spring would be complete without mention of the return of the swallows. This romanticized event is familiar to almost everyone. The swallow most often referred to is the cliff swallow, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota. This sparrow-sized bird has the characteristically pointed wings of the swallow but is the only swallow with…