On the first rain-soaked day of the season, I walked around Oakland’s Lake Merritt to try to envision its coming makeover. After four years of planning, construction is scheduled to begin this spring on several projects associated with Measure DD, … Read more
Water
Farming and Ranching, Water
Looking Ahead on the Napa River
In our January-March 2007 feature, “Valley of Water and Wine,” we highlight the innovative work of landowners along the Napa River who are initiating restoration projects on the upper reaches of the river. The Rutherford Dust Society, a group of … Read more
Winter Issue 2007
The Napa Valley, and a History of Water and Wine
The Napa Valley was once a place of enormous natural bounty, fed by a vibrant, healthy river teeming with salmon and steelhead. Today, the valley is more famous for its managed bounty of grapes and fine wine. The river, hemmed in by vineyards, has too often been relegated to the status of a waste canal. But now a unique alliance of growers and scientists has come together to give the Napa’s upper reach a chance to regain some of its wildness.
Fall Issue 2006
Book Review: Waterfall Lover’s Guide (Northern California)
Waterfall Lover’s Guide (Northern California), by Matt & Krissi Danielsson, The Mountaineers Books, 2006, 256 pages, $16.95 http://www.mountaineersbooks.org I never considered myself a “waterfall lover” before, but what’s not to love? Last summer, I found myself pulling over in my … Read more
Archive, Water
Update: Lagunitas Creek
“The Dream Given by You: Welcoming the Coho Back to West Marin” Our October-December 2001 issue highlighted the ecological and cultural significance of Lagunitas Creek’s endangered coho salmon, the largest coho population in central California. Recently, the watershed experienced its … Read more
Winter Issue 2006
Dance of the Cranes
The Cosumnes Preserve near I-5 in the Central Valley is a surprising mosaic of flooded rice fields teeming with birds, breached levees creating new forests, and a river reclaiming a landscape.
Winter Issue 2006
Restoration of Dutch Slough
In the city of Oakley, Dutch Slough has one foot on the reed-covered banks of the Delta in northeastern Contra Costa County and the other toe-to-toe with a housing development. Great blue herons, egrets, and blackbirds frequent this 1,166-acre freshwater … Read more
Archive, Water
Update: Expanding Reservoirs
2003 “What’s a Lake Like You Doing in a Place Like This?” While examining the recreational and habitat potential of East Bay reservoirs in 2003, we also looked at two new water storage proposals: the flooding of portions of Henry … Read more
Fall Issue 2005
New Life For The Laguna
Thirty years ago, few people gave a second thought to the Laguna de Santa Rosa, the North Coast’s largest freshwater wetland. The once-teeming marshland had become a dumping ground. But things are changing, and this complex waterway is finally beginning to recover some of its former glory.
Winter Issue 2005
By the Water’s Edge
The East Bay is home to 44 creeks that drain into San Francisco Bay—from small but well-protected Wildcat Creek in the north to the 700 square miles of Alameda Creek’s watershed to the south.
