Don't miss this presentation by the Ojai Valley Green Coalition Watershed Committee chair and biologist, Brian Holly. Learn about the Ojai Creek riparian habitat restoration project -- a vision for ongoing stewardship and restoration of the Ojai watershed.
Mark you calendar for Wednesday, April 28th, at 7pm in the Chaparral Auditorium at 414 E. Ojai Ave.
Following our successful winter film series at the Ojai Theatre, we’ll be back at the Chaparral Auditorium, 414 E. Ojai Avenue, for this month’s community presentation.
If you’ve been reading our creek restoration progress reports in past E-News issues, or have volunteered for the creek workdays, you know that something pretty special has been going on in the Ojai Creek that borders Libbey Park.
On Wednesday, April 28, starting at 7 P.M., conservation biologist and Ojai Valley Green Coalition Watershed Committee Chair Brian Holly will lead the audience through an explanation of why we needed the restoration work and the progress of this project that began in November of 2009. Brian will then move to the bigger picture and show how we can continue with the success of this endeavor in other parts of the Ojai Watershed.
As described in its nomination for the Ventura County 2010 Climate Change Action Awards, this Ojai Creek Riparian Habitat Restoration is no simple weeding and planting project.
For it, the OVGC Watershed Committee developed a plan and then secured collaborative partners and grant funding, as well as youth and adult volunteers, to restore the ecosystem of the Ojai Creek or East Barranca riparian corridor adjacent to downtown Ojai’s Libbey Park. In taking on the project, the committee collaborated with the City of Ojai; the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy; Ojai Trees; the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project, which allocates money from the Earth Island Institute; and the C.R.E.W., an Ojai-based nonprofit organization that, while maintaining wildlands, provides young people with job training, jobs, and opportunity to develop character and leadership skills.
A good deal of research went into the site history as well as the conducting of up-to-date habitat-assessment investigations. We know that, in the early 20th century, large rainbow or steelhead trout were regularly caught in the annually flowing creek. Since then, population growth, longer periods of drought, increasing groundwater extraction, and the introduction of non-native plant species have made a significant impact on this feature of the local watershed, pushing the southern steelhead trout as well as several other riparian-dependent species to near-extinction.
In preparation for the project, an Eagle Scout Candidate with Ojai Boy Scout Troop 504 organized, under Brian Holly’s direction, a creek clean-up day and stream morphology survey. Then, through the winter weekends, in a true grassroots effort, the members of the Watershed Committee and 124 other volunteers all came out for at least one day of creek work, and of these, 30 returned at least once more. The volunteers included students from Oak Grove School, Thacher School, and Cal State Channel Islands.
A group of students planted acorns along the banks and volunteers helped broadcast a native riparian seed mix throughout the site. More than 250 mulefat and willow cuttings have also been planted, and follow-up efforts continue to keep invasive species from regrowing. Most recently, as part of the local Arbor Day celebration, nine sycamore trees were planted.
The project is expected to greatly enhance the health and vitality of the creek. The removal of non-native plants is allowing for a significant increase in the native plant population, improving the hydrologic capacity of the stream and providing light to the many native oak seedlings now sprouting along the canopy understory. Most of the non-native plants have been removed, and the stream banks have been planted with native mulefat and willow cuttings.
Already there is more available surface water in the north end of the stream channel. This is thought to be directly attributable to the removal of the palm trees, since they use more water than native trees. The native trees have far greater carbon sequestration ability than the palms, for they contain a much greater photosynthesizing biomass. Also, the albedo (reflected light) is increased by natural openings in the tree canopy, and with this greater reflectivity of solar radiation, the overall temperature in this riparian area will likely decrease. Decreased temperature, greater solar reflectivity and less available CO2 has important implications for localized cooling, and broader implications for helping to slow climate change.
Not only is the restoration effort an important project that has implications for localized cooling of riparian corridors and helping lower water temperature, but it is also improving water quality and habitat for foraging birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles that inhabit and rely on the riparian zone. And it has been well documented. Using a handheld GPS, Brian Holly has identified and plotted each tree and plant. Brian is also seeing to it that habitat conditions are characterized to develop baseline conditions that enable the restoration team to track progress.
Please save the date and join us for what will be an informative evening on the local watershed so vital to all of our lives. But before that, on April 17 (see “In and Around the Valley” on page 5) we’ll be back out at the creek for more native planting and removal of invasive plant re-growth. This will be the last day until fall to dig in and be part of this great project. If you come, please bring gloves and (if you have them) a trowel or shovel.
We thank the many project partners listed above, as well as the following contributors who have given supplies and professional services at reduced rates or no cost: BioResource Consultants, Hawks & Associates, Bostrom & Associates, Consolidated Disposal Services, Meiners Oaks Ace Hardware, and Oscar’s Tree Service.
