Where Have All the Steelhead Trout Gone?
GreenTown Los Altos Collaborates on Creek and Watershed Restoration Efforts
by Peg Champion
GreenTown Los Altos Correspondent
There was a time, not long ago, when a maturing steelhead trout could swim from Permanente or Adobe Creek to its adult home in the San Francisco Bay. Today, steelhead are unable to make that journey and have all but disappeared from many of the local creeks in Santa Clara Valley.
Map of our local watershed. Red lines show concrete channel areas. Photo credit: Map courtesy of the Oakland Museum of California. http://museumca.org
Flood control measures and urban development over the past 50 years have transformed creeks into concrete channels, and the original salt marshes are now salt evaporation ponds. Thanks to invasive species, native ecosystems are vanishing, and toxins and trash have degraded the watershed.
“Our watersheds and creeks have been compromised by logging, agriculture, mining and channelizing. Few streams support fish migrations in ‘traditional’ pre-1950s manner,” says Jim McCarthy, an Acterra Streamkeeper volunteer and a member of numerous other creek monitoring organizations.
Acterra, an environmental non-profit serving Silicon Valley, GreenTown Los Altos, and many local organizations (see below) are working hard to remedy the situation. This Saturday, May 19, marks a nationwide river cleanup effort and, here in Los Altos, GreenTown is leading a trash cleanup of Permanente Creek. “Many of us drive over the four main creeks in Los Altos every day, unaware of their existence or their condition. Come this Saturday and learn how rainwater, water from landscaping and storm drains, and trash all meet in our creeks on their way to the Bay,” says Barb O’Reilly, event coordinator and member of the GreenTown Water Stewardship team. “Come be a part of our solution to creek pollution!”
The GreenTown Water Stewardship program works to reduce water consumption, runoff pollution and household chemicals and pharmaceuticals that are dumped into the wastewater system. Joe Eyre, a member of the stewardship team, also serves on the Los Altos Environmental Commission. “This year, one of the Environmental Commission’s initiatives is increasing awareness – and the health – of our watersheds. In addition, the city has taken the positive step of committing to reduce trash flowing into our streams by banning expanded polystyrene takeout containers and single-use plastic bags, by no later than July, 2014.” Read More
Brooke Ray Smith and Others Lead Los Altos/Hills to #1 Spot in Drive Less Challenge
Top performers in the Drive Less Challenge contest for Los Altos and Los Altos Hills were honored at the GreenTown Los Altos Bike, Walk, Win! Party on Thursday, May 10 at 359 State St. Bicycles. About 60 people attended, including a number of riders on their bicycle commute home on Bike to Work Day.
Brooke Ray Smith took top honors with the most “green miles” (over 600), including 159 miles commuting by bike
Brooke Ray Smith (right) receives Grand Prize for Los Altos/Hills (photo courtesy of Joel Bartlett)
during the two-week contest. Her efforts avoided over 330 pounds of CO2 emissions. Brooke Ray lives in San Francisco and commutes to Los Altos by train, riding her bike to and from the train stations. One day each week, she bicycles to work, sometimes bicycling the entire way and other times taking the train to the Millbrae stations and then bicycling the rest of the way. Much of her bike trip is on the beautiful trail that runs along the bay. Brooke Ray received a gift certificate for a one-hour massage from Shawsu, a beautiful orchid arrangement from Alabasta, a $40 gift certificate from Gitane and a gift certificate for alterations at Paris Tailor.
With the help of Brooke Ray and over 160 other participants, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills was ended the contest as the #1 community in the region-wide contest that included many much larger cities. In terms of total “green miles” (miles traveled by alternative means such as carpooling, walking, biking, or taking the bus or train) and in emissions avoided, our community performed better than second, third and fourth place finishers: Foster City, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale. This was a significant improvement over last year’s fifth place finish. Our community logged over 10,000 green miles and avoided over 6,000 pounds of CO2 emissions. Go team!
Los Altos and Los Altos Hills Take No.1 Spot in the Drive Less Challenge
GreenTown Los Altos is pleased to report that the Los Altos/Los Altos Hills Community came out #1 in the two-week Drive Less Challenge that concluded at midnight on Saturday, May 5.
We took the top spot in both “green miles” and pounds of CO2 saved by changing our driving habits. Yea, team! Congratulations to everyone who participated.
Los Altos and Los Altos Hills outperformed the eight other communities participating in the contest, even though many of those cities have much larger numbers of residents and businesses.
The unofficial results are that we went over 10,000 miles by taking the train or bus, biking, walking or carpooling in lieu of driving solo and, in the process, prevented about 6600 pounds of CO2-equivalent emissions from spewing into our atmosphere.
Over 170 people were registered participants and 25 local businesses provided prizes. Random prizes were awarded each day of the contest.
See a complete list of daily prize winners on the GreenTown Los Altos website.
Participants who kept track of their trips, including miles travelled and mode of travel, are eligible to win prizes based on their accomplishments.
Awards will be announced and presented at the Bike, Walk, Win! Party on Thursday, May 10 from 6 – 8 pm. The event will take place at 359 State St. Bicycles and is free of charge and open to the public.
May 10 is also Bike to Work Day and bicycle commuters are warmly invited to attend.
Trash Talk – They Do What With My Green Waste?
By Gary Hedden, Margie Suozzo and Joe Eyre.
Ever wonder what happens to the yard waste, clippings and food scraps that you put into your green organics tote?
Carl Mennie, Republic Services, and Margie Suozzo, acting director GreenTown Los Altos, discuss the composting process. Photo: Gary Hedden.
If you live in Los Altos, it heads to Newby Island in Milpitas. Republic Services has a 16 acre site adjacent to the Newby Island landfill dedicated to turning green waste into compost. Carl Mennie, Recyling and Composting Manager, explained it all as he led a tour organized by Teresa Montgomery of Mission Trail Waste System for several GreenTown Los Altos volunteers, Los Altos Environmental Commissioners; Joe Eyre, Steve Anderson and Zahra Ardehali, and City of Los Altos staff Jim Gustafson and Gil Fletcher.
It all starts with truck after truck bringing in the loads, 800 tons a day on average. Eight different haulers from Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa counties bring their greenwaste to the Newby Island Composting Facility, including Mission Trail, carrying organic waste from Los Altos. (GreenWaste Recovery, which serves Los Altos Hills, delivers its organics to Z-Best, a Zanker company, located in Gilroy where a similar process takes place). Read More
Epicurean Group & GreenTown Los Altos Business Co-Op featured in On-Campus Hospitality
The April 2012 issue of On-Campus Hospitality, published by Executive Business Media, features Los Altos-based Epicurean Group which runs the Bay View Café at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on the campus of the University of California-Berkeley.
The Epicurean Group uses organic, sustainable products that are sourced within 150 miles of their kitchens. It also buys carbon credits to offset their catering vehicles and promotes composting.
Along with GreenTown Los Altos, the Epicurean Group, led by CEO Mary Clark Bartlett, founded a Business Co-Op in 2010 which allows members to purchase compostable take-out containers, utensils and cups at competitive rates. The Co-Op is free and open to all restaurants, businesses, food service suppliers, organizations or individuals, in any city or location. All participants receive a 25% discount off the retail price of World Centric products.
Read the full article.
Learn more about the GreenTown Los Altos Business Co-Op.
