Wolf Creek Community Alliance
programs & projects
This, our longest-running program, is dedicated to regularly measuring a variety of indicators of stream health. It involves more than two dozen volunteer water monitors in active, hands-on work.
Volunteers act as a "watch dogs" for the Wolf Creek watershed, keeping an eye on new development and construction that may affect the watershed. Volunteers are needed to read project proposals submitted to the city, analyze their negative declarations, and to personally visit the sites.
Primary contact: Ralph Silberstein
A big-picture watershed assessment will determine watershed conditions and help direct future projects. The assessment is a critical step leading to a formal watershed plan.
Primary contact: Sally Bartindale
This group demonstrates how best manangement practices in the area of home and business landscaping can protect the ecological health of the creek and provide many other important benefits as well.
About the demonstration project at Caroline's Coffee
Loma Rica Ranch has proposed a high-density mixed-use development project. WCCA is working closely with Loma Rica officials to ensure that Wolf Creek is protected during and after the development process.
This project seeks to understand the scope of the hazardous waste legacy left to us by historic gold mining in the Wolf Creek Watershed and how this waste affects water quality and the ecological health of the creek. With 74 known abandoned mines within the city limits of Grass Valley, and 337 known sites in the Wolf Creek Watershed, plus tailing piles, placer diggings, acid mine drainage, and maybe even hydraulic mining sites, we have a lot of material to work with!
This group looks into how the re-opening of the Idaho Maryland mine would affect Wolf Creek, its tributaries, and the watershed.
Information about the proposed mine
To educate citizens and get them involved in caring for our watershed, WCCA hosts weekly booths at the Grass Valley summer market, the Nevada City Saturday morning farmers' market and other events such as Earth Day. To strengthen our financial position we are conducting a membership drive.
Volunteers are needed to help haul booth supplies (tables, benches, etc) to our booth site at the Grass Valley Thursday night market weekly from early July through the end of August and at the Saturday morning market from late June through the end of October. We're also looking for people to spend time at the booth and discuss Wolf Creek issues with market attendees.
Wolf Creek Coummunity Alliance hosts general meetings the fourth Thursday of most months at 6:30pm at the NID East Annex Building in Grass Valley. Topics vary from month to month but are always relevant to current watershed issues. The topics of some recent meetings include watershed-friendly Landscaping, an examination of the economic and environmental costs of legacy mining, and a virtual tour of a WCCA monitoring site on South Fork Wolf Creek.
Building a trail alongside the creek while restoring it at the same time it can provide enormous benefits to the community: it is a win-win proposition for which we can gain widespread community support.
