Water Resource Collections and Archives

Citizen Monitoring of Revegetation Sites

Organization: San Francisquito Watershed Council
A project of a project of Acterra Stewardship Program
2005 Grant Recipient - Santa Clara County

Purpose

San Francisquito Watershed Council’s Revegetation Monitoring Project was a volunteer-based assessment program designed to provide information about the health and progress of the San Francisquito Watershed Council’s creek-side revegetation activities. Volunteers for the project were trained to use a scientifically rigorous, empirical method for gathering data about the plant communities at the Watershed Council’s revegetation sites, which the Watershed Council used to assess the health and progress of these sites. The data showed revegetation sites had significantly more native plant cover than control sites.

The project results were also used to develop a set of best management practices for riparian restoration sites. Through this project the Watershed Council gained a forum for connecting volunteers from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, and a new way to engage community members in understanding issues that impact the watershed.

2012 Update

Acterra Stewardship, the home of the San Francisquito Watershed Project (formerly Council), maintains the revegetation sites monitored by this project. They have not had adequate funding in recent years to continue the rigorous monitoring initiated with this project. However, the results of the project continue to inform restoration management decisions. For example, they commonly use active restoration techniques in urban areas of the watershed and rely more on passive restoration (more weeding and less planting) in rural upper watershed sites. In addition, they use the monitoring method developed by this project including the 10-pin monitoring devices to involve volunteers in monitoring done as part of educational field trips for local schools.

Documents

• Revegetation Monitoring Poster. This poster summarizes the Citizen Monitoring Project. Ryan Navratil. April 2007. (1 p.)
• Citizen Monitoring Project Final Report. This report includes bar graphs summarizing results for each monitoring location. Ryan Navratil, October 2007. (22 pp.)
• Monitoring Protocol. One page description of the training program and use of the 10-pin monitoring device. Ryan Navratil. April 2007.
• Riparian Restoration Best Management Practices. An outline of lessons learned. Ryan Navratil, August 2008. (2 pp.)

Volunteer Opportunities

Acterra Stewardship, the home of the San Francisquito Watershed Project is always looking for volunteers for their restoration activities. For information about upcoming volunteer events, check the website at: www.acterra.org/stewardship.

Contact for the Project

Claire Elliott
Senior Ecologist
San Francisquito Watershed Project
Phone: 650-962-9876 ext. 311
E-mail: ClaireE@Acterra.org