Community
Participation and Creek Restoration in the East Bay of San Francisco,
California |
| The creeks of the upper East Bay of San Francisco have been the location of two decades of precedent setting creek restoration activities. This discussion will review the essential role of both citizen activism and NGOs in the advent of a restoration approach to creek management. Beginning with small pilot projects to "daylight" a culverted creek and spray paint signs on street drain inlets, participation in the restoration of the East Bay creeks has evolved into a complex layering of participants. This involves government agencies, three essential umbrella NGOs-- Waterways Restoration Institute, the Urban Creeks Council and the Aquatic Outreach Institute, and local grassroots groups organized around individual creeks--the "Friends of" groups (i.e. Friends of San Leandro Creek). The discussion will focus on role of the "Friends of" groups in restoration advocacy and accomplishment and will present ongoing issues of inclusiveness and ecological effectiveness in citizen initiated creek restoration. |