The Loma Prietan
April 2003
Loma Prieta and Ventana Chapters Co-Sponsor "River of Photographs"
by Lois Robin
Dark brown is the river,
Golden is the sand
It flows along forever
With trees on either hand.
--Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson lived in the Monterey Bay region for many years in the late 1800s, and he may have been talking about the Pajaro River when he wrote this verse. The Pajaro flows along seemingly forever through 1,300 square miles of watershed--from its headwaters in Santa Clara and San Benito counties, down through the Chittenden Gap, past Watsonville and Pajaro and out to the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary. In Stevenson's experience and until very recently, trees flourished on the river's banks. But at various times, in the name of flood protection, development, or sand and gravel operations, trees have been cut and riparian corridors destroyed, leaving the wildlife exposed and endangered. When sediment piles up, trash impedes its progress, or toxics taint and silt muddies its waters, the river no longer flows easily or well.
Currently members of the Loma Prieta and Ventana Chapters are working together on a Pajaro River Watershed Committee to forge new solutions for preserving, protecting and restoring the functions of this river. They support a "whole watershed" approach to solving the river's problems. Working with various environmental agencies, a floodplain attorney, a floodplain geologist and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, they seek to find genuine solutions to concerns and problems with river management. Their progress will be detailed in future LP newsletter articles.
To support these efforts, the communities of the watershed need to come together to make decisions and choices based on their knowledge and understanding of the river system. People need to discover this marathon river, which often runs unseen on private property, through woodland and chaparral, making it difficult to know.
To aid in understanding the river, the Ventana and Loma Prieta Chapters are partnering in a traveling exhibit called "Rumme, The Pajaro River Watershed Experience." The exhibit is scheduled for January-February 2004 at the Pajaro Valley Art Gallery in Watsonville and will travel afterwards to venues in Gilroy, San Juan Bautista and Hollister. The entire exhibit will eventually be available on-line and distributed on CD-ROMS to schools and libraries.
An important feature of the exhibit will be the River of Photographs of the Pajaro River. People with camera in hand are encouraged to photograph a stretch of river watershed. In Santa Clara they may photograph the Uvas/Carnedero Creek, the Llagas Creek or any other tributary of the watershed. In San Benito County, which contains 65% of the watershed, they may photograph the San Benito River (an extension of the Pajaro River), Tres Pinos Creek, Santa Ana Creek, Tequisquita Slough, and Quien Sabe Creek and their tributaries. The best way to locate these waterways is to look at an AAA map of Monterey Bay. Although much of the river flows through private lands, its waters can be seen at many road crossings. In some places, levees are available for public use.
Participants are asked to send 5-by-7 inch photographs in black and white or color to the Pajaro Valley Art Gallery, 37 Sudden Street, Watsonville, CA 95076, by the September 30, 2003 deadline. Photos can be sent by e-mail as JPEG attachments to pajaroriver@MMPUBLISHING.COM. The photos must include some views of the actual riverbed. Images of wildlife or plant materials, human activity, scenic vistas or desecrated areas are all welcome. Commentary can be written on the photo or may accompany the photo.
Each photo or JPEG must be accompanied by a note saying where the photo was taken plus the name, address, e-mail address (if available) and phone number of the photographer. Questions may be addressed to the gallery at 831/722-3062. A web site will soon be available with more details at mmpublishing.com/pajaro river/. Every participant whose photographs are selected for the River of Photographs will be acknowledged in print and included as a guest at all exhibit receptions. But the greatest reward will be contributing to a major effort for environmental protection.
Lois Robin (a member of the Santa Cruz Group
Ex-Com and the Pajaro River Watershed Committee) and Dr. Jennifer Colby,
Ph.D., are co-curators of the exhibit. The curators welcome volunteer
help from Sierra Club members. If you would like to help, phone Lois
Robin at 831/464-1184.