Date: Sept. 2, 2003

Water district awards nearly $300,000 in grants to community environmental groups

SAN JOSE - Sixteen community environmental groups have been awarded a share of nearly $300,000 in grants from the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

The awards are from the district's Watershed Stewardship Grant program, which was established two years ago to support watershed-protection partnerships with non-profit organizations in Santa Clara County.

"This grant program allows the water district board of directors to connect with community groups carrying out programs that further the board's mission of watershed stewardship and comprehensive management of water resources," said water district Chief Executive Officer Stan Williams.

"Every single one of us in Santa Clara County relies on those watersheds for clean, safe water, flood protection and the protection of natural resources."

Organizations awarded grants are:

• Children's Discovery Museum - $24,950 in support of its BioSITE program, which gives students an opportunity to monitor and report on water quality in Guadalupe Watershed creeks.

• Environmental Volunteers - $16,824 for children in underserved communities to participate in EV's Baylands Ecology and Water Science and Conservation Educational Program.

• Friends of Guadalupe River Park and Gardens - $9,798 to help train 40 Santa Clara County teachers about watershed protection and healthy gardening techniques that will be used in K-12 curricula.

• Hidden Villa - $2,500 to identify, design and implement measures for preserving riparian habitat within the Adobe Creek Watershed.

• Institute for Metropolitan Studies, San Jose State University - $25,000 to fund research into ways of developing watershed-friendly trails that promote water quality, protect habitat and meet community expectations.

• O'Neill Sea Odyssey - $10,861 to provide an ocean-based, hands-on education in marine science, navigation and watershed protection to 240 low- to moderate-income youth.

• San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory - $20,784 to bring 20 general-public groups and eight school groups to a field station on Coyote Creek so participants can observe bird-banding demonstrations, and tour the field station's riparian habitat and water bird pond as a means to increase public understanding of watershed health.

• San Jose Conservation Corps - $19,233 for a service-learning project for students at Andrew Hill and Gunderson high schools that will teach them how to improve the health of Coyote and Canoas creeks where they meet the Guadalupe River.

• San Jose Conservation Corps - $24,747 to provide environmental education on Coyote Creek for 150 disadvantaged high school students who can then educate others in the community.

• Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society - $2,460 to help produce a publication and hold a workshop aimed at opening up communication between creek advocacy groups, local decision-makers and the public.

• Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society - $12,224 for investigation into county public agencies' and developers' compliance with California Environmental Quality Act requirements and other applicable laws.

• Save San Francisco Bay Association (Save the Bay) - $10,000 to help provide hands-on education and restoration experiences in San Francisco Bay for at least 600 South Bay middle school and high school students, their teachers and their families.

• Silicon Valley Environmental Partnership - $5,000 for publication of an updated Silicon Valley Environmental Index, which evaluates data to report on existing watershed health.

• Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition - $25,000 for a project that will enable East San Jose residents in two neighborhoods, one middle school and three high schools to monitor neighborhood creeks using freshwater clams.

• The Ulistac Outreach Center - $23,715 to remove non-native invasive species of plants and replace them with native vegetation along the Guadalupe River in Santa Clara.

• United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County - $24,915 for a partnership between the Casa Loma/Loma Chiquita Neighborhood Association and public agencies to address critical hillside erosion, creek bank erosion and sedimentation problems in the Uvas/Llagas Watershed.

• Walden West Outdoor School Foundation - $19,675 to fund a three-part program for elementary-age students who will visit local waterways, be introduced to marine and freshwater habitats, and learn about watershed stewardship through hands-on activities.

• Youth Science Institute - $22,232 to restore YSI's native plant trail so that it can be used as an outdoor educational tool for an estimated 8,000 annual visitors, for promoting watershed education through community monitoring, outreach and education activities.

In all, the 18 grants total $299,918. Funding comes from the district's general fund. It is one of two grant programs offered by the water district.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District manages Santa Clara County's wholesale drinking water resources, coordinates flood protection for its 1.7 million residents and provides stewardship for the county's 10 reservoirs and more than 700 miles of streams.