Volunteers pause for a break from digging up streamside weeds including wild radish, pepperweed, and stinkwort. Photo: Living Arroyos
Partner Spotlight: Living Arroyos
Living Arroyos is a multi-agency partnership initiated in 2013 that is solely powered by volunteers who are actively enhancing and maintaining the urban streams and streamside habitats of the Livermore-Amador Valley within the Alameda Creek watershed. They have hosted more than 100 volunteer work days since the establishment of their community engagement partnership. The Livermore Area Parks and Recreation District(LAPRD) is currently the managing partner of the Living Arroyos program that includes partners from the local water agency and city governments. The program areas and targeted stream corridors served are in the cities of Dublin, Pleasanton, and Livermore.
Living Arroyos is dedicated to partnering with stewards who are living in the communities served by the program. There are community workday opportunities to help with planting native plants, picking up trash and managing invasive weeds at work sites for new and seasoned volunteers. Volunteers manage invasive weeds like stinkwort (Dittrichia graveolens), perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) and wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum var. sativus) along seasonal streams to reduce the risk of fire and to promote the growth of native riparian species.
Through thousands of volunteer hours over the course of six years, Living Arroyos has successfully managed to remove 48,817 gallons of invasive weeds and build a community of over 2,000 watershed stewards. Living Arroyos is looking for skilled volunteers to support evaluating alternative planting and vegetation management techniques, tracking indicators of ecosystem health, and assessing changes over time in how people use streamside environments. Paid internships are offered at different times throughout the year to college students and recent graduates interested in natural resource management.
Want to be featured in our next partner spotlight? Send us your success stories in managing weeds and building community! We love to hear from folks in the field.
We want to feature your efforts in our newsletter. Email us at
wvn@cal-ipc.org and let us know you have a story to share.
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Cal-IPC relies on your photos to help tell the story of restoration work in California. Share your photos of weed workers in thephoto contest, and your pictures could appear in our newsletter, website, or other materials (with your name and/or organization credits).
