Dry Creek Dam Removal Restoration Planting, November 2024 Just as the first major atmospheric river system of the new water year landed in northern California, SSI joined with intrepid volunteers to plant a diverse selection of 344 native plants and several dozen willow stakes along Dry Creek at the Beale […]
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This summer SSI staff and volunteers took to the lower Deer Creek Watershed to investigate nutrients, namely nitrates and phosphates. Nutrients are essential for life in a creek, but in excess, they can lead to overgrowth of algae and low-oxygen conditions (read more about how that happens here; scroll down […]
Read More >If you’ve been out wandering under the oaks in the last few weeks and looked up, you may have noticed tree branches sagging with the weight of huge crops of acorns. Or perhaps now you’re cleaning them up in your yard! But what gives? Why and how do these “bumper […]
Read More >The Yuba Watershed Institute’s forest treatment project, the Little Deer Creek Landscape Resilience Project, plays a crucial role in safeguarding the local community from the growing threat of wildfires. By managing forest density and removing excess fuels, the project aims to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic fires in the densely […]
Read More >Researchers, led by Emma Walker, at Sierra Streams Institute’s Benthic Macroinvertebrates (BMI) lab recently started working on a new scientific paper after successfully presenting their preliminary findings at the Sierra Nevada Science Symposium. The paper focuses on the impact of water flow on stream bug communities and relies on extensive […]
Read More >Crew members working on the Woolman School prescribed burn as part of the The Sierra Foothill Forest Climate Resilience Project (SFFCRP). Photo Credit: Matt Berry On May 18th at the Woolman Outdoor School Campus, also known as the “Sierra Friends Center”, Sierra Streams Institute (SSI) coordinated a prescribed burn on […]
Read More >Faucherie Dam, Photo Credit: Nevada Irrigation District As you may have heard, this last winter was a rough one for some of Pacific Gas and Electric’s infrastructure, and the Nevada Irrigation District has had to scramble to continue getting water to their customers. You can read more about the details […]
Read More >In the uplands of the 58-acre Roy Peterson Wolf Creek Preserve, newly acquired by Wolf Creek Community Alliance as a generous donation from the Peterson family, a restoration project is underway. Matt Berry, a Restoration Ecologist at Sierra Streams, led Wolf Creek staff and volunteers in work that mimics the […]
Read More >The new year will bring a new bridge in Nevada City – eventually. This past August the Nevada City Council awarded a contract to Golden State Bridge Inc. of Benicia, CA for the demolition and reconstruction of the Nevada Street Bridge. This bridge crosses over the confluence of Deer Creek […]
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There’s something in the water! Hardly less charismatic than some gargantuan marine predator, Pectinatella magnifica or the “magnificent” bryozoan is a species of microscopic aquatic invertebrate – also known as a “moss animal” or zooid, usually less than a millimeter in size – that forms substantial, gelatinous colonies on submerged […]
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Ren Stone has been working as Sierra Streams’ water quality lab manager since Fall 2022 as a part of the Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP). With their SNAP term coming to a close last month, we’d like to take the time to recognize them as a full-fledged staff member at […]
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As all readers will surely be aware, California has been experiencing increasing fire severity and frequency in recent years. In 2020, 4 million acres were burned, and in 2021, the Dixie and Caldor fires were the first fires in CA history to hop the crest of the Sierra Nevada. So, […]
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As fall approaches, we’ll be saying goodbye to Tavi Maes, who has spent his summer away from UC Santa Cruz working as an intern in our benthic macroinvertabrate lab. Reflecting on his experiences at Sierra Streams, Tavi says he has enjoyed learning the basics of hydroecology and working with an […]
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Over the last couple winters, Sierra Streams Institute has begun conducting targeted stormwater monitoring as a part of our normal watershed monitoring regimen. In light of the some of the recent inclement weather we’ve experienced in the Sierra Foothills, our executive director Jeff Lauder wrote an article in January 2023 […]
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With over a decade of experience in empowering students to learn about and steward their local watersheds, the goal of SSI’s Education Program is to provide robust educational experiences to the students of Nevada County. This month we highlight one of our field experiences called Environmental Science Investigations. The Environmental […]
Read More >This spring, with funding from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC), Sierra Streams Institute has kicked into high gear the process of developing a vegetation management plan for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) parcels in the Lower Steephollow region of the Sierra Nevada foothills. The plan will be shared with BLM […]
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Sierra Streams Institute created the Our Forests project to answer the question: “what would it mean for students to be able to engage with local environmental issues through real-world scientific investigation?” Benefits of Place-Based Community Science Funded through the National Science Foundation, Our Forests has been a collaborative project between […]
Read More >Spring is officially here, so now is the time to sign up to volunteer for Sierra Streams Institute’s summer creek surveys! This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in getting hands-on experience in the field of environmental science and those trying to explore and think more deeply about the […]
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As we move into spring with snow still on the ground, we wanted to revisit this topic and give a brief update on where we stand now. The atmospheric rivers have continued to provide us with rain and snow, filling creeks and reservoirs and contributing to a snowpack for the […]
Read More >Do you live in the Sierra Foothills? Do you love our beautiful watershed–the Yuba and Bear rivers and all of the wonderful tributaries that flow out of the mountains in Nevada County? Do you want to participate in conserving, restoring and educating people about our watershed? Sierra Streams Institute is […]
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