As we transition from the end of the summer heat into cooler temps and some early season rain, Sierra Streams Institute has received repeated requests for an update on the E. coli levels at Pioneer Park. We don’t mean to keep anyone in the dark, so here’s a quick update […]
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The Sierra Streams Institute Education Program is gearing up for a busy fall. Despite losing significant federal funding in the spring and the swirling uncertainty, outdoor educational resources and opportunities remain a top priority. Here is a quick update from SSI’s Education Department: Educational programming will begin at the Beale […]
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Hedge Parsley (Torilis arvensis) Written by Alex Lerch Have you ever taken a walk off the beaten path in the Sierra Foothills and found your shoe laces, socks, and maybe even your pants with plant seeds that stick like Velcro? If you have, then Hedge Parsley (Torilis arvensis) needs no […]
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Did you know that Sierra Streams Institute offers water quality tests and testing packages? Whether it’s straight from your well or that pond out back where your dogs (or kids, or you) love to muck around, SSI offers a number of water quality tests that can be helpful for understanding what’s in your water.
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Nevada City is abuzz with the news that Little Deer Creek in Pioneer Park has E. coli levels above the EPA threshold for safe water. While this news can feel alarming and lead to uncertainty, we’re here to help you understand what the current Public Notice means and to provide […]
Read More >In 2001, Julie Herrlinger moved into her 60-acre forest refuge along Deer Creek. Nearly as soon as she finished unpacking, the first call she made was to her local watershed organization, Friends of Deer Creek, looking for opportunities to volunteer. With easy access to the creek Julie wanted to know […]
Read More >“Death was everywhere, with life being the usual exception.” -Ulf Danielson, The World Itself. That is my favorite quote from any book and I feel it matters to point out because that is how I feel when I’m here. Life is so unusual and strange but so rare at the […]
Read More >The year is 1976 and a graduate student is crouching by Mono Lake, a saline lake in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range. He is curious about this salt lake ecosystem that has water three times saltier than the ocean. What specialized animals can dwell in these extreme waters? How […]
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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 […]
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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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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This winter has certainly been one for the memory books, but what about the record books? With all of the rain we’ve received over the last few weeks, multiple questions have been coming up. Just how big is this storm compared to prior wet years? Is this a “drought buster”? What […]
Read More >This summer, Sierra Streams Institute board member Dave Herbst worked with SSI staff, volunteers and recent graduates from UC Santa Cruz to pilot a project characterizing aquatic invertebrate biodiversity of streams throughout the Sierra Nevada, including the Yuba River. This work builds on our long-term citizen monitoring program, our partnership […]
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This past school year, Sierra Streams Institute had the joy of venturing into our local forests with over 300 3rd-5th grade students in Nevada County. The mission? Promote students’ environmental science agency, spark curiosity and increase interest in land stewardship through placed-based investigations into forest health. The program, Our Forests, […]
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The signs are related to bacteria levels. Every summer in the creeks, as the temperature increases and water flow decreases, we see an increase in bacteria at many of our monitoring sites. Some amount of bacteria is always present in creek water, but less water in the creek concentrates any […]
Read More >Sierra Streams Institute is excited to undertake a new restoration project to supplement, improve and maintain salmonid habitat along a portion of Dry Creek within Beale Air Force Base located near Spenceville Wildlife Area. This is an exciting new project for SSI because all programs have an opportunity to work […]
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Over the last twenty years, Sierra Streams Institute’s water quality monitoring program has used citizen science to assess the health of the Deer Creek Watershed and engage community members in their local ecosystems. Historically, dedicated volunteers conducted monthly monitoring along eighteen sites spread strategically throughout the watershed. Volunteers measure pH, […]
Read More >The “snowmageddon” storm of December 2021 was one to remember. Just ask the trees. Some lost branches. Some were bent over—sometimes seemingly permanently—by the weight of the snow. Many many more were uprooted, leading to the power and transportation issues we lived with for days or weeks after the storm. […]
Read More >Life of the Bottom-Feeders in the Shallows and Deeps of Streams Are you interested in learning more about the insects who inhabit our waterways? Join Sierra Streams Institute with guest speaker Dave Herbst on Tuesday March 1st at 6 PM for our latest Virtual Science Speaker Talk. Dave has been […]
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