SAWC Seeks YOUR Input: The Proposed Enhancement of the Klehini River Bridge Borrow Pit Pond
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SAWC participates in Juneau’s Litter Free Community Wide Pickup
On Saturday, April 28, SAWC staff joined in Juneau's community clean-up event, sponsored by Litter Free, Inc. We removed lots of litter from the streams and riparian areas in the Lower Jordan Creek Greenbelt and Switzer Creek!
SAWC Initiates Projects to Manage High Priority Invasive Plants
SAWC received two grants this winter that will support efforts to manage high priority invasive plants that threaten watershed health in our region. The Copper River Watershed Project awarded SAWC an invasive plant mini-grant to control invasive knotweed in Juneau and Petersburg starting in 2018. SAWC restoration biologist John Hudson spent the fall of 2017 outreaching to numerous Juneau landowners, including those waging unsuccessful battles to eradicate the aggressive quick-spreading plant and other who were oblivious to the knotweed growing on their properties. In all, ten private landowners in Juneau committed cash to support herbicide control of 2.3 acres of knotweed. In addition to providing critical non-federal cash match for the grant, these private funds will support control efforts for two years after the grant period ends in December 2018…
WANTED: Bohemian knotweed (Dead)
Most people don’t worry much about invasive plants during the winter months. After doing battle with them all summer or watching them take over our yards and open spaces during the growing season, we relax as the last of them die back in the fall. As cold winter weather grips the landscape, we take comfort knowing these aggressive species are tucked away in frozen soil for several months. As someone who’s attention is drawn to every infestation they see while out and about during the summer, I’m certainly enjoying this invasive plant-free time of year. While invasive plants may be out of our sight right now, they definitely should not be out of our mind. Now is the time to make plans for defeating these unwanted invaders. In 2018 SAWC…
SAWC Participates in Gustavus’ Community Curiosity Series
SAWC restoration biologist John Hudson traveled to Gustavus to participate in the “Community Curiosity Series.” Gustavus resident Susan Brook developed the series as an opportunity for locals to learn about the natural history of the area. Topics this summer included moose ecology, geology, and lodgepole pine decline. John lead 24 participants on a watershed walking tour of Harry Hall Creek, a small groundwater fed stream that provides important habitat for salmon, trout, and char in the Good River watershed. Participants visited a culvert that blocks fish migration as well as one of several new bridges that have replaced barrier culverts along the stream. Using coho salmon as an example, John discussed the need for removing man-made barriers in watersheds so that adult and juvenile fish can access seasonal habitats used…
Water Quality Monitoring Tracks Effectiveness of Restoration on Juneau’s Duck Creek
The Juneau Watershed Partnership (JWP) as part of the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition (SAWC) was awarded a two-year grant through the Alaska Clean Waters Actions (ACWA) Grant Program administered through the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to monitor the Nancy Street wetland on Duck Creek in Juneau. The purpose of the monitoring is to collect water quality data to evaluate the effectiveness of the wetland in improving water quality conditions on Duck Creek. The project began July 1, 2016 with the JWP working with the DEC to develop a monitoring plan and quality assurance project plan, which ensures the integrity of our monitoring methodology and data. Water quality monitoring began Friday, April 17th and will wrap up in October 2017. A report on the results of the monitoring will be…
Skagway Students Learn Salmon Life Cycle Hands-On Through Salmon In The Classroom
Skagway's Taiya Inlet Watershed Council wrapped up another great year of Salmon in the Classroom in April and is just starting up another year of the project. In January of 2017 TIWC received over 200 eyed coho salmon eggs from DIPAC Hatchery in Juneau, AK for the Salmon in the Classroom project. They were raised in a tank in the Skagway School hallway for the students to observe as they evolved from tiny red eggs to swimming fry. TIWC Program Coordinator, Nicole Kovacs, taught Kindergarten through 5th grade students in the Skagway school about salmon and their environment. Students learned about the life cycle of a salmon, habitat, benefits to the environment, and what we can do to help salmon. They also talked about the internal and external anatomy of our…
Petersburg Beach Program Completes Second Year of Recreational Beach Monitoring
SAWC and our partners at the Petersburg Indian Association have completed the second and final year of recreational beach monitoring at Sandy Beach Park in Petersburg. Funded by the State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Clean Water Actions Grant, the 2-year program collected weekly water samples during the high-use spring and summer seasons to be tested for the presence of harmful bacteria. In the event of a bacterial presence above EPA water quality standards, the community could be notified of public health risks and informed once the water was again safe to recreate. A final report outlining year two of the Petersburg Beach Program is available for viewing and download below: [gview file="https://www.alaskawatershedcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/17-B01_Final_Report_PSG_Beach.pdf"] This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States EPA under…
2016 Petersburg Beach Monitoring Program Results: Sandy Beach Park
Last summer the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition (SAWC) in partnership with the Petersburg Indian Association continued a second year of recreational beach monitoring to test a popular local beach for levels of harmful bacteria. With support from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Petersburg Beach program sampled waters at Sandy Beach Park for organisms that indicate fecal contamination. The Beach Program was established by the Alaska DEC through the Alaska Clean Water Actions program to provide support for communities to begin monitoring marine water quality at high-priority beaches for bacterial pollution, specifically, fecal coliform and enterococci. A partnership between the State of Alaska’s Departments of Environmental Conservation, Fish & Game, and Natural Resources, ACWA was created to characterize Alaska’s waters in a holistic manner, and facilitate the sharing…
How to be a “Stream Friendly” Landowner
There are hundreds of salmon streams throughout Southeast Alaska and chances are likley that you live next to or close to one of them! The Juneau Watershed Partnership has created a handy brochure to help streamside landowners be good neighbors to their stream-dwelling friends. The brochure has some helpful information for Juneau-specific streams, and tips that apply to streams through Southeast Alaska. Streamside landowners play a critical role in protecting and maintaining the high quality of water and habitat our salmon and wildlife populations need to thrive. Being "stream-friendly" means making choices that minimize impacts to our creeks, streams, rivers and lakes. The pay off is clean drinking water, healthy and functioning fish and wildlife habitat, and sustained fish and wildlife populations. Check out the Juneau Watershed Partnership's brochure, "…