Friends of Willow Creek, in Sausalito, is celebrating 13 years of stewardship and advocacy for “creek daylighting”, which is the conversion of buried pipes that convey former streams to above-ground, vegetated channels. Daylighting creeks is a complex, expensive and uncommon undertaking, as the Friends have learned, and requires patient planning, outreach, and partnership-building over a sustained period of time. One of the reasons creeks were buried in Sausalito and mostly forgotten was to make room for buildings, streets and yards, …
Archive for category: Partners & Supporters
Unburying the Creek Beneath It, A School Becomes a Steward
Before the shoreline was lined with shipyards during World War II, creeks flowed through Sausalito in the North Bay—rare permanent streams in a dry state full of ephemeral ones. The trees that grew up around these creeks lent the city their name: “little willow grove,” or, in Spanish, Sausalito. But the name has long been ironic, as the creeks were forced into underground culverts in the name of progress. “The …
Week of the Creek
In the span of nine days in 2023, a buried perennial creek in Sausalito went from being twice forgotten to having a fighting chance to be reborn into the community.
Of the six creeks in the City that have been buried, Willow Creek is the one creek that could be restored from its headwaters to the Bay. Voters passed Measure P in 2020, authorizing a general obligation bond of $41 Million for school reconstruction by the Sausalito Marin City School …
Landmark Accomplishment – Willow Creek Signage!
Friends of Willow Creek worked with Sausalito Beautiful and the City Public Works to replace the fence creek crossing along Bridgeway with a new decorative fence and beautiful sign denoting Willow Creek. The new sign plays a critical role in raising public awareness of this natural resource in the City. This is a landmark accomplishment of our group, a permanent reminder to our community of the living creek we still have to protect and restore. And a positive remembrance of …
Lennox Foundation Grant for Creek Daylighting on Willow Creek Academy Campus
This winter the Friends worked extra hard to apply for large private and public grants to make creek restoration on the Willow Creek Academy (WCA) campus a reality. Board member Emily Schmidt was a sponsor for our application to the Lennox Foundation to design a daylighted creek in the upper campus, and remove the non-native eucalyptus trees to accommodate the restoration. Also included is design of an outdoor classroom to accompany what would be a new, ¼-acre size outdoor laboratory …
School District Bond Resolution Passed: $500,000 for drainage improvements and creek restoration!
On August 2 the Sausalito Marin City School Board passed a resolution to include $500,000 in funding for drainage improvements and creek restoration in the upcoming bond measure. The Willow Creek Daylighting Project is now officially part of the proposed measure that goes before voters on Tuesday, November 8. The Friends of Willow Creek, Sausalito will raise an additional $2 Million in matching grants and donations to complete the project from “boundary to boundary” through the entire school campus. This …