Cobb Watershed Education & Restoration Program

Acknowledging the direct links between poor upstream water quality and depressed creek water flows leading to Clear Lake, the Cobb Watershed Education & Restoration program targets watershed management practices in the Cobb Mountain community by recruiting local property owners to participate in “hands-on” workshops interweaving resource management training with direct actions to match site conditions and landowner concerns.

In consultation with local tribal authorities, our project also acknowledges a history of limited access to traditional gathering areas that has undermined food sovereignty and cultural practices. Every workshop we hold, and every direct action we take during this project [and beyond] involves tribal knowledge holders and teachers, who will combine their expertise with that of other topical specialists.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, our approach draws upon the regional success of programs including STRAW: Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed in Sonoma County (where the successive recruitment of landowners with waterside properties eventually restored 30 miles of riparian habitat), Big Valley Rancheria’s EPA water quality monitoring program, Lake County’s Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance (TERA)’s multicultural collaborative focusing on restoration and indigenous stewardship, and Anderson Valley’s Think Like a Watershed resilient lands symposium (an event that brought together farmers, ranchers, landowners, conservationists, and hydrological, landscape, and ecological specialists).

Recognizing the diversity of riparian microhabitats along Adobe, Kelsey, and Cole Creeks, we have assembled a “Dream Team” of regional specialists in geomorphology, restoration ecology, biocultural diversity conservation, and participatory engagement – along with other thematic areas (see Table 1 below) – who will flexibly and responsively interact with local landowners when assessing and designing innovative restoration and stewardship actions (rather than dictating a specific sequence of recommendations).

The Seigler Springs Community Redevelopment Association (SSCRA) plays a leading role in addressing climate change impacts and developing resilience in the Cobb Mountain community. In 2020-22 SSCRA assembled the resources to create the strategic document, “Mountain Regeneration After Catastrophic Wildfire: A Community Resilience & Development Strategy,” after being commissioned by the Cobb Area Council to do so. In 2022 SSCRA was awarded a small grant by the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake to initiate the pilot project, “Cobb Watershed Education Program,” a precursor to the more expanded work described in this proposal. SSCRA will cover contracted specialists for topics listed under “Community Process” in Table 1.

SSCRA will serve as project facilitators and administrators, in collaboration with the following partners:

Contractual partners

• Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians: the tribe’s EPA Department provides expertise in water and cyanotoxin monitoring, tribal beneficial uses of aquatic ecosystems, and the conservation of endemic and culturally significant aquatic species during project planning, curriculum design, and instruction and fieldwork exercises on associated topics listed under “Water & Earth Sciences,” “Resource Management,” and “Cultural Sciences” in Table 1.
• FlowWest: provides GIS mapping expertise and deliverables; participates in planning and curriculum design and will provide instruction on nature-based water management, geomorphology and associated topics listed under “Water & Earth Sciences” and “Resource Management” in Table 1.
• Tribal Eco-Restoration Alliance: provides expertise in nature-based resource management and stewardship (e.g., cultural burning, bank stabilization, beaver analogs, etc.), invasive species management, cultural landscapes and traditional ecological knowledge, and cultural sensitivity. TERA will participate in project planning, curriculum design, instruction, fieldwork, and direct actions on associated topics listed under “Water & Earth Sciences,” “Resource Management,” “Cultural Sciences,” and “Community Process” in Table 1. 
• Forest Health Committee of the Cobb Area Council: provides broader local community connections, outreach, and legitimacy; recruits Cobb Area Watershed property owners, and develops and maintains deep relationship connections with large parcel owners.
• Cobb Area Council: as the designated municipal advisory council, amplifies the community’s voice to the County Board of Supervisors regarding policies and practices in the Cobb Area Watershed.
• Mandala Springs Retreat Center: provides the initial sites for field studies, workshop sessions, and larger public gatherings.

Project goals:

1. Build a strong coalition of local property owners in the Cobb Area Watershed willing to collaboratively undertake immediate, medium-term, and long-term nature-based restoration and stewardship actions on their creekside lands that support enhanced upstream riparian habitat and associated native, endangered, and culturally significant species.
2. Assemble a community coalition including a “Dream Team” of expert practitioners providing instruction and support for direct actions in applied water and earth sciences, resource management, cultural sciences and community process (see Table 1).
3. Develop climate resilient solutions to enhance upstream riparian conditions in the Cobb Area Watershed that directly contribute to positive downstream habitat conditions for native, endangered and culturally significant species – all the way to Clear Lake.
4. Engage the Cobb Mountain community in building stronger, multicultural, and cross-sectoral relationships that enable an ever-expanding project participant base of landowners along Adobe, Kelsey, and Cole Creeks.

Project outcomes:

1. Up to ten Cobb Mountain community property owners (individual and institutional) managing at least five hundred acres of watershed property along Adobe, Kelsey, and Cole creeks where innovative, nature-based restoration and stewardship actions are initiated.
2. Improved riparian habitat measured through enhanced water quality conditions and increased populations of native, endangered, and culturally significant species.
3. A newly expanded partnership network of expert practitioners from at least a dozen local tribes and regional agencies who provide training, guidance, and oversight.
4. A graduated, iterative training-accompanied-by-direct-action intervention model that is continuously refined and expanded throughout the Cobb Area Watershed.
5. A project manual, digital resource binder, and YouTube channel for supporting and recruiting additional area property owners in successive years.