Water Quality Monitoring
The heart of our organization has been monitoring Wolf Creek and its tributaries for water quality. For almost twenty years, volunteers have visited monitoring sites ranging from the Wolf Creek headwaters down also to its confluence with the Bear, testing for pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and other essential metrics indicating stream health.
Watershed Impact Monitoring
Part of our mission to protect the Wolf Creek Watershed involves monitoring impacts that can negatively impact the watershed and working with land owners, developers, the City of Grass Valley, the County, and the CA Water Board, among others, to assure that stream water quality, species of concern and special habitats within the watershed are preserved. This has included monitoring stream setbacks, water quality violations, and proposed developments. Currently we have been active in submitting comments to the Environmental Impact Report for the proposed reopening of the Idaho Maryland Mine, which would dump millions of gallons of mine water into the South Fork of Wolf Creek each day.
Restoration & Conservation
We regularly engage in ongoing restoration projects in a number of locations in the watershed. Three of them are funded by the City of Grass Valley, at Peabody Creek and along the Wolf Creek Trail. We also participate in annual clean-up campaigns along the creek, at abandoned homeless camps and at two preserves – Wolf at Gray Rock at Slide Creek, and the Roy Peterson Wolf Creek Preserve on Lower Wolf Creek.
Trails and Preserves
WCCA works with agencies and stakeholders such as the City of Grass Valley and the Bear Yuba Land Trust to develop, expand and promote access to trails in the watershed. The jewel of our trails is the Wolf Creek Trail, planned eventually to extend from the North Star House to Loma Rica Ranch. Open space is also crucial to our mission, and we have worked to preserve a number of small parcels in the watershed, such as the Wolf at Gray Rock. In the lower watershed we have just acquired the 58 acre Roy Peterson Wolf Creek Preserve. A management plan for the preserve will be a first step in restoring and protecting this unique part of the watershed.
Stewardship & Education
We sponsor educational events throughout the year that build awareness and highlight the importance of the Wolf Creek Watershed. We also support educational activities in the field and in the classroom at a number of local schools, through our Know Your Watershed Program, Trout & Bugs Project, and other programs.