City of Lodi Watershed Program

This year’s 2023 Mokelumne Current special section insert marks the tenth year Lodi students have published their work studying the lower Mokelumne River watershed. It’s a special cause for celebration to have survived in a newspaper’s print form for ten years, and a special shout out is well deserved for the Lodi News Sentinel, funders, teachers and students, for continuing to support this effort. And thank you, reader, for supporting this newspaper.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to the Lodi News Sentinel team, Glenn Stifflemire- Publisher, Scott Howell- Editor, Adam Davila- Production Manager, Melissa Harris- Business Manager, Chrystle Roth- Circulation Manager, Jazzlynn Davis- Mailroom Manager, Richard Meyers- Production Assistant, Dora Sieber- Advertising and Marketing Director, and especially Kyla Cathey, editor and layout wizard, for producing this year’s, and all previous editions of the Mokelumne Current. Thank you also to Shannon Freiermuth, LUSD- Mailroom Clerk- who has personally bundled in rubber bands, the LUSD-Lodi 12,000 newspaper copies each year, in 30-student, classroom sets.

Lodi- LUSD teachers and students are also to be commended for their hard work and enthusiasm for this year’s edition. As teachers aim to teach California’s Environmental Principles and Concepts in the classroom, focusing on California’s environmental issues and concerns, it is especially near home, in the lower Mokelumne River watershed, where community support becomes critical for success. This 2023 Mokelumne Current 8-page broadsheet newspaper attempts to capture the work of classes who have studied the lower Mokelumne River watershed this school year. Without the generous support of the GOT Kids Foundation, C.A. Webster Foundation, and WM, Lodi’s residential trash hauler, this edition would not be possible. Beyond paying for this edition, these funders have also helped support study trips and programs for students, reported on in this and previous Mokelumne Currents.

Because the City of Lodi is required to involve the Lodi public in environmental stewardship activities as mandated through its stormwater permit, since 2000, the City has endeavored to support interested teachers through its Watershed Education Program. The Mokelumne Current, the Storm Drain Detectives, Salmon in the Classroom, the Sandhill Crane Student Art Exhibition, Lodi Lake Coastal Cleanup and more help teachers involve and engage students in stewardship activities where they live, while they learn. The messaging to students is all about them understanding the wonderfully unique watershed that they live in, and depend on for drinking water and life, as well as their responsibility to do no harm, especially as California’s waterways struggle with loads of trash pollution, questionable stormwater runoff from streets, pesticide issues and more. Many Lodi teachers are embracing this challenge to prepare their students for the future, by engaging them today in environmental study and advocacy. And we are thankful for their vision and ongoing dedication.

We hope that you will enjoy readings the 2023 Mokelumne Current inserted in today’s paper. Many hands, hearts and minds have worked hard to bring you this year’s best work from our community’s student, lower Mokelumne River Watershed Ambassadors. If you are a Lodi resident and are interested in participating in the City of Lodi’s Watershed Education Program, feel free to contact me at kgrant@lodi.gov.

Learn more about the City of Lodi’s Watershed Education Program through our Meet Your Watershed video series. Read our first 2014 Mokelumne Current edition.

A panoramic view of Lodi Lake. (Photo by Kathy Grant/LodiWatershed.com)

Do you know where your drinking water comes from? Or how a watershed works? Do you know where the rain that falls in Lodi goes? What plants and animals depend on the Mokelumne River, from its source in the Sierra to where it flows into the Delta?

Welcome to the City of Lodi Watershed Program website. Here you will find a growing collection of programs, activities and information for local students, teachers and the community, with a focus on the Mokelumne River watershed.

Find out about:

Community Programs: From trash cleanup events to watershed friendly landscaping, the City of Lodi hosts a number of programs that allow local residents to get involved in keeping the Mokelumne River watershed healthy.
Educational Resources: Teachers and parents can find a suggested academic calendar, links to curriculum resources and videos, and other ways to incorporate environmental education into lesson plans.
Mokelumne Current: Each year, students in the Lodi Unified School District put together a newspaper sharing everything they’ve learned about the local watershed.
Storm Drain Detectives: The collaboration between the City of Lodi and Lodi Unified allows students to gain hands-on experience monitoring Lodi’s water quality and sharing the data they gather.

The 2023 edition of the Mokelumne Current is out! Read it here.