Mokelumne Current: Another year of watershed moments

The 2022 edition of the Mokelumne Current is live!

Our Lodi students want to share what they’ve learned about the Mokelumne River watershed this year, and it’s precious.

This year’s edition has covered the usual topics, highlighting the various programs made available to Lodi teachers interested in incorporating the Mokelumne River watershed in their studies. Programs like the Salmon in the Classroom, where students raised hatchery Chinook salmon eggs for six weeks, then later released them to the river. Or the returning Sandhill cranes in the fall, promoted by the Lodi Sandhill Crane Association Classroom Art program, or the various cleanups students attended, including the current Litterati 2022 Challenge. You probably have read about these topics before, but to our students, they are fresh, and new, and they want to share what they have learned. (Teachers: If you are interested in learning more about, or joining our program, email me: kgrant@lodi.gov.)

But have you read much about the fossils found in the summer of 2020 by EBMUD Ranger Greg Francek? Students were able to meet with him online, and interview him about his “Look left, look right, look up, look down” strategy when he walks his rounds in the upper watershed, hunting for fossils.

Students also met with UC Davis emeritus professor Dr. Cathy Busby, a volcanologist who has been studying extinct volcanoes and the Sierras for her whole research career. Her work is helping date the EBMUD fossils finds. Learn more: https://www.csuchico.edu/gateway/education/for-lifelong-learners/mwowf21-fossils.shtml.

We also made new friends up at CSU Chico State, where the fossils are being studied. We hope to create a second “Meet your Watershed — Fossils 2.0” video later this summer, to follow the first video “Fossil Finders.” Learn more: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAy-pappX1conjUNrPoE7SA.

Many thanks to the City of Lodi Watershed Education Program funders and partners, especially the LUSD GOT Kids Foundation, who sponsored the grant which paid for this year’s 2021-2022 edition of the Mokelumne Current. Thank you also to the C.A. Webster Foundation, Waste Management, and the Lower Mokelumne River Partnership for funding study trips, the Litterati app, and more “Meet Your Watershed” videos. Thank you also to the Lodi Sandhill Crane Association, CSU Chico State Gateway Science Center, East Bay Municipal Utility District Mokelumne staff, WGR-Southwest for their film work making the “Meet Your Watershed” video series. Special thanks to LUSD teachers, especially Joe Serna Jr. Charter School (Janine Jacinto); Heritage Elementary School (Melissa Yatteau, Cynthia Espinoza-Martinez, Nora Araujo); Reese Elementary School (Mel Martinez); Vinewood Elementary School (Kim Hudson); Beckman Elementary School (Andrea Ames); Turner Academy (Jennica Frisk); and Jennifer Robison-Buck at Tokay High School. You are all worth pure gold!

Thank you also to the Lodi News-Sentinel staff, especially Kyla Cathey who is the herculean wizard who creates the layout for the Mokelumne Current and gets it to press. Thank you to editor Scott Howell, and his team behind the scenes, from Adam and his pressmen, and to the warehouse crew. Thank you also to the Lodi News-Sentinel subscribers! Your support keeps our community connected in vital ways.

Finally, thank you to my amazing co-workers in the City of Lodi Public Works Department. Tosha Wiman and her team especially helped scan student work, pay invoices, and solve problems. And to my boss, Andrew Richle, thank you for your graciousness and willingness to support our efforts, wherever the adventure leads us. ‘Cause we know, you can’t protect what you don’t understand.

Happy summer, all, and go “Meet Your Watershed!”

– Kathy Grant, City of Lodi Watershed Program Coordinator