World Water Day at the Park

At the Chino Creek Park, World Water Day was a huge success thanks to SAWA!!            

SAWA facilitated two World Water Day events at the park on March 21, 2012 & March 23, 2012. A total of 170 girls from Girl Scouts of the U.S.A participated in the event to earn their water badge. The event featured hands-on activities; Water Experiments, “Made of Water” activity, Water Pledge, Snake Encounter and a Park Scavenger Hunt.

Thank you to all the Girl Scout Troops that participated in World Water Day at the Chino Creek Wetlands and Educational Park!

World Water Day has been observed on 22 March since 1993 when the United Nations General Assembly declared 22 March as World Day for Water.

There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and another 2 billion are expected to join by 2050. Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 litres of water every day, however most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat: producing 1 kilo of beef for example consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat ’drinks up’ 1,500 litres.

For more infromation on World Water Day: http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/

What is a Wetland?

What is a wetland? 

Wetlands are among the most distinct and productive ecosystems on earth providing habitat to diverse communities of plant, animal and fish species. Wetlands also play a critical role in maintaining the health of the natural environment by filtering chemical and biological components from ground and surface water.

Wetlands are the link between land and water. They are transition zones where the flow of water, the cycling of nutrients, and the energy of the sun meet to produce unique ecosystems characterized by hydrology, soils, and vegetation – making these areas very important features of a watershed. Wetlands contribute to the natural processes that keep our water clean – including groundwater and the water in our lakes, rivers and streams.

Wetlands are home to more than one-third of North America’s threatened and endangered species. For many animals and plants, wetlands are the only places they can live. For others, wetlands provide important food, water, or shelter. Many of the North American breeding bird populations feed, nest, and raise their young in wetlands. Migratory waterfowl use wetlands as resting, feeding, breeding, or nesting grounds for at least part of the year.

Information from: http://www.downatthepond.ca/

Centennial HS Water Discovery Program 2/28/12

Thank you to the students from Centennial High School that participated in the Water Discovery Program on Tuesday, Feb. 28. As part of the program, the students did a service learning project in the demonstration garden. Students helped with weeding and removal of some fencing. We appreciated all of their hard work and hope they enjoyed learning about the wetlands during their visit.

January 28th Volunteer Day

The Chino Creek Park hosted its first volunteer day of 2012 on January 28th with a strong number of students...14 hard working young men and women!!! They did such a great job and made a lot of progress in the park. Volunteers removed volunteer coyote bush and planted native grasses in the demonstration garden.

The Volunteer Day was from 8:00am to 12:00pm and we were lucky enough to have such great weather. Chino was the only area that didn’t have the crazy wind that day.

If you would like to participate in the Parks next volunteer day on February 11, 2012 from 8:00am- 12:00pm please contact Lucia Diaz at ldiaz@ieua.org

Volunteer Work Party Flier

World Water Day 2012!!

What are you doing for World Water Day 2012?

Here at the Chino Creek Park SAWA will be hosting the second annual World Water Day event with the Girls Scouts of the U.S.A. for two days; March 21 & March 23!!

Last year SAWA coordinated the first annual event with 153 girls from Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. This year we are excited to host the event again at the Chino Creek Park. Thanks to SAWA and all their efforts there has been such a hudge response towards this event that the March 21 date complety booked.

For more information for March 23rd  please check on SAWA's Education website http://sawaedu.org/?q=WWD2012

So if you are interested in participating please contact SAWA; Annie Yennie at annie@sawaedu.org or Carrie Raleigh at carrie@sawaedu.org.  

Garden In Every School Workshop!!!

Two Canvasbacks spotted in the Park.

Photo by John Mellin

Before the end of the year (2011) John Mellin the Agency avid bird watcher saw 2 canvasbacks in the Park ponds. Very excited since we get to add a new duck to our lists!!

Cool Facts

• The species name of the Canvasback, Aythya valisineria, comes from Vallisneria americana, or wild celery, whose winter buds and rhizomes are its preferred food during the nonbreeding period. (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/)