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About Us
Special Thanks
Brochure design by Page One
Posters and ads designed by Gregg Payne
Murals by Gregg Payne
Radio and TV commercials produced by Lindsay Buckley and Erick McClain
Web design by Iris Software
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The Chico Urban Streams Alliance (Chico USA) is a coalition of the City and local environmental and professional groups concerned with the water quality of Chico’s creeks. The coalition has formed with funding from a grant under the Proposition 13 Watershed Protection Grant Program. Funding support has been provided by the California Bay-Delta Program (CALFED), which has an objective to restore ecological health and improve water management by working with the community at a watershed level. The State Water Resources Control Board awarded the grant to the City of Chico. The Chico USA partners include:
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The City is the grant recipient and will provide the fiscal management of the grant, overseeing the project components and providing project support through their Storm Water Management Program.
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Public Education and Community Outreach: BEC will be conducting a public survey in the fall of 2005 to find out what the public knows about local urban runoff water quality issues. Based on the results of this survey a multi-media outreach campaign will be organized for the purposes of public education and community outreach. One-on-one outreach to potentially polluting businesses will be part of the overall outreach and education campaign.
The public can look forward to brochures, a creek-watch hotline, public presentations, radio and television ads and other media products to learn more about how to keep our streams and creeks clean.
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Project Management and Big Chico Creek Volunteer Monitoring Program: The Alliance will provide the project manager for this grant and will be expanding its citizen-based volunteer monitoring program that began in 2004 for the upper portions of the Big Chico Creek watershed. Volunteer monitoring efforts apply user-friendly, scientific methods to assess stream health. These methods are specifically intended for use by volunteers and they measure water chemistry, flows, stream channel shape and aquatic insect populations. Training is provided each spring for the volunteers, who commit six weekend mornings a year (May to October) to conduct the monitoring.
This new grant will expand the monitoring program in Big Chico creek from its present four upper stream sites to include the entire length of the creek. Current monitors include classrooms, college students, families and individuals. All are welcome to participate.
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Best Management Practices Performance Evaluation: Kennedy/Jenks Consultants will be conducting a two-year study to evaluate the effectiveness of the City’s Best Management Practices (BMPs) for storm water. Storm-water is the runoff from rainfall. BMPs are structures or ways of doing things that control, prevent, remove or reduce pollution. The BMPs that will be evaluated in this study are the structural technologies that are installed in new development (e.g. detention basins). The US Environmental Protection Agency requires the City to treat storm water with BMPs and remove pollutants before they can contaminate Big Chico Creek, Little Chico Creek, and Lindo Channel. The City will use the results of the study to site and design future storm water BMPs, which will be installed as Chico continues to grow.
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Chico USA has formed with funding from a grant under the Proposition 13 Watershed Protection Grant Program. Funding support has been provided by the California Bay-Delta Program (CALFED) which has as an objective to restore ecological health and improve water management by working with the community at a watershed level.
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