The RCRCD continually looks for new ways and opportunities to coordinate with others to accomplish resource conservation. The District works with organizations, agencies, businesses and individuals at federal, state and local levels. If you are seeking assistance with a community project, please contact District Manager, Shelli Lamb at (951) 683-7691 ext. 202.
HELP THE LANDUSE LEARNING CENTER GROW! CLICK FOR DETAILS
We invite you to join a larger effort to conserve natural resources.
The LandUse Learning Center (LLC) is a 3½ -acre educational facility that will demonstrate land conservation methods. The purpose of the Center is to foster community conservation efforts and to empower Southern Californians to practice natural resource stewardship at home, at work, and in the community.
The demonstrations will provide models to explain local resource issues, conflicts, and solutions. Displays and signs will explain plantings and demonstrations depicting ways that we can use land efficiently and live in more sustainable ways. (Sustainable means using natural resources so that they last forever.)
Planted Areas will depict three main land uses of Southern California:
- native habitats
- urban areas
- agricultural lands
A variety of conservation methods will be constructed and explained in each area.
LAND USE 1: NATIVE HABITATS
Examples of four dwindling native plant communities of inland western Riverside County have been planted. The critical habitats include riparian, coastal-sage-scrub, chaparral, and oak woodland. Exhibits in the four habitats will explain the wildlife, plant characteristics, soils, and conservation measures for each.
Visitors will learn methods to sustain native habitats and will discover ways to reduce their impacts on habitat and wildlife, such as eliminating invasive plant species from landscaping and using environmentally-friendly yard management techniques.
LAND USE 2: URBAN AREAS
Plantings and conservation practices for households and construction sites will be demonstrated in the urban section of the LandUse Learning Center, serving as examples for homeowners to repeat on their own properties. Support materials will be available to help homeowners with their installations including instructions, supplier listings, and hard-to-find materials, such as "habitat" plants and nest boxes.
LAND USE 3: AGRICULTURAL LANDS
Varieties of locally produced crops will be planted. Tools and methods of sustainable agriculture will be explained. Soil qualities will be interpreted as they relate to using land for agriculture and preserving prime farmlands. Planned conservation demonstrations include:
- efficient irrigation systems and a weather monitoring station to gauge irrigation scheduling;
- erosion control practices, such as cover crops, windbreaks, and channel stabilization;
- integrated pest management techniques;
- vegetative buffers, and more.
Additional Components
Structures and buildings will be constructed to demonstrate energy conservation and the use of recycled materials, including straw bales for insulation.
A museum is being built to house indoor exhibits about air quality, underground water basins, watersheds, soil maps and more.
Construction Update
Volunteers helped plant three yards in the Urban Area of the LandUse Learning Center. The one-acre area was planned by landscape architect Bob Perry. Metropolitan Water District provided a $60,000 grant for development of the Urban Area.
Both the trails and amphitheater were constructed to provide wheelchair access.
Stream constructed and lined with plastic, rock and gravel, then filled with water.
Native Stream at the LandUse Learning Center
A 300-foot long stream supports aquatic life. The habitat supports three fish species that are native to Inland Empire waterways: the Speckled Dace, the Arroyo Chub, and the threatened Santa Ana Sucker.
The stream was created for the site. It is lined with impervious plastic. Gravel and rock were spread over the plastic liner to mimic natural conditions of a streambed. 400 gallon-per-minute of water flows through three bio-filters to clean the recirculated water.
Signs will be developed to identify native plant and animal species and to explain:
- the management of native landscapes for biodiversity;
- habitat degradation as a result of human actions, grazing, disruption of natural fire cycles, and invasion of exotic species;
- ways to reduce human impacts through personal stewardship;
- local habitat restoration efforts;
- the loss and fragmentation of habitat and sustainable land use planning.
The Santa Ana Sucker
The Santa Ana Sucker is a small native fish of Southern California's streams, usually 6 to 8 inches long when mature. It survives in only a few locations of its historic range: the Santa Ana, Santa Clara, and San Gabriel Rivers. The Sucker's population continues to decline due to habitat loss, pollution and poor water quality. The Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District (RCRCD) has the fortunate opportunity to rear and study the little fish in a "natural" habitat that has been created in the stream at the LLC.
Two other native fishes, the Speckled Dace and the Arroyo Chub, thrive in the "created" stream. The two species have produced hundreds of offspring over the past two years. The Dace and Chub also prefer the shallow stream habitat of Southern California.
The stream at the LandUse Learning Center provides scientists the opportunity to study the three types of fish in an environment that simulates nature, without the problems associated with flooding, sedimentation, pollution, and drought. Although these fish are accustomed to some natural disasters, human activities are hastening their decline. Stream and watershed alteration often cause increased flooding or artificial drought. Water quality is reduced as a result of polluted runoff and trash that flow through storm drains into waterways.
Fish researchers study the life history of the Santa Ana Sucker including longevity, number of offspring, feeding habits, growth rate, habitat preference, and impact of environmental factors. One of the goals of the research program is to learn why local natives often live only four or five years, while similar fish in other rivers live as long as eight years. Is life span affected by better river conditions? Size is another factor, which may be impacted by habitat degradation, as other Sucker species grow to be over five pounds.
 |
Because of the Sucker's status as a "threatened" species, US Fish and Wildlife Service required the RCRCD to provide an emergency back-up system, in case the stream ever stopped flowing. Fortunately, the stream was designed with an emergency generator for power, manual valves to replenish lost water should the power fail, three-foot deep pools that hold water (and fish) if the flow stops, and portable pumps for moving water from pool to pool. Additionally, six tanks have been constructed to provide emergency storage for the fish, in case the stream were to fail in spite of the existing safeguards. The new fish tanks have been retrofitted from existing tanks that were constructed in the 1950's for the study of soil-water. The tanks have been cleaned, patched, painted and fitted with new plumbing and electrical systems. The tanks are topped with screens to prevent predation by animals and to control water temperatures. |
The tanks hold approximately 10,000 gallons when full and can contain up to 5,000 fish. Water is recirculated at a rate of 50 gallons-per-minute and is filtered with small biological filters at each pump. Six pumps move the water between three cells, with three cells per tank-set for a total of six tank-sets. Gravel bottoms provide camouflage and a medium for spawning. The tanks hold different populations of fish, provide an emergency back-up system for the stream, and are fitted for the rearing of native frogs, including the red-legged and the yellow-legged frog.
Help Bring Back the Bluebird Population
Did you know that bluebirds nest in tree cavities? Due to a loss of trees in appropriate habitat, humans can provide cavities for bluebirds and other native birds by hanging nest boxes on trees in special locations. The Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District is seeking volunteers to hang and monitor nest boxes. Locally, volunteers hang boxes around February and check them weekly from March through June. Each team or individual usually monitors between three to five boxes in about one hour per week. We match volunteers to their closest nest box location to limit travel and energy use.
 |
Many Western Bluebird fledge each year thanks to our local volunteers. Some other native birds also use a few of the nest boxes, including the Ash-throated flycatcher, who's numbers are in decline. The results of our monitoring studies are sent to a national data bank at Cornell University. The Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District (and other bluebird lovers) sincerely appreciate the efforts of our volunteers who are helping to bring back the bluebirds to our area. |
If you are interested in volunteering or just learning more about bluebirds, please contact Erin Snyder, at (951) 683-7691 ext. 207.
Additional sources of information about Bluebirds:
- The North American Bluebird Society (NABS) promotes the recovery of bluebirds and other native cavity-nesting birds. www.nabluebirdsociety.org
- The Bluebird Book, The Complete Guide to Attracting Bluebirds, by Donald and Lillian Stokes.
To contribute personal bluebird observations to a national data base, call or write for information to "Birdhouse Network", Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14850. 1-800-843-BIRD. E-mail: http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/
The Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District (RCRCD) conducts cleanup events in the Santa Ana River and its tributaries, to remove pollution which threatens wildlife and degrades water quality. If you would like to volunteer for a cleanup event, please contact Erin Snyder at (951) 683-7691 ext 207.
The Santa Ana River watershed encompasses about 3,000 square miles. It is the largest river system in coastal southern California. The Santa Ana River originates in the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and San Jacinto mountains. The river travels over 75 miles through San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and a small portion of Los Angeles Counties to the Pacific Ocean, between Newport and Huntington Beaches.
