TEMESCAL CREEK WALKING WATERHOODS TOUR

When: Saturday, June 15, 2024

Time: 11:00 AM- 12:30 PM

Where: 51st Street, Oakland

In this Walking Waterhoods Tour, we will reveal the hidden cultural and natural history of the Temescal neighborhood.

While walking with us, you will discover:

• Lisjan Ohlone history
• the Peralta homestead
• the elaborate Idora Park Amusement area
• local Italian history
• the largest cannery in the US
• the Black Panther Party
• history of transportation: cable cars, train lines, freeway development
• green infrastructure and all things stormwater

Join us for this fun tour and make sure to bring your friends! Know a lot about this neighborhood? We hope you'll pipe in during the tour. Take a look at what we might see by visiting the Temescal Creek watershed observations on iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/temescal-creek-watershed-observations

Check out this tour and other tours by Wholly H2O on Temescasl, Sausal, Strawberry and Glen Echo Creeks:

 https://pocketsights.com/tours/organization/Wholly-H2O-4345/page/1

If you need free tickets, reach out: info@whollyh2o.org



To sign up for this event, use this link or the "register" button above.

POINT MOLATE INTERTIDAL BIOBLITZ

When: Thursday, June 20, 2024

Time: 10:00 AM- 1:00 AM

Where: 2092 Stenmark Drive, Richmond, CA, 94801

Join Wholly H2O and the Point Molate Alliance in support of California Academy of Sciences' Snapshot Cal Coast intertidal for a fun-filled exploration of Point Molate! Get ready to document local flora and fauna by observing and capturing the wildlife at Point Molate. Check out the iNaturalist page from Pt. Molate to see what other species our community has documented in the area.

A bioblitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period. We will show off our observationalist skills by taking pictures and uploading them to your account on iNaturalist.

To sign up for this event, use this link or the "register" button above.

Daylighting History: Uncovering Temescal Creek's Past

Revealing the buried history of Temescal Creek

Welcome back to the Wholly H2O newsletter after our brief hiatus! Thank you for your patience these past two months. 

Summer is just around the corner, and June is already spiraling down from the oven-baked sky in waves of heat mirages and air-conditioned breezes. In the distant past, Oaklanders would’ve cooled down from heat like this in Temescal Creek, a once wide, rushing watercourse that winded through the north Oakland hills into the San Francisco Bay. Now, the creek is partially culverted and dammed and much of its history has been forgotten. In an effort to daylight this long-buried history, we will be exploring Temescal Creek’s storied past in this month’s newsletter.

Lake Temescal in 1898 / A Bit of History

In its earliest days, Temescal Creek was the lifeblood of Indigenous Ohlone communities. Huichan Ohlone tribes relied on the creek’s constant water, moving up and down the creek in accordance with the seasons, living in temporary tule-reed houses. At the mouth of the creek, by current day Bay Street, hey also created the now-desecrated Emeryville shellmound at the creek’s mouth. The Ohlone are also responsible for the origin of the creek’s name — they built sweat lodges along the creek as part of their villages, and temescal means “sweat lodge” in Spanish. The creek was once home to rainbow trout and coho salmon, and supported a diverse variety of plant and animal species that contributed to the Ohlone diet, serving as an important cornerstone in pre-colonial life. 

As time tipped toward the 18th and 19th century, Temescal Creek met new inhabitants. The European settlers who came to the region found the creek’s abundance of water and food sources appealing. Unfortunately, the introduction of European settlers meant that the indigenous populations were pushed out of their creekside villages, and many were forced into missions or died from European diseases. In addition, the domesticated animals that missionaries and settlers brought with them trampled the surrounding grasslands and outcompeted native species for space and food, pushing local creatures out of the area and reducing the Temescal Creek watershed’s ecological diversity. 

One of the most well-known families that moved here, the Peralta family, settled in the area in the 1820s with a large land grant that became Rancho San Antonio. Temescal Creek ran through much of this rancho, and Jose Vicente Peralta, the youngest Peralta son, even lived in an adobe house along the creek’s shores with his wife. 

Temescal Creek / Wholly H2O

Throughout the 1800s, life on the shores of Temescal Creek continued to grow. An influx of people due to the Gold Rush led to even more development on the creek’s edges. You can read a snapshot historical account of daily Temescal Creek living in the late 19th century here. Although this almost pastoral Little House on The Prairie way of living has certainly gone away, one of Temescal Creek’s most iconic features still remains. 

Built in the 1860s as a way to bring fresh, drinkable water to Oakland, Lake Temescal was once a vital part of daily Oakland life. As the city of Oakland grew, businessman Anthony Chabot took it upon himself to create the Contra Costa Water Company to dam Lake Temescal and pipe the water to Oakland’s new residents. However, because of the rapid population growth, Lake Temescal was rendered obsolete and Lake Chabot was created to aid in the supplying of water. Eventually both reservoirs were outgrown and in the 1920s the city turned to the newly-created East Bay MUD for their water. Now, although the lake no longer supplies people with potable water, it still exists today as a reminder of all the change Temescal Creek has endured. 

Temescal Creek Destruction / The Montclarion Oct. 12th 1977 issue

Speaking of change, as Oakland moved into the 20th century, things began going downhill for Temescal Creek. Even more development in the 1900s led to the creek’s shores being paved over and built upon, limiting the waterway’s ability to naturally flow and move. Cement sidewalks and asphalt roads suffocated the creek’s floodplain, leading to frequent flooding in the developments nearby. Also, the creek began to be treated as a sewage area by locals, who threw trash and debris into the water, soiling its quality. Further, buildings were left abandoned at the creek’s shore as a result of erosion. To deal with the nuisance that Temescal Creek had become (ironically because of human actions), the city of Oakland decided to put the creek to rest. 

Long sections of Temescal Creek were culverted underground to prevent flooding and erosion, where they still remain buried today. Although there are parts of the creek that are open, such as the headwaters and mouth of the creek, the majority of this once life-supporting creek is now out of public view. However, this doesn’t mean that the creek is invisible. Many murals and works of art decorate spaces in the city that the creek once occupied, and memorials honor this ghost of a waterway, shedding light on its history and importance. 

In addition, there are many organizations working to bring this creek’s history to the surface and care for the sections of the creek that are still open. Some of these incredible organizations include the Friends of Five Creeks, the Claremont Canyon Conservancy, and Friends of the Rockridge Temescal Greenbelt. And, of course, you can learn more about and explore Temescal Creek with Wholly H2O by taking our Walking Waterhoods tour of Temescal Creek online, or signing up for our upcoming tour here.

Our lives depend on healthy watersheds, and Wholly H2O depends on YOU!

Our important (and fun) work takes cash, plain and simple. Will you help us keep our events coming? Please use the link below to flow some cash in our direction! We're having our end-of-the-year fundraiser with a goal of $5,000 from all sources. If you are on Facebook, you are welcome to donate here. Otherwise, use our link to help us meet our goal. We love you!

During the last 100 years, California has been in on-and off drought conditions. We also have one of the five most important delta systems in the world, yet, most Californians do not know where their water comes from, how much they use a day, or what watershed they live in. At Wholly H2O, we are creating deep connections with watershed ecosystems in order to inspire people to take long-range personal and political action, while still having fun. And our Board of Advisors is a crucial part of how Wholly H2O functions. We ask for a solid commitment to:

• Join a 1.5 hour board meeting every four months.
• Put the word out about at least 3 Wholly H2O events a year
• Attend two Wholly H2O events per year
• Assist us in making connections for program content, partners, funding, and growth.

We're looking for experts in:

• Bay Area creek and marine ecosystems
• East Bay history - particularly BIPOC histories
• curriculum development
• connecting with East Bay K-12 schools
• marketing

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, apply using this link. Also, be sure to check out our current Board of Advisors to learn more !