Central Arroyo Stream Update - March 2008


Interested in learning about the positive improvements occurring in your favorite local stream? Read on for more details.


The Central Arroyo Stream Restoration Program (CASRP) is right on track and continues to progress towards its completion date in August. The most notable event thus far was the Groundbreaking Ceremony held January 16th on the Parker-Mayberry Bridge. The event was a giant success. The sun was shining, eighty local residents and Arroyo lovers attended the event and the native Arroyo Chub looked anxious to jump into the flowing Arroyo Seco stream.

Webb School

CALS Students

A student volunteer from Webb School carefully prepares a hole to plant a Black Sage

CALS student volunteers pose before dozens of bags of trash and invasive species pulled from the Arroyo Seco


Though it commanded much of the attention, the groundbreaking ceremony was not the only event of note over the past two months:


  • Twenty-five volunteers, most hailing from the California Academy for Liberal Studies (CALS) and Marshall Fundamental Secondary School, pulled hundreds of pounds of trash and invasive species out of the Arroyo Seco
  • Thirty-five student volunteers from Webb School cleared an overgrown area on the Rosemont trail of invasive weeds and planted fifty California native plants in their stead
  • Polytechnic Girl Scout Troop 101 showed their love for the nature, beginning an educational campaign to learn about the nature and protect the recently planted California natives

Much more is planned for the future! The volunteer events are only a prelude of what is to come! The following bullet points are important updates regarding other CASRP activities and designs:


  • Informative tours will occur every other Friday at 4pm beginning March 14th. The walking tour will begin at Parking Lot I, proceed to the restoration area underneath the 134 bridge, and loop back to the parking lot. Come out and see exactly what the program will bring to the stream and where!
  • The large native-plant “island” that was to be placed in Rose Bowl Parking Lot I has been scratched from design plans. The number of parking spaces that would have been lost was too large. Instead of the large swale, a number of smaller islands have been designed to achieve the intended goals
  • Construction on Parking Lot I is scheduled to begin during the first week of April and will continue until the project is finished in the summer. Those working on the construction will take extra precautions to ensure that their work does not interfere with the normal activities taking place in the nearby facilities
  • Stream restoration improvements will not take place before May 15th, when the rainy season officially ends. Planned stream improvements have not changed since the Groundbreaking Ceremony in January and will be executed as the original design calls for.

March 13, 2008