An Ode to Cows

Summer is fire season in the Sunol Valley and the Alameda Creek Watershed. And as fires blaze across Northern California, and flare up closer to home, we’re reminded of an unsung cadre of fire prevention specialists on SFPUC lands: Cows.

Cows have grazed the Alameda Creek Watershed since the mid-1800s. Our Watershed Managers at the SFPUC use a twenty-first century approach to this century’s old tool to help minimize fire danger on the 36,000 acres of land we own in the Alameda Creek Watershed.

Our rangeland managers apply sustainable and cutting-edge cattle management practices, an the cows’ hungry habits do a great job of keeping the grasses low, which reduces the potential fuel for fires.

When driving through the watershed, please stay on paved areas and away from high grasses that could catch fire from the underside of your car.

And if, while you’re there, you happen to see any of our four-legged fire prevention team members, say thanks. For all of us.

For more local resources on fire safety:

https://www.acgov.org/fire/links.htm

See you around the Valley! And be fire safe out there.

Members our four-legged Fire Prevention Team near San Antonio Reservior. Their appetite keeps grasses from growing into a fire hazard. 

Photo Friday at the Arroyo Hondo

Happy Photo Friday!

Today's post comes courtesy of watershed keeper Pat Jones.

Recently cloudy skies helped produce some stunning photos. This one shows Calaveras Reservoir and a major tributary into it - the Arroyo Hondo.

Have a great weekend, and we'll see you around the Valley!

Meet Sunol Valley's Natural Garbage Collectors

This week we wanted to highlight some special local inhabitants - turkey vultures.  If you drive anywhere in the Sunol Valley, you will almost always spot a committee of vultures waiting to see what their next meal will be. 

Turkey vultures, like this one spotted near Calaveras Reservoir, like to roost in bare trees to keep an eye (and nose) out for their next meal.

Turkey vultures, also known as turkey buzzards, are the most widespread species of vulture in the New World. They are so named because of their resemblance to the male wild turkey. Their range spreads from Canada all the way to the southernmost tip of South America. We call them nature’s garbage collectors because they feed almost exclusively on carrion and perform a crucial natural function of picking clean disease carrying carcasses.

Vultures are probably one of the most misunderstood birds in the animal kingdom. Here are some fun facts about these creatures:

• Turkey vultures have one of the best senses of smell in the animal kingdom.
• It's a misconception that they actually prefer their food rotten.  However, vultures do have a cool adaptation; their stomach acid is almost comparable to battery acid.
• Nothing goes to waste with a vulture. They even make good use of semi-digested and digested food.

Photo courtesy of WikiCommons

Although few people would call them cute, they do perform a crucial role in natural areas like the Sunol Valley. 

See you around the valley!

National Water Quality Month

August is National Water Quality Month! Your drinking water comes from a watershed. And if you are a customer of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) or one of our 27 wholesale customers in four Bay Area counties, your drinking water comes from three watersheds: the Tuolumne River Watershed near Yosemite National Park, the Alameda Creek Watershed in the East Bay, and the Crystal Springs Watershed on the Peninsula.

By protecting and preserving the lands that produce our drinking water, we not only support rare and endangered wildlife, we also provide the highest possible quality water to our customers.

In honor of National Water Quality month, we’d like to take this opportunity to remind ourselves how we all can help protect our local watersheds to protect the quality of our water.



The SFPUC owns 35,000 acres of watershed lands in the Alameda Creek Watershed. They are home to critters, like the Western Pond Turtle.

As part of National Water Quality month awareness, there are small things that you can do in your everyday life to help keep and protect water quality. Here are some helpful tips:

• Use a commercial car wash — cleaning your car at home flushes dangerous chemicals down the storm drain and directly into our lakes and streams
• Pick up after your dog
• Dispose of used motor oil properly - one quart of motor oil can contaminate more than 250,000 gallons of water
• Help pick up litter on the streets that could end up going down the storm drain use detergents that are phosphate-free 
• Join in a beach, stream, or wetlands cleanup project. Look for local projects in your area.

By doing these simple things you will be contributing to protecting your watershed for future generations.

Thank you and Happy National Water Quality Month!