Watching Over the Wetlands

When Lee Thomas takes a break from work at West Marine this week to walk the trails edging Strouve Slough, she’ll stroll past her own handiwork.

Thomas and about 20 other volunteers spent Saturday morning planting native grasses and other foliage on the banks of the wetland. The project, sponsored by the city and Watsonville Wetlands Watch, celebrated World Wetlands Day by restoring a section of the slough as habitat for nesting and migratory birds.

“I thought, what a nice way to learn and improve the area I enjoy every day,” Thomas said.

Strouve Slough, which runs behind the end of Westridge Drive from Harkins Slough Road to Highway 1, is one the last three remaining freshwater sloughs in the entire state, according to Debbie Diersch, a docent with Watsonville Wetlands Watch.

Volunteer events like Saturday’s restoration celebration are a way to educate the community about the value of the wetlands, Diersch said. They’re also a way to accomplish a lot of work at once.

Saturday, volunteers planted wild rose, creeping wild rye, wood mint, sedges, common rush, evening primrose and California bee plant in an area once overrun with poison hemlock, an invasive nonnative species.

“We can get a lot more done with volunteers,” said Diersch. “But beyond that … we want to get the community out, involve them.”

Watsonville Wetlands Project, a nonprofit, works closely with the city to restore the wetlands through a variety of projects: rebuilding salt marsh and dune habitat near Pajaro Dunes, a livestock grazing program, working with Pajaro Valley High School students to restore 80 acres surrounding the school, creating habitat for the endangered California red-legged frog and other restoration projects that focus on replacing invasive plants with native species.

"What we're trying to do with our restoration work is save what's left," said Jonathan Pilch, director of restoration for the project.

Watsonville Wetlands Project organizes volunteer crews on Tuesdays, as well as some Saturday events. Check out the calendar to get involved.