Congratulations to Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association on restoring two of the giant concrete urns that graced the 100-year-old subdivision. (BPFP is fiscal sponsor for this project.) Please join Berkeley Path Wanderers Association on a 1 PM walk from Great Stoneface Park, exploring Thousand Oaks history and ending at 3 PM with dedication of the urns. All welcome!
Blackberry Creek Daylighting Project, Berkeley: Ten-Year Post-Project Appraisal
Stephanie K. Gerson, Jane Wardani, and Shiva Niazi conducted a study of the Blackberry Creek Daylighting Project ten years after completion of the project. The results can be found here:
From the Abstract:
Blackberry Creek drains a 0.3-square-mile watershed, flowing from the northeastern hills of Berkeley, California into the Marin Creek culvert and then to the San Francisco Bay. A 200-foot reach running under Thousand Oaks Elementary School was daylighted in 1995 by Wolfe Mason Associates in collaboration with the Urban Creeks Council. The goals were to provide an outdoor science lab for the school and an alternative to a culvert with a history of flooding.
Post-project appraisals conducted in 1996 and 2000 focused on geomorphic and biological aspects, and found sufficient flood control capacity and greater density of riparian vegetation than envisioned in project design. We conducted a PPA ten years after project completion, surveying the longitudinal profile and two
cross sections of the creek. We also looked at historical rainfall data and identified a 10-year event in 2002. Comparing our data to previous PPAs, channel flood capacity and gradient appear stable although the channel itself may have migrated within the high bankfull. Bank vegetation has become even denser,
reflecting a lack of maintenance.
Previous PPAs documented tension relating to perceived use and design among diverse groups such as the School, the Neighborhood Association, and a Tai Chi group that used the park and tot lot. To get a sense of community perception and use ten years post-project, we interviewed the Thousand Oaks science
teacher, past and current presidents of the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association, and the chair of the Urban Creeks Council at the time of daylighting. Today, the school is using the site as a regular science lab and the initial tension seems to have dissipated into general public acceptance.
Annual update of 2007 Activities
Our annual Update highlights activities of BPFP and our affiliate groups from 2007:
- High resolution (PDF: 9.7 MB) (recommended for those with high speed internet access)
- screen resolution (PDF: 0.15 MB) (recommended for those with dial-up internet connections).
From the Board introduction:
We are hopeful the energizing power of partnerships will become a theme of the 21st century. Around the world individuals are organizing in their local areas to improve their lives, and Berkeley Partners for Parks is a leader in those efforts in our community.