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Sulphur Creek
In 1996, a group of concerned stakeholders formed the Sulphur Creek Watershed Task Force (Task Force) with a mission to preserve and maintain Sulphur Creek watershed in a natural and beautiful state and to promote both agricultural as well as private recreational usage of the watershed. The Task Force aims to preserve and maintain the watershed for functions that are mutually agreeable among interested local residents.
Through group dialogue and community meetings, the Task Force decided in late 2001 that they were interested in conducting a watershed assessment and developing a watershed management plan to guide future restoration and land management activities. Through a grant received by the Napa County Resource Conservation District (RCD) from the California Bay-Delta Authority Watershed Program in 2002, a team of technical specialists from the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI), Pacific Watershed Associates (PWA), and Napa County RCD set out to understand and document the physical, biological and human aspects of the Sulphur Creek watershed. The following types of data collection and/or review of existing information were carried out over a period of several months: historical ecology, flora and fauna, channel form and function, hillslope form and function, sediment, fish habitat and macroinvertebrates, and water quality.
With improved information about current and historic natural resource conditions in the watershed, the Task Force formed a subcommittee to guide the development of a watershed management plan that would reflect the interests of the larger group. The subcommittee worked in close collaboration with technical specialists from SFEI, PWA and Napa County RCD to develop the management plan. The plan integrates the results of the technical reports and provides recommendations for management, monitoring and further research. The management plan is meant to be used as a tool for the local community and is meant to be voluntary in nature. It also builds upon a history of on-going community efforts to protect and restore the natural function of the watershed.
