Creek Clean Up

Announced on: Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023

Join AS Sustainability on Monday, October 23rd from noon - 2 p.m. at Alumni Glen, located between Holt Hall and the Big Chico Creek, for a Creek Clean Up. Come on out to help protect this important waterway and keep it clean. All you need to bring is yourself, closed-toe shoes, water, and a hat. Supplies to help clean the creek such as gloves, pickers, and buckets will be provided.

The Headwaters are a tiny spring where the Cascade Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas meet. The creek flows 45 miles downhill, then through the valley where it eventually meets up with the Sacramento River, and then the Delta, the Bay, and finally the Pacific Ocean. This connection was historically a pathway for threatened steelhead and spring-run Chinook salmon to travel. Due to multiple dams along the Sacramento River and its tributaries (including Ótakim Séwi/Big Chico Creek), the migratory path of the salmon has been disrupted, leading to their endangered conservation status.

Excitingly, there are currently multiple projects in place to restore native fish passageways in the area, including a historic collaboration between the Mechoopda Tribe, Caltrout, and Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve (BCCER). You can read more about it here.

The creek is still alive with Western Pond Turtles, native river otters, migratory birds, and Chico community members who swim at Bear Hole and find peace in the riparian shade. If you're interested in learning more about the flora and fauna of Ótakim Séwi, check out this extensive resource from the BCCER.

The Associated Students, or "the AS," is a nonprofit auxiliary corporation of CSU, Chico that provides programs and services created for students by students. Follow along with the AS online at as.csuchico.edu or on social media @aschicostate on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Too many emails? Sign up for text notifications here.