THE WATERSHED PROJECT
Watershed (n.) - an area or ridge of land that separates waters flowing to different rivers, basins, or seas
Infographic (n.) - a visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data
Infographic (n.) - a visual image such as a chart or diagram used to represent information or data
From Beginning Of Exhibition Till Exhibition Day...
All Artwork, Work And Pictures Created or Taken During Watershed Project
Watershed Magazine Drafts and Finals
Pictures Above: The 6 pictures/scans that are directly above are the exact one from the first draft of our watershed magazine. They are how we started out this entire process and also how we got an idea of what we had and what we didn't have. There are two pages that we didn't make in our first draft that were included in our final draft, and those pages were the interviews and infographic. At the time of the drafts we didn't have those two assignments completed and therefore had nothing to display in the draft. Below are the final drafts of our watershed magazine.
Pictures Above: After looking at the watershed magazine rough drafts, and comparing them with the final drafts, you can probably see a difference. We didn't get here alone though. Throughout this process different groups were looking at other classmates magazines and we were exchanging critique from different groups. Most of our critique came from what some of our piers, and they were mostly about what either looked more professional or eye-catching. We also got many suggestions from our teacher that also really pushed us many steps passed our first draft. To view the full HD version of the final product and other magazine visit http://issuu.com/hthncart/docs/tiajuanawatershed
My Writing Pieces
The Introduction
This is a Watershed Magazine created by us students attending High North County. We did a project to learn about aquatic environments around their homes and research their affects on its surroundings and how its surrounding affects it. We also want to inform people about problems that watersheds are going through and ways to conserve water in our current drought. Our group consists of three member with three individual group roles, Frida Diaz Barriga who is the water user, Faris Livingstone who is the land manager and Jonathan Flores who is the farmer.
The Interview
11-5-14
Are you interested in the outdoors and nature? Join us as we talk to Bryan Ward in finding out how different aspects of our environment and society can impact the nature, water and much more! Bryan Ward is a park ranger at the San Dieguito River Park, who works at Lake Hodges. Bryan is an experienced ranger who has now been working for over 4 years. I have chosen to interview Bryan to get a land manager’s perspective on different affects on water, as well as the environment around it.
What made you want to be a Park Ranger in the beginning?
Growing up, I really liked hiking out in nature and learning about plants and animals. So from the beginning, I already had an environmental mindset. When I went to college, I got a degree in environmental chemistry. After graduating, I got an internship at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is on the border of Tennessee and North
Carolina. At the internship, I was basically doing what the rangers there were doing. I was basically just an intern but I really liked that work. Then I moved back to San Diego and I said, you know, I think I want to be a park ranger; especially working out in the great weather. So I applied to different places and ended up here at the San Dieguito River Park.
How long have you been a Park Ranger?
I have been a park ranger for over 4 years right now.
As a Park Ranger, what are some of your responsibilities?
Well, San Dieguito River Park rangers are unique in the fact that they are kind of a jack of all trades. We do maintenance on the trails and habitat as well as educational events where school groups come out. In addition, we lead public hikes and a little bit of office work. For example, I manage the Facebook and Twitter accounts for the park and we also lead volunteer groups.
How have you seen San Dieguito, and other water regions you might be involved with, change over time?
(Pollution, population, etc.)
Recently, with the three year drought that we are in, Lake Hodges has become smaller and smaller and now it’s at 36% capacity. When it’s full it could extend east of the freeway. It was that way when I started, and it was actually so full that the dam overflowed. But now it is down to 36% capacity. However, it’s not quite as low as I saw it when I was in high school. In this recent drought, I’ve never seen a summer so brown where the plants have adapted to handle the hot and dry summers that we have. They’ve turned brown and just look dead. But because we didn't get that much rain during the winter time, some of them are getting too brown and too dry and actually becoming dead.
How you seen any positive changes?
Well, some of our habitat restoration sites we actually go in and take out the weeds and invasive species so we can plant the native plants that are supposed to be growing there. We also water some of those areas that are doing well despite the drought because we are giving them supplemental water from our trucks. Those areas happen to be doing fairly well, whereas the rest of the habitat isn't doing that great.
How do you see pollution affecting the aquatic areas around you?
Luckily, I don’t see very much pollution but I know it happens. The San Dieguito River goes through San Pasqual Valley which is a large farming and agricultural area and if the farmers aren't careful enough some of the pesticides and herbicides could leach into the river. That could flow into Lake Hodges and accumulate that could lead to potential fish die off which then could potentially lead to birds that eat the fish dying but that really hasn't been much of a concern. As a matter of fact, San Dieguito watershed
last year was the only watershed in the county that rated good in terms of water quality whereas all the other watersheds were rated either fair or poor so we are lucky probably because we have the rangers that are active in protecting the watershed during the habitat restoration work, keeping an eye on things making sure no one is coming in and dumping oil and anything like that.
If you were working with a lake or water source located in more than one watershed, do you think it makes a difference to the cleanliness of the lake? Why or why not?
I am not sure how a lake could be constructed to span over two different watersheds without some major construction and demolition of a hill that would separate the two watersheds, so I’m not sure if that’s even possible.
Leaning more toward your job, how can government decisions influence your roles as a Park Ranger? How can they influence your interactions with your watershed?
Getting into the politics now! Funding definitely affects how many park rangers that park can have, and just this year the city of San Diego threatened to pull its funding for the river park. Here’s some background information, the San Dieguito River Park is its separate government agency that was formed by six government agencies that came together to create a joint powers agreement so the city of San Diego, Escondido, Poway, Del Mar, Solana Beach, and the county of San Diego all came together because each of those six government agencies have a part of their city limits within the river park boundary, so, they got together and decided to make it easier for all six to create a separate agency to manage this park, and, we will contribute funding for how much land and how many people live within that 4. So the city of San Diego is supposed to fund 30% of our operational budget and they threatened to not give it to us for this year so that could have meant layoffs of park rangers that year. We have 8 rangers and two of us could have got laid off if the city didn't fund us. That's one big government decision is funding. We also, to supplement our operations budget for special projects at the San Diego Lagoon we constructed an open air classroom that we call The Birdwing so we apply for grants that is a similar issue whether or not they give it to us to construct it. Our governing board can also make decisions that affect the park rangers, when the river park was first founded they decided that the park rangers wouldn't be doing law enforcement if we needed anyone cited or arrested we would have to call the appropriate sheriff or police for backup so that was a big decision. This is fine by me because I don’t want to be spending my time walking out and citing everyone who has a dog without a leash and for the most part we are able to just approach the person with the dog off leash and just educate them about why we want the dog on leash not just say hey here you go here’s a ticket. We are able to approach them and say hey we have rattlesnakes and coyotes we don't want your dog to wander off trail and get attacked, so we want them to stay on a leash and stay on the trail so can you put your dog on a leash and most of the time they reply saying oh I didn't know that was a rule I thought my dog can rome free and so it educates them rather than them being mad at us, but if we do get someone who's not so nice we could just call animal control and cite them. So there is a couple scenarios.
What are some benefits of being a Park Ranger? What do you enjoy most about being a Park Ranger?
Oh benefits, exercise, fresh air, getting to interact with people from students all the way to joggers asking questions about a bird in the tree over there. We are able to say, oh that’s a turkey vulture or that’s an egret. I also get to share my knowledge with trail users. It’s just a lot of fun working outside and not on a computer inside.
This is a Watershed Magazine created by us students attending High North County. We did a project to learn about aquatic environments around their homes and research their affects on its surroundings and how its surrounding affects it. We also want to inform people about problems that watersheds are going through and ways to conserve water in our current drought. Our group consists of three member with three individual group roles, Frida Diaz Barriga who is the water user, Faris Livingstone who is the land manager and Jonathan Flores who is the farmer.
The Interview
11-5-14
Are you interested in the outdoors and nature? Join us as we talk to Bryan Ward in finding out how different aspects of our environment and society can impact the nature, water and much more! Bryan Ward is a park ranger at the San Dieguito River Park, who works at Lake Hodges. Bryan is an experienced ranger who has now been working for over 4 years. I have chosen to interview Bryan to get a land manager’s perspective on different affects on water, as well as the environment around it.
What made you want to be a Park Ranger in the beginning?
Growing up, I really liked hiking out in nature and learning about plants and animals. So from the beginning, I already had an environmental mindset. When I went to college, I got a degree in environmental chemistry. After graduating, I got an internship at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is on the border of Tennessee and North
Carolina. At the internship, I was basically doing what the rangers there were doing. I was basically just an intern but I really liked that work. Then I moved back to San Diego and I said, you know, I think I want to be a park ranger; especially working out in the great weather. So I applied to different places and ended up here at the San Dieguito River Park.
How long have you been a Park Ranger?
I have been a park ranger for over 4 years right now.
As a Park Ranger, what are some of your responsibilities?
Well, San Dieguito River Park rangers are unique in the fact that they are kind of a jack of all trades. We do maintenance on the trails and habitat as well as educational events where school groups come out. In addition, we lead public hikes and a little bit of office work. For example, I manage the Facebook and Twitter accounts for the park and we also lead volunteer groups.
How have you seen San Dieguito, and other water regions you might be involved with, change over time?
(Pollution, population, etc.)
Recently, with the three year drought that we are in, Lake Hodges has become smaller and smaller and now it’s at 36% capacity. When it’s full it could extend east of the freeway. It was that way when I started, and it was actually so full that the dam overflowed. But now it is down to 36% capacity. However, it’s not quite as low as I saw it when I was in high school. In this recent drought, I’ve never seen a summer so brown where the plants have adapted to handle the hot and dry summers that we have. They’ve turned brown and just look dead. But because we didn't get that much rain during the winter time, some of them are getting too brown and too dry and actually becoming dead.
How you seen any positive changes?
Well, some of our habitat restoration sites we actually go in and take out the weeds and invasive species so we can plant the native plants that are supposed to be growing there. We also water some of those areas that are doing well despite the drought because we are giving them supplemental water from our trucks. Those areas happen to be doing fairly well, whereas the rest of the habitat isn't doing that great.
How do you see pollution affecting the aquatic areas around you?
Luckily, I don’t see very much pollution but I know it happens. The San Dieguito River goes through San Pasqual Valley which is a large farming and agricultural area and if the farmers aren't careful enough some of the pesticides and herbicides could leach into the river. That could flow into Lake Hodges and accumulate that could lead to potential fish die off which then could potentially lead to birds that eat the fish dying but that really hasn't been much of a concern. As a matter of fact, San Dieguito watershed
last year was the only watershed in the county that rated good in terms of water quality whereas all the other watersheds were rated either fair or poor so we are lucky probably because we have the rangers that are active in protecting the watershed during the habitat restoration work, keeping an eye on things making sure no one is coming in and dumping oil and anything like that.
If you were working with a lake or water source located in more than one watershed, do you think it makes a difference to the cleanliness of the lake? Why or why not?
I am not sure how a lake could be constructed to span over two different watersheds without some major construction and demolition of a hill that would separate the two watersheds, so I’m not sure if that’s even possible.
Leaning more toward your job, how can government decisions influence your roles as a Park Ranger? How can they influence your interactions with your watershed?
Getting into the politics now! Funding definitely affects how many park rangers that park can have, and just this year the city of San Diego threatened to pull its funding for the river park. Here’s some background information, the San Dieguito River Park is its separate government agency that was formed by six government agencies that came together to create a joint powers agreement so the city of San Diego, Escondido, Poway, Del Mar, Solana Beach, and the county of San Diego all came together because each of those six government agencies have a part of their city limits within the river park boundary, so, they got together and decided to make it easier for all six to create a separate agency to manage this park, and, we will contribute funding for how much land and how many people live within that 4. So the city of San Diego is supposed to fund 30% of our operational budget and they threatened to not give it to us for this year so that could have meant layoffs of park rangers that year. We have 8 rangers and two of us could have got laid off if the city didn't fund us. That's one big government decision is funding. We also, to supplement our operations budget for special projects at the San Diego Lagoon we constructed an open air classroom that we call The Birdwing so we apply for grants that is a similar issue whether or not they give it to us to construct it. Our governing board can also make decisions that affect the park rangers, when the river park was first founded they decided that the park rangers wouldn't be doing law enforcement if we needed anyone cited or arrested we would have to call the appropriate sheriff or police for backup so that was a big decision. This is fine by me because I don’t want to be spending my time walking out and citing everyone who has a dog without a leash and for the most part we are able to just approach the person with the dog off leash and just educate them about why we want the dog on leash not just say hey here you go here’s a ticket. We are able to approach them and say hey we have rattlesnakes and coyotes we don't want your dog to wander off trail and get attacked, so we want them to stay on a leash and stay on the trail so can you put your dog on a leash and most of the time they reply saying oh I didn't know that was a rule I thought my dog can rome free and so it educates them rather than them being mad at us, but if we do get someone who's not so nice we could just call animal control and cite them. So there is a couple scenarios.
What are some benefits of being a Park Ranger? What do you enjoy most about being a Park Ranger?
Oh benefits, exercise, fresh air, getting to interact with people from students all the way to joggers asking questions about a bird in the tree over there. We are able to say, oh that’s a turkey vulture or that’s an egret. I also get to share my knowledge with trail users. It’s just a lot of fun working outside and not on a computer inside.