April 23 Earth Day – Clayton Clean-up and Library Garden Work Day – 9 to Noon FoMDC will participate in the City of Clayton’s earth-day clean up and, if possible, begin work on the Clayton Library Learning Circle. Rain or shine, meet at City Hall Courtyard, 6000 Heritage Trail.

May 7 – Clayton Library Work Day and Friends of Mt Diablo Ck 1st Birthday Bash 3:00-5:00 at Clayton Library We’ll continue work on the creekside learning circle at Clayton Library. After gardening we will relax and enjoy Save Mt Diablo’s BBQ and stargazing event: Family Stargazing Event & BBQ at Chaparral Spring 6:00 pm
visit www.savemountdiablo.org for details
Must RSVP to Save Mt Diablo: Ron Brown (925) 947-3535

May 23 - First Public Meeting of the Mt. Diablo Creek Watershed Planning Group
6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Farm Bureau Hall, 5554 Clayton Road, Concord

Activity Updates:
o Lab results from a second series of water quality samples have been received. The five samples, taken weekly in February and March, 2005 had much lower concentrations of e coli bacteria than samples taken in October-November 2004. In 2005 concentrations were well below the state standards for non-contact recreation. At three locations between Clayton Library and Lydia Lane Park, e coli concentrations were slightly above the state standard for swimming. Donner Creek, at the state park boundary was the only site where concentrations were below the state standards for swimming. A possible reason for the high concentrations last fall is the “first flush” of contaminants moving into the creek from storm drains during the first storms of the season.
o As part of Contra Costa County’s Citizen Volunteer Monitoring Program volunteers will be collecting bugs (benthic macroinvertebrates or BMIs) as water quality indicators to help determine watershed health. Seven volunteers will collect BMI’s from Mt Diablo Creek on 4/16, 4/23/ and 4/30. Thank you, volunteers!
o Our grants from the Watershed Project are producing some great results. The color brochures have been printed and will be mailed. Curricula for 4th and 7th grades are complete and educational supplies have been purchased. Landscaper Mary Philips has completed designs for a California native plant demonstration garden at Clayton Library and we will have our first work days on April 23 and May 7.
o Diablo View Middle School teacher Sylvia Chatagnier is planning to take her 8th graders on a field trip to the creek later in April. Arlene Kikkawa-Nielsen is coordinating the program with Clayton Library. Students will rotate through three learning stations: benthic macroinvertebrates, basic chemistry, and physical characteristics of the creek. This will be our first chance to use some of the educational curricula and materials provided by the Watershed Project.
o The first public meeting for the Mt. Diablo Creek Watershed Planning Group will be held on May 23. Members present at the April 5 meeting voted to appoint Polly Boissevain as the Friends of Mt Diablo Creek’s representative in the planning process, however other members of Friends of Mt Diablo Creek are welcome to participate in the planning process. Coordinator Jessica Hamburger’s presentation about the process at the end of these minutes.

Presentation by Dean McLeod
Mt. Diablo Creek: A Look at the Historical Geography

Dean is a professional geneologist. He is a director of the Concord Naval Weapons Station Local Re-Use Association and was a director of the Contra Costa County Historical Society for 10 years. He is the author of a new book of historical photographs published by Arcadia Press, "Images of America, BAY POINT, CALIFORNIA”
Dean’s presentation focused on historical documents that provide clues as to how the channel of Mt. Diablo Creek has been realigned and where Native Americans villages were once located. This is important information for identifying lands within the Naval Weapons Station that have culturally valuable assets which should be protected. The Navy is currently proposing to lease one site to the City of Concord for new ball fields. Based on his research, Dean is concerned that the site in question is more important than consultants hired by the Navy believe based on their investigation.
Since the end of the last ice age, sea level has risen 300 feet and the land beneath the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bays has been inundated. Since Bay and Delta regions are known to have been inhabited by ,000 BC, the rising waters most likely flooded Native American village sites.
Mount Diablo Creek was home to Native American tribes who were here at least by 200 BC and probably earlier. The lower elevations of Mt Diablo Creek Watershed were probably inhabited by Chupcan tribes, the higher elevations by Volvon tribes.
Within the Mt Diablo Ck Watershed and Concord Naval Weapons Station there is a bedrock milling station on what used to be the Bollman Ranch. Kids who grew up on the ranch prior to Navy’s acquisition of the land in WWII called the site “Indian rock”.
The site that Dean is working to protect is on Willow Pass Rd in Concord near Pixie Playland. It was part of the Maltby Ranch prior to acquisition for the Naval Weapons Station in WWII. In 1937, when the Maltby family filled in the remnant channel of Mt. Diablo Creek, an archaeologist collected arrowheads here. The material that was used to fill in the old creek channel was taken from the Indian mound. (Since Mt. Diablo Creek’s channel has changed, its watershed boundaries have changed also, and the Maltby Ranch site is now in Walnut Creek watershed rather than Mt. Diablo Creek watershed).
The earliest description of Contra Costa was written in 1772 as part of the Fages-Crespi expedition. The Anza expedition of 1776 describes natural features including a stream the Spanish called Santa Angela de Fulgino, which probably was Mt. Diablo Creek. Maps were drawn in 1776 and 1781.
Between 1804 and 1817 at least five Spanish forays were made into the valley. Because of Spanish raids the Chupcan villages were abandoned by 1804. The name Mount Diablo originates from a raid led by Peralta in 1804. The Native Americans escaped from the Spanish into the marshes around present day Pacheco. The Spanish called the site Monte del Diablo, or thicket of the devil. Later, English speaking residents assumed monte meant mountain and applied the name to the mountain.
In 1810 Gabriel Moraga and Father Jose Viader visited the abandoned Chupcan lands in Diablo Valley. They found “a spring next to a willow thicket, close to an inlet, where it was said was situated the village”. In 1817 description refers to a Christianized Chupcan village in the area.
In 1828 Salvio Pacheco petitioned the governor for permission to bring cattle and other livestock to the area. The map shows Mt. Diablo Creek originating from two large lagoons called “Lagunes de los Chupcanes”, or lakes of the Chupcans. An 1850 map by British explorer Frederick Beechey and later parties show that the lagoons were three feet deep.
By 1885 Contra Costa County had produced a detailed map. It shows Mt Diablo Creek flowing north from the mountain to join Walnut Creek approximately at Pacheco. Seal Creek starts in the Bay Point Hills, flowing along the current course of Mt Diablo Creek into Suisun Bay.
Though it is difficult to pinpoint when the creek’s channel was realigned, it probably occurred between the late 1890’s and 1937, when the part of the channel on the Maltby Ranch was filled. The first map showing a realigned creek is dated 1896 but some later maps show the original route.
Because the Chupcans rebuilt their villages many times, moving to nearby sites, the creek beds in the vicinity of the old Chupcan villages are potential sites for Native American artifacts. Based on his research, Dean believes that the Maltby Ranch was one of the most important sites, perhaps serving as a burial ground for 1000’s of years.

Presentation by Jessica Hamburger:
The Mt Diablo Creek Watershed Planning Group

Our second presentation was by Jessica Hamburger, Mt Diablo Ck watershed coordinator for the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District. Jessica will lead a two-year planning process that will produce a watershed management planning document for the Mt Diablo Creek Watershed. Watershed planning gives people and agencies with different interests and goals the opportunity to share information and ideas. Working together, we can find creative solutions that benefit everyone.
The planning process will be locally-led and decisions will be made by consensus. All actions identified in the plan for implementation will be voluntary rather than regulatory.

Benefits of watershed planning include:
o Seeing the big picture – there are many land uses and issues within the watershed.
o Proactively protecting resources before regulations are enforced
o Improving the chance of getting grants for restoration and educational projects

Issues that the group may choose to address include flood management, water pollution prevention, water supply and conservation, habitat conservation and restoration, and other watershed management activities.
The planning group is open to anyone who lives, works, or plays in the watershed who wants to conserve its natural resources. Some participants will represent agencies, business, or volunteer organizations, others will be residents.
The first public meeting will be held at the Farm Bureau Hall in Concord on Monday May 23 at 6:30 pm.
For more information, contact Jessica Hamburger at the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District, (925) 672-6522 x 118, or Jessica.Hamburger@ca.nacdnet.net