With the contributions of our supporters, Friends of Orinda Creeks enjoyed a full year in 2025 advancing our goals and seeking higher levels of access, protection, and enhancement of the beautiful San Pablo Creek watershed.

We are grateful to our many community volunteers, including Girl Scout troops 30573, 30811, and 832G, Boys Team Charity – Walnut Creek, dedicated parents, and their leaders, who worked weekends at the creek this past year. Braving the elements, they picked up trash (including a mattress) from the creek banks and trail, pulled many invasive weeds such as French broom, spread mulch on the trail, and planted and watered native plants. Earlier, Eagle Scout Charlie Watters of Troup 237 and Eagle Candidate Romir Ahuja of Troup 888 built and installed durable stairs and railing to enable visitors to access the full length of the creek trail.

Friends of Orinda Creeks maintains big goals for 2026 and beyond. In addition to improving access and advancing creek restoration, FOC continues to pursue the following objectives.

• Reintroduction of Rainbow Trout: Rainbow trout were common in San Pablo Creek until 1980. In fact, board member Reg Barrett used to rush out of school to cast for them in the Orinda Village as recently as the 1950s! Although they disappeared above San Pablo Reservoir by the 1990s, they persist in local watersheds such as Upper San Leandro Creek, Redwood Creek and Wildcat Creek (which was repopulated with trout by East Bay Regional Parks in the 1990s). Friends of Orinda Creeks and East Bay Municipal Utility District are proposing in partnership to reintroduce native rainbow trout to San Pablo Creek by 2026. Friends is so grateful to EBMUD for its support and dedication to this important restoration initiative, and we look forward to working together to bring back the trout!
• Protecting and Expanding Public Access to the Creek: Recission of the Downtown Precise Plan due to litigation effectively terminated the City's official expression of downtown creek access and restoration. However, Friends remains committed to advancing those goals and is working with the City to adopt the creek and trail related policies and plans expressed in that document. This would include, among other things, formalizing the trail, reopening the now-closed accessway adjacent to the Post Office and generally enhancing the visitors' experience along the creek.
• Stream Monitoring: Friends installed the first streamflow monitoring gauge in Orinda Village in 2022. We continue to collect streamflow and water quality data from throughout San Pablo Creek, thereby increasing our understanding of the health of the entire San Pablo Creek watershed. We continue to partner with The Watershed Project to install water quality monitoring devices elsewhere in the watershed to establish habitat suitability for aquatic life. This information will help support our proposal to reintroduce rainbow trout. Get your fly rods ready!
• Creek Cleanups: Creeks need love! For over 25 years FOC has been leading the charge to clean up our creeks. We organize two main cleanup events a year - one in the Spring (Earth Day) and one in the Fall (Coastal Cleanup Day), in addition to weekly cleanups throughout the year. Literally tons of litter and debris have been picked up by various group, student, and individual volunteers. This year was no different. Please refer to "Events" in this website's menu to read more about past and future clean ups. And big thanks to the many volunteers who join us each year for this important job!
• Fish Passage Improvement: Fish and streams both need room to move, and providing unimpaired access up and downstream is essential to their health. Friends of Orinda Creeks continues to work closely with EBMUD on clearing debris blocking the SP-201 dam located just upstream from the Bear Creek Road bridge over San Pablo Creek (near the Wagner Ranch Nature Area). A clear passageway at the base of the dam allows fish and other aquatic life easy upstream/downstream passage. A family of river otters lives in the creek just below the dam. We appreciate EBMUD's efforts to maintain this outdated structure until we can arrive at an agreed upon modification that provides adequate fish passage.
• Trout In the Classroom: Can you imagine watching young trout hatch in front of a group of excited schoolchildren? We can! Friends of Orinda Creeks and the Orinda Union School District launched the highly popular Classroom Aquarium Education Program two years ago with the support of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Diablo Valley Fly Fishers and, of course, one of the best science teachers in the world, Debra Jockisch. We are grateful for the leadership of our local teachers, the volunteers at DVFF, and CDFW for supporting this program! We are currently seeking additional teachers and volunteers to maintain and expand this program in the Orinda Union School District.
• Fourth of July Parade: FOC was again proud to participate in Orinda's famous Fourth of July parade in 2025, marching with our mascot The Frog, and helping to bring awareness of our watershed creeks and the importance of keeping them healthy and clean.
• Volunteers Needed! Friends is always in need of volunteers to help advance our goals. Whether your passion is stewarding our native plant areas, taking on a special project, attending City Council meetings, or serving on our board, we need you! We welcome our newest board members, including first-ever youth representative Evie Napolitan-Ito!

Your tax-deductible donations are essential to helping us further these projects and continue our community outreach and education. Members are invited to our semi-annual creek cleanup days and are encouraged to regularly visit this website to keep informed about our activities and projects, and provide comments and suggestions.