About Us A closer look

The Arcade Creek Project started as a result of the International Baccalaureate Program coming to Mira Loma High School. In this highly accelerated program, students are required to take IB Biology, IB Physics or IB Environmental Science. Furthermore, they are required to complete a school-wide, student-coordinated field project within the local community that integrates the different science courses taught in school. The students and their instructors therefore began studying nearby Arcade Creek, a beautiful neighborhood waterway that runs year-round just north of Mira Loma.

Today, the Creek Project is in its sixth year, and it has grown from encompassing seven components to eleven - eight research studies, a restoration group, an outreach group and a data analysis group.

Vertebrate census ("Vertebrate")

Biological assessment of the benthic fauna ("Bio assessment")

Botanical survey ("Botany")

Biological assay using the introduced Corbicula clams and the crustacea, Ceriodaphnia ("Bio assay")

Mapping components both in the stream and along the riparian corridor ("Long mapping")

Habitat assessment ("Habitat")

Sediment analysis ("Sediment")

Water chemistry analysis ("Chem")

Data analysis ("Data")

Outreach

Restoration

All eight studies collect their data from each of six randomly chosen sites along the creek, starting above American River College and continuing down to the Hagen Oaks Golf Course. Students work under the direction of trained senior and junior leaders after school. While protocols for each study were developed specifically for the project, students have recieved training from a variety of agencies ranging from federal (U.S. E.P.A., U.S. Fish and Game, and U.S. Geologic Survey) to local (Sacramento County Storm Water Monitoring and Urban Creeks Council). In addition, the project recieves support from the University of California at Davis, the California State University in Sacramento, and American River College. Volunteers from local conservation and natural history groups (Audubon Society and the California Native Plant Society) have also been helpful in assisting students, especially in native/exotic plant taxonomy and vertebrate identification. This collaboration with the community has made the project particularly comprehensive.

Politics and government have also played an important role in the creek project. A large section of the watershed feeding into the creek was almost sold to another local philanthropic group (they were planning on turning it into a parking lot). Because Mira Loma students had been running ecological surveys on this watershed parcel, they knew its importance to adjacent wetlands. Accordingly, they undertook a massive letter writing campaign and brought City Council members to the site to explain its importance. This political part of the process added a new dimension to the project. At this juncture, the proposed parking lot has been put on long term hold, and it seems that the students' work has paid off.

This year, there are high hopes for the creek project. Our goal is to synthesize the data we've collected over the years to develop a clear picture of the creek's past and predict its future. More in-depth study of vertebrates and more restoration work are also on the agenda.