Groundwork San Diego-Chollas Creek

Watershed InfrastructurePlanning, design, and construction of community-driven climate resilience projectscontinue to be a central component of Groundworks work in the Chollas Creek Watershed. One of only a select group of NGOs approved to deliver capital projects approved to improve City assets, Groundwork has generated over $11.2M in funding to restore and transform Chollas Creek and support its neighborhoods by advancing climate-resilient parks; active transportation bikeways; expanded tree canopies. These projects aim to reconnect communities through climate-resilient infrastructure and honor the Kumeyaay history in the watershed through cultural signage.EducationThe Groundwork EarthLab Educators deliver place-based learning experiences and projects during the school day, after school, and in the summer to over 1500 K-12 youth of the San Diego Unified School Districts Lincoln Cluster. The Experiential Early Learning Program provided students with outdoor STEAM education that increased understanding of ecological dynamics affecting their community. The Middle School project-based learnn program empowered students in grades 68 to tackle real-world, local climate action topics through interdisciplinary projects, such as reimagining their neighborhood as climate-resilient, implementing sustainable urban agriculture, and utilizing blue-green infrastructure to prevent flooding and increase access to green spaces. The Green Team Leadership Development Internship provide a year-long program focused on youth leadership, advocacy, and climate action. With the addition of a hydroponic farm at the EarthLab this year, our educators have added projects that inform students on the nexus between climate impacts and food production along with education about of the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables. Climate-safe NeighborhoodsThe Chollas Creek Watershed exemplifies compounded impacts of historic environmentalinjustice and redlining. Creek channelization and freeway construction has dividedneighborhoods, displacing hundreds of families and businesses, particularly BIPOCresidents who had rare opportunities for property ownership in Southeastern SanDiego. With the launch of the Chollas Blue Green Collaborative, composed of residents, landowners, planning agencies, regulators, developers, and industry leaders, a comprehensive Chollas Blue Green Vision for the watershed infrastructure was created. The Vision enshrines the Collaboratives recommended constellation of multi-benefit nature-based solutions/typologies that match the complexity of the watersheds climate challenges and opportunities to build resilience. The document guides and empowers the community and public decision-makers in capital project development to combat extreme weather events in the watershed.