Most people don’t know where their water comes from or how it gets to where they live. One water agency is working to change that.
East Bay Municipal Utility District’s (EBMUD’s) headquarters in Oakland has become a base for water-focused education, with water district employees partnering with nonprofits and local schools to share information about water delivery, fisheries operations, and protecting the Mokelumne River and its watershed. EBMUD creates a regular “stream” of messages, materials, and programs that reach thousands of TK-12 public school students and their teachers, as well as communities in the Mokelumne Watershed.
EBMUD’s sharing of information from Sierra Nevada mountain towns west to the East Bay has resulted in the creation of common ground, centered on the use of water from the Mokelumne River. The sharing of information has created a starting point to initiate conversations, engage in conservation, and act as advocates for fish and natural environments.
Background on the Mokelumne River Watershed
The Mokelumne watershed is centered around the Mokelumne River. This 95-mile-long river flows west from headwaters high on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The Mokelumne River ultimately empties into the San Joaquin River. There are 16 water impoundments along the Mokelumne River. These are areas where water is collected in an artificial reservoir behind a dam.
Mokelume River Watershed. Image: Stewardship Through Education
EBMUD brings water from the Mokelumne watershed reservoirs through three long pipes called the Mokelumne Aqueduct to the East Bay. The first primary reservoir that EBMUD uses to store water is Pardee Reservoir near Ione, with a capacity of 203,795 acre-feet. The Pardee Reservoir is in the Sierra Nevada foothills approximately 90 miles east of the Bay Area. The second major reservoir is Camanche Reservoir, with a capacity of 417,120 acre-feet, and with its dam located 5 miles downstream of Pardee Reservoir. Camanche’s North Shore is near Ione and its South Shore is near Valley Springs. Camanche stores water for use in San Joaquin County and operates for flood control.
EBMUD also stores local runoff in several East Bay reservoirs to ensure there is enough water for customers in case of an emergency. During the dry season, EBMUD backfills these reservoirs with water from the Mokelumne watershed.
In addition, EBMUD has a contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for a supplemental water supply from the Sacramento River for up to 100 million gallons per day (MGD). EBMUD considers using this supplemental supply in a dry year.
EBMUD brings water to over 1.4 million people in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. It serves cities from Richmond to San Leandro, parts of a few other cities, like Hayward and San Ramon, and certain unincorporated areas.
One of the critical components to ensure the survival of populations of Chinook salmon and steelhead trout in the Mokelumne River is the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery. The hatchery, owned by EBMUD and operated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), is located in Clements, downstream of Camanche Dam. The hatchery is necessary because Camanche Dam blocks the upstream passage of Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. Before Camanche Dam was completed in 1963, fish would travel and spawn farther upstream. Now, returning fish can only travel in the Mokelumne River as far east as Camanche Dam.
The role of EBMUD’s Outreach and Education staff
Starting in 2023, EBMUD decided to ramp up its education and outreach efforts. In the past two years, it has made many contacts with schools and communities. It is now serving communities at a higher capacity than it did a decade ago.
“EBMUD had a robust education program in the 1990s. With dedicated staff and even a mascot. But over the course of 30 years, budget cuts led to programs becoming dormant. In 2023, the District decided to revamp its education and outreach program to make a bigger impact,” said Kathyrn Horn, Senior Community Affairs Representative for EBMUD.
As of 2025, EBMUD’s education resources include:
- High school field trips to the Orinda Water Treatment Plant. This facility, which can treat 200 MGD, is the largest of EBMUD’s six water treatment plants.
- 5th grade water education field trips to the Orinda Water Treatment Plant.
- School assemblies, in which EBMUD staff come to schools and speak about watershed stewardship, pollution prevention, and water conservation.
- Science fairs, in which students compete for an “Excellence in Water and Wastewater Research Award.” These take place in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
- Lesson plans and teaching materials. These include the “Salmon Splashbook,” an educational workbook that explains the role of the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery and the journey of salmon migration.
- Virtual tours, webinars, and videos, all available online. One of these is the Water Wednesday webinar series, which covers a variety of topics, including the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery. This series started in March 2020.
- Salmon in the Classroom, an interactive program regarding the life stages of salmon, for 1st grade through 12th grade. Teachers who want to take the lesson a step further can also participate in the Classroom Aquarium Education Program (CAEP), a program of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. This program involves students raising salmon from eggs to fry in aquariums. Some teachers take the students to release salmon yearlings into local waterways.
- Encouragement of high school students to participate in EBMUD’s internships and training programs. This encourages the students to pursue careers in water management, habitat restoration and research, and wastewater services.
- Water Walks at various EBMUD facilities and within the watershed. These are open to the public and are held at different facilities every year.
- Community Water Academy (CWA), a five-day course centered in the East Bay. Between 25 to 30 members of the public attend to learn more about EBMUD and its operations. Day 4 of the CWA involves a full-day tour to Pardee Reservoir, the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery, and EBMUD’s aqueducts.
EBMUD engages in outreach and education with schools and residents in the Sierra Nevada foothills, Delta cities like Lodi and Stockton, and the East Bay. This is why students in Lodi and Oakland sometimes engage in the same programs and receive the same information. Teachers may choose to add local information to lessons and activities.
Cities and school districts in the Mokelumne Watershed may choose to develop their own programs which relate to EBMUD’s education and outreach. These are not developed by EBMUD directly. EBMUD may share information and resources to help other entities.
“A lot of students get really interested in the job of a fish biologist. They want to know how EBMUD’s research team tracks salmon as they leave the Mokelumne River and go out through the Benicia Bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge. We show them what technology we use, such as acoustic tags on the fish and tracking devices for the biologists,” said Mary Campbell, Community Affairs Representative for EBMUD.
EBMUD shows students that data drives the work of the biologists. With the different sets of numbers, EBMUD can determine how quickly individual and groups of released juvenile salmon move. For example, they can measure the time it takes for these salmon to travel from the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery to the Benicia Bridge, and what percentage make it at all.
EBMUD also does a great deal of teacher training.
“Eighty-seven teachers across the region chose to be part of the Salmon in the Classroom program in 2024, adding something truly special to their annual curriculum. These educators dedicate significant time to the process, from building and maintaining their classroom tanks to learning how to care for salmon eggs as they grow into fry. Many attend hands-on training sessions at the hatchery after school and participate in online classes led by fish biologists to deepen their understanding,” said Campbell.
In the East Bay, EBMUD’s 5th grade field trip program is very popular.
“Students get to know the East Bay watershed well. They test water quality, learn about where their drinking water comes from, and develop a sense of stewardship about fish,” said Christine Byrne, Community Affairs Representative III for EBMUD.
EBMUD also strengthens community connections by engaging with neighbors throughout the Mokelumne River watershed. Pardee Recreation Area, located at Pardee Reservoir, is the site for EBMUD’s annual BBQ. This event brings together stakeholders from the upcountry region and the East Bay.
“This gathering is an opportunity to celebrate partnerships, share updates on watershed and recreation efforts, and honor the many individuals and organizations who help protect and sustain the resources that connect these communities,” said Byrne.
In 2025, close to 200 people came to the BBQ.
In addition, EBMUD teaches East Bay communities about its work through signs at science-oriented institutions, including the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, the Lindsay Wildlife Center in Walnut Creek, and the Oakland Zoo. The signs explain how EBMUD delivers and treats water, and explain the need for stewardship and conservation.
A visit to Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery. Image: EBMUD
Linden High School students lead a field trip for 5th grade students from Dent Elementary School of Escalon Unified School District in December 2025. They are looking at the water near the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery in Clements. Image: San Joaquin County Office of Education
Students with EBMUD’s “Salmon Splashbook.” Image: EBMUD
A new project completed in October 2025
One of the exciting aspects of working at outreach and education at EBMUD is determining how to share information about new projects. This is currently underway with regard to a recent effort by EBMUD called the Tomato Stand Fish Passage Project (Tomato Stand).
Tomato Stand is located along Pinole Creek in Pinole. The town is in an unincorporated part of Contra Costa County. The project involves removing a corrugated metal culvert and associated concrete and rock riprap from the creek. EBMUD installed a new 50-foot channel-spanning bridge in the same spot, as well as new concrete abutments outside the creek channel. EBMUD added protection for the rock slope next to the abutments, under the bridge.
EBMUD also graded approximately 150 feet of stream channel to create a gradually sloped natural creek bottom. In the near future, EBMUD will plant approximately 400 native riparian plants in the area.
Tomato Stand will improve the creek and riparian habitat and remove a barrier to fish passage. This will provide access to 1.4 miles of spawning and rearing habitat for California Central Coast steelhead.
As of late October, the channel and bridge are nearly complete in time for higher creek flows and fish migrations expected with winter rains.
Feedback from schools and educators
Mary Anne Garamendi, Education Consultant for Stewardship Through Education
Garamendi is an educator with Stewardship Through Education (STE), an organization under the Mother Lode Land Trust. The Mother Lode Land Trust is a Jackson, Calif.-based nonprofit that protects foothill lands from urbanization and development.
“STE was started in 2005 in order to create outdoor opportunities for students in grades K-12 in their watersheds. The success of the program has been in the building of relationships with community partners and the schools,” said Garamendi.
Through the building of community partners, STE staff created programs to take upcountry students to over 30 different field trip sites in four counties. These field trips help students learn the importance of stewarding their watersheds.
One of STE’s valuable partners has been the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority (UMRWA). URMWA is a joint powers authority composed of six water agencies, EBMUD, Calaveras County Water District, Calaveras Public Utility District, Amador Water Agency, Jackson Valley Irrigation District, Alpine Water District, and the counties of Calaveras, Amador, and Alpine. Over the past 20 years, UMRWA and other partners have provided STE the community resources to bridge a relationship to the schools. This has allowed thousands of students to experience the watershed as an outdoor lab.
“Many of these programs have a service project component to the field trip. Such as willow planting, meadow restoration, building quail habitat, cleaning shorelines, trail clearing, and hatching and caring for salmon and rainbow trout in the classroom. Through service, students develop ownership, and thereby, stewardship,” said Garamendi.
Garamendi added that these programs increase awareness that every person and every thing is connected in maintaining a healthy and sustainable watershed.
“As a decades-long, and now retired, teacher, I know it is wonderful to have a place to go on a field trip. The biggest barrier is the cost of bussing to get the students there. Grants from the partners and community organizations continue to make the field trips possible,” said Garamendi.
In the future, Garamendi would like to see “exchange opportunities” for lower and upper watershed students. This would help them understand the importance of stewardship and working together for a healthy watershed.
Kathy Grant, Watershed Program Coordinator for the City of Lodi
Kathy Grant has been the City of Lodi’s Watershed Program Coordinator for over 25 years. Through the Lower Mokelumne Partnership, which includes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, CDFW, and EBMUD, EBMUD supports many City of Lodi watershed programs.
These include Storm Drain Detectives, an effort between teachers, students, and community members. The group monitors the Mokelumne River’s water quality twice monthly at different spots where the city’s stormwater enters the river. The Lower Mokelumne Partnership has also funded the “Meet Your Watershed” videos, a collection of videos about the Mokelumne River. The City of Lodi’s Watershed Program produced these videos in conjunction with an independent filmmaker and WGR Southwest.
One of Grant’s projects is The Mokelumne Current, an online and print newspaper that comes out every May. The paper contains stories, illustrations, puzzles, and games about Chinook salmon and other native species in the Mokelumne River. EBMUD funds many of the field trips that inspire the content which students create.
The top story in The Mokelumne Current’s issue for May 2025. Image: Watershed Program, City of Lodi
The Mokelumne Current showcases students who raise and release salmon. Image: Watershed Program, City of Lodi
Grant said The Mokelumne Current is minimally edited. She serves as the project lead. Kyla Cathey, a writer, editor, and page designer from the Lodi News-Sentinel, Lodi’s weekly newspaper, is the paginator and editor.
The City of Lodi distributes 12,000 copies of The Mokelumne Current to all Lodi Unified School Districts schools, for classes in grades 2 through 12. The Mokelumne Current is also inserted into the Lodi News-Sentinel’s weekly paper.
Teachers may assign students to read The Mokelumne Current. Many students have never read a newspaper. This publication is sometimes their first experience with one.
“They love seeing themselves and friends in print,” said Grant.
Grant says funding from the Lower Mokelumne Partnership helps develop students’ understanding and allows them to create better artwork and articles.
“They learn and observe what they are shown. Teacher support for watershed education is critical,” said Grant.
Grant has learned from reviewing past issues of The Mokelumne Current that the best student writing and art is made possible by committed teachers. These teachers depend on support from watershed grants, which fund field trips to the San Francisco Bay, the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery during spawning, and other relevant points of interest in the Mokelumne River watershed.
In summer 2025, a Lodi High School student who was a former writer for The Mokelumne Current as well as a former Storm Drain Detective made a big decision, to intern for EBMUD.
“He worked with scientists in the river, conducting fish surveys. He was thrilled!” said Grant.
Kristine Stepping, Environmental Literacy Coordinator of the Durham Ferry Outdoor Education Center. This Center is owned and operated by the San Joaquin County Office of Education.
Kristine Stepping is the Environmental Literacy Coordinator for the Durham Ferry Outdoor Education Center in Manteca. The Center is a hub for STEM and environmental exploration. It is owned and operated by the San Joaquin County Office of Education (SJCOE).
In recent years, SJCOE has partnered with EBMUD to strengthen opportunities to educate students and teachers about the Mokelumne River watershed and Chinook salmon.
“EBMUD has provided educational materials and technical support for high school students who led field trips at the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery. This connected classroom learning to real-world restoration work,” said Stepping.
EBMUD staff have also joined SJCOE educator events to share their expertise about river ecology, water management, and salmon life cycles. This included a session during SJCOE’s educator kayak tour on the Mokelumne River.
This year, SJCOE is excited to have EBMUD presenters lead talks for educators that will be focused on salmon population restoration efforts on the Mokelumne River, with an in-person visit for educators and juvenile salmon acoustic monitoring. EBMUD also shares data related to salmon with educators in CDFW’s North Central Region. Further, EBMUD shares videos and resources for classes.
Over time, educators who learn from programs that involve EBMUD build up “layered knowledge” about the Mokelumne and San Joaquin River systems and Chinook salmon life cycles and migration patterns. They also come to better understand the complex interactions between water management, habitat restoration, and human impacts.
“Many have deepened their understanding of topics like water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and river flow. They can now connect those scientific concepts to local conservation efforts and California’s broader water systems,” said Stepping.
Stepping is especially enthusiastic about the Classroom Aquarium Education Program. She said this gives students and teachers a depth of local connection and hands-on understanding that few other programs provide.
“Students develop a real sense of stewardship and curiosity that comes from working directly with living organisms and observing natural systems up close, not just learning about them from a textbook,” said Stepping.
The CAEP program creates a bridge between classroom learning and real-world environmental management.
“Teachers and students gain access to authentic data, restoration stories, and site visits guided by experts. This helps them understand both the ecological and civic dimensions of resource stewardship. Over the years, we’ve seen educators grow from introducing salmon as a life science unit to integrating it into Next Generation Science Standards-aligned watershed studies, civic engagement projects, and student-led restoration and monitoring activities,” said Stepping.
The Next Generation Science Standards are a set of K-12 science content standards adopted by 26 states. They give students a deeper grasp of information relating to science and applications for this knowledge.
SJCOE’s main challenges for working with EBMUD are logistical. They include coordinating the care of aquarium tanks, transporting teachers and students for field trips, and timing field trips during busy school months.
“A few teachers also mention that the science content can feel advanced at first. They appreciate the support and resources that help them grow into it,” said Stepping.
SJCOE would like to see EBMUD continue expanding opportunities for educators to visit the Mokelumne River watershed firsthand. This could mean more site visits, sharing of data, and short virtual updates during key migration periods for salmon.
“Providing simplified classroom tools or visuals that connect real monitoring data to student activities would also help teachers integrate the content more easily,” said Stepping.
SJCOE’s collaborations with EBMUD involve a network of partners, including Restore the Delta, a Stockton-based nonprofit that aims to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery, the City of Lodi, Lodi Unified School District, the City of Stockton, the City of Manteca, Delta Fly Fishers, STE, San Joaquin County Public Works, and other individuals and groups that share their time and resources.
“It truly takes a community to sustain these meaningful outdoor learning opportunities,” said Stepping.
The role of EBMUD’s Department of Natural Resources
Michelle Workman, manager of EBMUD’s Department of Natural Resources, is responsible for an important balancing act. She must ensure EBMUD can meet the water supply needs of customers in the East Bay. She also has to provide for recreation on watershed lands and protect and enhance the environment.
Workman has extensive experience as a fish biologist. This has been key to the success of EBMUD’s salmon and steelhead program. Workman’s background helps her convey the importance of this work to the public.
“We (EBMUD) work collaboratively with CDFW at the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery on salmon spawning, tagging and release strategies. A lot goes into having a successful hatchery,” said Workman.
EBMUD and CDFW’s collaboration assists in maximizing fish returns and optimizing hatchery processes to support California’s Chinook salmon and steelhead populations.
EBMUD aims to ensure that smolt-to-adult returns are as high as possible, and adult fish straying away from release sites is as low as possible. This results in a lot of fish making it out to the ocean. It also helps with high returns of adult fish ready to spawn returning back to the Mokelumne River.
“We conduct acoustic tag studies, surgically implanted tags on juvenile fish released in the river, that help us collect data on fish migrating out of the Mokelumne River and going through the Delta and through the Golden Gate. That’s how we make assessments of where mortality is happening for young fish,” said Workman.
EBMUD also engages in a great deal of habitat restoration.
“One of the most important messages we want to get across is there’s a difference between what happens in the hatchery and what happens in the river. Both sets of activities are significant,” said Workman.
EBMUD puts gravel in the river, to replace natural gravel that would have washed down into the river if no dams were in place. This gives female fish a place to build their redds, their nests for the eggs. EBMUD also manages the available water in the reservoirs in ways that benefit the fish.
Since EBMUD has limited storage in the reservoirs, the runoff from the Mokelumne River usually allows EBMUD some flexibility.
“We have required base flows, but we can add pulses of water strategically to enhance either juvenile outmigration or adult returns,” said Workman.
EBMUD’s Department of Natural Resources and Outreach and Education staff work together to engage the public. This helps people understand what it takes to protect the watershed and support a healthy fishery.
“While managing water supplies innovatively to support fish and the environment, EBMUD is still constrained. We are not the only water user on the Mokelumne River. We must balance our needs and supplies with those of others. Even the water that comes out of Camanche Dam is obligated for multiple beneficial uses,” said Workman.
EBMUD is a public, not-for-profit agency that generates most of its revenue from ratepayers through water sales and wastewater (sewage) treatment, and, separately, the sale of hydroelectric power. It also receives some funding through property taxes and system capacity charges.
Most of EBMUD’s fish-related projects are jointly funded by EBMUD and other entities. For example, the federal government, through the federal legislation of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, has in the past provided the money for gravel used in river habitat restoration projects. EBMUD has also received specific federal grants from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and state funds through the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR)..
Currently, EBMUD is working with DWR on an acoustic tagging study of hatchery salmon and steelhead trout. EBMUD receives matching funds from DWR on this effort.
“We budget within EBMUD’s Department of Natural Resources to initiate these programs and keep them staffed. We are always looking for ways to collaborate with partner agencies to increase the impact of our work,” said Workman.
Andrea Pook, Senior Public Information Representative for EBMUD, said the district’s Public Affairs office seeks to elevate all of the effort by Workman’s team.
“It’s about getting people in touch with the river and the fish. It’s a matter of instilling a sense of wonder. We hope that by building understanding we will also create a sense of empowerment and inspire them to become water stewards,” said Pook.
She added that this outcome is worth all the work, from the habitat restoration and data collection to the school field trips and in-class discussions.
“Kids light up as they start to understand what this is all about,” said Pook.