Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

Purpose: Serving as Centers of Community Engagement The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (SBBG) has a unique opportunity to create an environmental education program using the natural resources of the Lake Casitas reservoir area in Ventura County. The Lake Casitas Watershed Education Program (LCWEP) will serve as a vital component of a larger, integrated, experimental SBBG program, Summit to the Sea, which is intended to encompass all aspects of watershed education, from headwaters to tailwaters. Educational programs-initially created for fourth, fifth, and sixth grades-will be based on aquatic and terrestrial ecological and natural history-based themes. Programs will focus on issues such as the importance of water to California, water as a limiting resource, and the relationship of watersheds to human welfare, and will introduce crucial associated environmental issues. The aquatic portion of the program will be delivered by education specialists aboard a "floating classroom"-an electric-powered 50-passenger vessel. The terrestrial portion will consist of naturalist-led or self-guided trail hikes into the contiguous plant communities. Ultimately, LCWEP will engage the larger community by functioning as a hub that draws volunteers, community leaders, schools, local government agencies, and others to provide opportunities for service learning and community awareness concerning the quality of life in relation to this valuable watershed.