The City of San Luis Obispo is working with the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County and private landowners to remove invasive plants from San Luis Obispo Creek ahead of the rainy season.
"It grows 30 feet high, and as you'll see around us in different areas, the clumps get bigger and bigger and bigger and it excludes native vegetation," explained Jon Hall, Stewardship Director for the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County.
Arundo donax looks a lot like bamboo and it can be found all along San Luis Obispo Creek.
"It really causes big flooding concern and it erodes stream banks next to it, and it's a fire hazard," Hall added.
Removal is happening along a portion of the creek that runs almost parallel to Highway 101 near Los Osos Valley Road and Higuera Street.
Hall says they've been working to remove the plant from the creek area since 1999.
"We come in, we cut all the canes, remove that biomass, wait for it to regrow about three feet high. Then we come in and we use wildlife-friendly formulations of herbicides," Hall said.
Working on this project for the past 25 years, conservationist Kiva Vigil trains California Conservation Corps members on how to do the job.
"Learning how to start a chainsaw, to fell a tree, to build a trail, to work alongside of the freeway, and also be a part of the team," Vigil explained.
Monday was the first day of the project this year.
Hall says they start the job around the middle to end of August every year in order to spray the herbicides at a time when the plant is sending all its resources to the roots.
This kills the plant faster and is outside of flood and bird nesting seasons.
He adds that there is always a comprehensive check of the ecosystem before work begins to ensure no native wildlife are hurt.
"We did bird surveys a week prior and found no nest nearby, and any other type of surveys was like the California red-legged frogs, which a certified biologist did that, and no frogs were found," said Francisco Gomez, Land Conservancy of SLO County Field Supervisor.
"We continue every year to survey the whole creek and look for new populations that show up and we re-treat or we survey all the previously treated populations," Hall said.
The removal of Arundo donax will continue through Thursday.
The herbicide spraying phase will begin on September 16.
Hall says that he and his team expect to continue working on this project for about 10 more years.
