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Creeks - Creekside Living
THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS will assist creekside property owners, creek lovers, and others in caring for Oakland's riparian areas. (For documents to help property owners comply with the City's Creek Ordinance, see the How to Comply section.)
NEW! "Creeks 101" is an educational slide show outlining what is a creek, why creeks are important, and the beneficial and deleterious impacts of different types of development on creeks.
| if your creek came with instructions... | ||
| Name of Document click on name to download (printing hints below table) |
Description | format |
| Don't Plant a Pest | Information about invasive plant species and recommended alternative plants to plant in your yard or garden. | |
| Vegetation Management DOs and DON'Ts for Creekside and Sensitive Parcels | available in English, Spanish (Manejo de Vegetación Sensible al Medio Ambiente), Chinese ( |
.doc for English; .pdf for other languages |
| Native Plants | native plants species common to Oakland creeks | |
| Fire Wise Native Plants | to help you choose plants | .doc |
| Recommendations for Ecologically Sensitive Fire Abatement | Vegetation Management Practices | .doc |
| Fire Season Notice | Oakland Fire Department fire prevention tips | |
| Hiring Professionals | tips for hiring professional firms for larger projects | |
| Firms Known to Use Bio-Engineering Techniques | Consulting and contracting firms known to use bio-engineering techniques in erosion control, creek restoration and bank stabilization projects | |
| Using Plants to Stabilize Creek Banks | instructions with diagrams of effective stabilization techniques | |
| Adopt-a-Creek | instructions for participating in Adopt-a-Creek volunteer program | .html |
| Links to Publications on Other Websites | ||
| Name of Publication | Description | Other Info |
| Dodder Alert! | Information about new highly-invasive plant pest that has appeared in the Bay area within the last year. | link |
| Bay-Friendly Gardening and Landscaping | Web page on stopwaste.org website with information and resources for sustainable gardening and landscaping practices. | link |
| Oakland Museum's "Guide to East Bay Creeks" | A book providing information on science, history, conservation, and recreation | by phone/mail, $5 |
| Oakland Museum's Creek & Watershed Map of Oakland & Berkeley | Find your neighborhood creek, and learn about your watershed | by phone/mail, $7 |
| Alameda Countywide Clean Water Program | a variety of free instructional publications for residents, businesses, etc. | download from that site |
| City of Oakland Recycling Program | free publications for residents, businesses, etc. | order from that site |
Printing Hints
- .pdf Documents provided in.pdf format must be viewed and printed using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- .doc Documents in Word format can be opened with your word processing program (Word, WordPerfect, etc.)
- .html HTML (web-based) documents will open right up, and can be printed from your browser.

