ABOUT FOLAW

Los Alamitos Creek flows from the flanks of Mount Umunhum to where it joins Guadalupe Creek just below Almaden Lake as the source of the Guadalupe River. That river carries on through San Jose to San Francisco Bay.

The watershed is the area sloping down to this creek which ranges from the slopes of the coastal range to the residential and businesses of Almaden Valley. It has both great beauty and history going back to native Americans and to the discovery of ore for the liquid metal mercury which was important to the development of civilization as we know it today.

FOLAW is a small community organization to celebrate the beauty and history of this region, to help with its beauty and quality through education and community service.

Activities

FOLAW organizes creek clean-up in the watershed, removing trash from the roadsides and stream banks. This is done both independently and in cooperation with other conservation organizations in the region.

We also have informational meetings on topics of interest about the watershed and issues affecting it. These range from presentations on the history and contributions of the region as well as other issues facing the community as they arise.

Recently we had our first community antique auction. The funds raised were to pay for our incorporation as an educational non-profit organization and for our modest running expenses. This is a volunteer activity with no one getting paid.

Mercury

A significant element in our heritage comes from the rich deposits of mercury in the coastal range which were first discovered in our watershed and mined from the early 1840s to 1975. Mercury is not unique to this site. It deposited in cracks and joints in the broken rock throughout the region. Most of it was long gone before mankind discovered it, having been eroded away as the coastal mountains built up and deposited in the soil throughout the region, particularly in the valleys. Mercury has served mankind for at lease the past 3500 years. This liquid metal has many uses from percussion caps that set off bullets to medicines and electric lamps including the compact fluorescent lights which deliver more than five times the illumination as incandescent lamps using the same energy.

Mercury is also a toxic substance in certain chemical forms. Fortunately, the mercury in our environment is a very stable sulfide callec cinnabar. It is highly stable chemically, which is why it has remained in the deposits in our environment. There is more on this including a discussion of efforts to remove the mercury from the environment through a process called a TMDL, which is a Total Maximum Daily Load that is allow to be emitted. This all is discussed in the section called Mercury.