La Mesa Verde Program

The Authority helped to fund Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful’s Coyote Creek Environmental Education Project, which engages students, educators, and the public through Watershed-in-a-Box kits for K-12 students and public education events, such as walks, public presentations, and student-led art projects. The goal of the program is to build awareness and value of the creek environment so that people will become involved in advocacy and creek cleanups.

Measure Q funds will go towards Joseph George Middle School's Learning Lab/Community Garden, which will promote environmental education by expanding on an existing garden on the school's campus. Through apprenticeships, outside classroom lessons, and community meetings students, teachers, and parents in the Joseph George Middle School community will become more aware of environmental and land use issues. End results will include: improved student academic outcomes, increased knowledge and awareness of gardening and the environment for all involved constituencies, the beautification of the school campus and the neighborhood, and the introduction of freshly-grown produce into the diets of several families who currently live in a park-poor neighborhood within a food desert section of San Jose. Construction will begin in Spring 2018.

The Authority funded two phases of improvements for this 40-acres of open space along the Guadalupe River in Santa Clara, in 1999 and again in 2004. The projects included trail design and construction as well as removal of exotic plant species, revegetation, irrigation, and fence and gate improvements. The park now features native vegetation representing a variety of plant communities connected by a series of trails.