The Santa Maria River Riparian Habitat Enhancement Project, completed in 2008, consisted of planting willows along sections of the levee vulnerable to river erosion, thus helping to protect the levee while creating valuable riparian habitat. Grant funding for the project came from part of the UNOCAL Guadalupe settlement.

Have you seen this deceptively beautiful plant in your neighborhood, someone’s yard, a parking lot, or running along a sidewalk? It seems like a great drought tolerant plant…