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1) CREEKS AND POOLS AND WATERFALLS
On the internet
You can drag up many documents
That say that wet habitats are protected.
That's goofy. They're not!
You can completely demolish and utterly do away with streams
And brooks and seeping banks and marshy spots and ponds.
The proof is right here at UCSC.
No armchair theory about it!
The reality that wet habitats and places are NOT protected
Has now happened.
People predicted it all, said that it would happen, since
That extra water that used to sink into the soil (up above)
Was extra water that used to come out (down below).
Those wonderful wet banks beneath University House
That seeped and weeped all summer
And grew wonderful maidenhairs and stream violets
And a beautiful yellow trillium of unknown kind
Are dry.
They don't seep water anymore. Not even in winter!
And the moist spots in the meadow
That used to grow twisted stalks
Are dry.
And the little stream that flowed into the Lower Quarry
Is gone, even in winter, except for special sometimes,
When it can be a torrent.
And Cave Gulch had lots of water. The deer ferns
That grew on the wet cliffs on the UCSC side
Are gone.
There's no more summer water!
And the special marsh and pond
Above the north dam on Moore Creek
Are dry.
All those old wet habitats are gone or going fast.
Coincidence?
Nah! It took a long time for those wet habitats
To collect all those special plants.
There were lots of droughts.
The millennia went by. Now UCSC is on a spree.
That makes a new difference.
What it says on the internet about wetlands is a joke.
Wet habitats are NOT protected.
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