Where Water Flows, Community Grows
The Basins of Relations (BoR) Training Program strives to launch the careers of the next generation of environmental justice advocates, water protectors, and land stewards, providing essential training that supports Richmond’s transition to a green-collar workforce. Through educational sessions in the classroom and at local creek sites, the program provides paid job training, rebuilds relationships between the Richmond community and the natural resources that sustain us, improves representation of BIPOC and frontline voices in environmental stewardship work, and contributes to hands-on creek restoration projects that nourish the most essential elements of a healthy community.
In Richmond, creeks like Wildcat, Cerrito, Codornices, San Pablo, and Garrity connect ecosystems, neighborhoods, and communities. The BoR Training Program trains local residents to care for these waterways, giving them the skills to restore habitats, monitor water quality, and build careers rooted in environmental justice.
From September through December 2025, eight West County apprentices completed the 15-week paid apprenticeship, gaining knowledge, technical skills, and hands-on experience to launch careers in environmental stewardship and watershed management.
A 15-Week Curriculum Rooted in Place
Over the course of the apprenticeship, participants built upon their inherent knowledge of local ecosystems while developing technical expertise and a deeper understanding of watershed systems. Classroom sessions covered ecology and hydrology, river and sediment dynamics, the politics of water and water access, environmental justice and land inequity, and Indigenous land stewardship practices. Apprentices also studied the flora and fauna of the San Francisco Bay Area, relationship-based restoration, green stormwater infrastructure, water conservation technologies, renewable energy, biodiversity, permaculture, water-conscious farming practices, and Richmond history and its environmental context. They explored how water moves through natural and urban systems, how development has reshaped local waterways, and how restoration can strengthen climate resilience and environmental equity.
“I loved that this program is taking place in North Richmond. I feel like I’ve learned a lot and took a lot from this program. I knew literally nothing about watershed before taking this internship. I always heard about Wildcat Creek but never been there and never knew the role it plays in the community.” —2025 Graduate
From Classroom to Creek
The program emphasizes learning by doing. Classroom concepts were immediately applied in the field at Wildcat, Cerrito, Codornices, San Pablo, and Garrity Creeks. Apprentices developed hands-on skills in native plant identification and propagation, invasive species removal and control, erosion control techniques, urban stormwater management, seed collection and processing, water quality monitoring, and water conservation practices. They planted native species to stabilize creek banks, removed invasive plants, observed sediment flow after rainfall, and monitored water conditions. These projects directly improved the resiliency and health of local waterways and our community.
“What I enjoyed the most was the hands-on experience, where we got to go outside and look at the thing we learned in the classroom. It solidifies the concepts better when we get to look at the plants, work at the creek, and so on.” —2025 Graduate
Watershed Health Is Community Health
Apprentices deepened their understanding of how watershed systems intersect with neighborhoods, public health, infrastructure, and equity. The health of these waterways and the health of the community are inseparable, one cannot thrive without the other. Through restoration work, apprentices remembered what their bodies already know: our deep connection to and interdependence with land and water, our belonging in the natural world, and the power of collaboration to move beyond engineered scarcity.
“I deeply enjoyed all the new relationships… with the crew, the plants, waterways, birds, fish and other critters we met along the way. This program made me realize that there is actually work that I love enough to the point where it doesn’t feel like a ‘job.’ Restoration work really feels like the gift that keeps on giving. It’s good on my mind, body, spirit, community and the Earth.” —2025 Graduate
Launching Green-Collar Careers
The BoR Training Program supports Richmond’s transition to a thriving green-collar workforce. Through paid training, mentorship, and professional skill development, apprentices gain real-world experience that strengthens pathways into restoration, climate resilience, and environmental advocacy.
“This program gave me a greater appreciation for the water that arrives to me in my home. It is such a special gift that I vow to value more and not take for granted. This program inspires me to be more resourceful, mindful, giving, intentional and less consumerist, less preoccupied about material things like ‘making money’ and more focused on being in right relation with the people, plants, and critters around me. There is abundance all around us, despite capitalism telling us we have to sacrifice our bodies/minds in order to make a living.” —2025 Graduate
Where water flows, life gathers.
Where restoration happens, communities thrive.
Where young leaders are trained and supported, Richmond’s future grows stronger every day.
We are proud of the 2025 cohort and excited to continue this work with the next group of apprentices in Fall 2027. The lessons learned, skills developed, and relationships built remind us that in Richmond, the future of our waterways and our community is already taking root.
This project is supported by the California Strategic Growth Council’s Transformative Climate Communities Program, strengthening our economy, improving public health, and protecting our environment.
