Dry creeks will soon be babbling brooks

KEEPING TRACK OF A NATURAL RESOURCE-Gary Busteed, above left, a park biologist based with the Thousand Oaks offices of the National Park Service, and Nate Petersen, a volunteer, check the GPS location of a trail that crosses a stream in Rancho Sierra Vista Park. The park service is expanding its monitoring program to include new sites. It's normal for a natural creek bed to be completely dry this time of year, unlike the creek, above right, near Indian Creek Trail in Wildwood Park, which is fed by urban runoff. With winter rains just around the corner, creeks and streams will again flow. Winter begins on Dec. 22.

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers