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Northern California's Siskiyou County is home to some of the world's most diverse ecological habitats and animal species. Our topography and weather conditions combine to create climates that alternate from near arctic, to wetland and high desert. These ecosystems provide opportunities for rare and endangered plants, as well as those that are more plentiful. The casual visitor to Siskiyou County might travel along the Interstate 5 corridor and never experience the wonder and beauty that lies just a few minutes from their path. The community of Weed, California recognizes the potential to encourage visitors to stop in their community and have, at different times over the past decade, entertained the idea of a botanical garden to focus on local flora and fauna.
In 2003, the City of Weed agreed to work with the Botanical Gardens' Board of Directors in a cooperative effort to develop a parcel of land which had been donated to the city. Most of this site, located west of Interstate 5 (I-5) near the South Weed Exit, was donated in 1996 because the entire site was considered un-developable due to the presence of protected wetlands. It has since been determined that the site actually has less jurisdictional wetlands than was originally assumed, which allows for the development of the gardens. Furthermore, the characteristics of the site are such that additional wetlands could be created within its boundaries both enhancing the Gardens and providing a potential source of revenue. The City of Weed has signed a long-term lease for the site to the Gardens for a term of at least 30 years.
The site also provides storm drainage detention for a large part of the South Weed area. Any substantial modifications to the site must take into account both up-stream and down-stream impacts. Ironically, this feature of the site ensures ample water for the wetlands and gardens, as well as providing an opportunity to create biological remediation areas to help remove urban pollution from storm-water. Vegetative filtration is effective for treating storm-water runoff from parking lots, roadways and other impervious surfaces that are polluted with oils, dust and hydrocarbons. By providing an area that can both accommodate and treat storm-water, this site has yet another possible revenue source. Care was taken during the project design to enable partnerships with adjacent residential and commercial development, perhaps by allowing conference attendees to walk from adjacent facilities through the project in exchange for assistance with Garden maintenance.
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