Ventura OK's development plan

Despite the many red flags, Ventura City Council unanimously voted on Monday night to approve the Saticoy-Wells Community Plan EIR. This issue was delayed when water managers objected: city-plans-threaten-aquifers

1: Concerns with water supply were justified by a 'tolling agreement' between the City and Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency and United Water Conservation District. The tolling agreement would postone any legal action against the city until July 1, 2010, giving time to test the well in question to determine if it would in fact affect groundwater supplies as the water agencies suggest.

2: Flooding concerns were answered in a last-minute e-mail from Ventura County Watershed Protection District.

3. As highlighted by Councilmember Morehouse, this plan was completed after 3 major developments in the planning area have already been approved.



The figures shown here were submitted as comments on the EIR from the East Ventura Community Council. They illustrate the variability in the City's water supply, and vulnerability to drought. Note that the Ventura River/Casitas supply makes up a significant portion.

The City's water supply as outlined in the General Plan and used in this EIR is based upon wet years. A drought as short as 3 years may limit supply to as little as 60% of normal. This is what adjacent water managers mean when they write that, "We believe as described above the City's assumptions and estimates for future water supplies may be over estimated."

And as predictably as the City outgrows its water supply, our rivers will surely get drier.




City Council meeting agenda, minutes, and video for Nov 16, 2009 are online here.

SA Creek Bridge

OJAI VALLEY TRAIL BRIDGE AT SAN ANTONIO CREEK

Ventura County Parks Department is planning to construct a bridge at the confluence of San Antonio Creek and the Ventura River. Funding would come from state and federal salmonid restoration grants.

This project will enhance the bike trail as well as improve fish passage up San Antonio Creek.


The project consists of the replacement of the Ojai Valley Trail culvert crossing with a bridge at San Antonio Creek, including removal of the existing culverts and associated fill, construction of the bridge and site restoration. Based on conceptual plans developed to date, the bridge would have an overall length of 790 feet, including approach ramps. The bridge span would be approximately 510 feet. The bridge deck elevation would be at about 323 feet, about 10 to 12 feet higher than the existing trail surface elevation. The bridge would be designed to support pedestrians and bicycles, and occasional light-weight patrol vehicles (golf cart-sized). The bridge approach ramp grade would be 5 percent or less to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.


This diagram was included in our comment letter, suggesting that moving the bridge a short distance up SA Creek (yellow line) would allow for a shorter bridge and eliminate future impacts at the bend in the river. We also wrote that biologists documented significant numbers of fish in the pool this year, and realignment of the river should minimize dewatering downstream pools (red line.)

We also suggested that this project should be coordinated with other objectives, including

• Water Infrastructure Upgrade/Relocation
• Bike trail realignment into oak woodland
• Equestrian trail realignment/management plan to reduce impacts
• Levee removal – northern 300 ft(?) is obsolete
• Riparian Restoration/ floodplain enhancement/steelhead habitat creation

A Public Hearing will be held Nov 24, 2009 at 10:30 am at the County Board of Supervisors.
For more information contact project manager Theresa Lubin 805-654-3968

Volunteers work on Ojai creek

Over 20 volunteers came out on Saturday for the kickoff of a well-planned collaboration to restore a section of the Ojai Creek. On the first three Saturdays of this month, the riparian corridor that meanders through Libbey Park will be restored and enhanced through removal of invasive non-native plants.

The project will improve the creek’s flow and reestablish a functioning wetland and riverbank ecosystem to support a diversity of fish and wildlife species.

The Ojai Creek Restoration Project is a collaboration of the Ojai Valley Green Coalition under the leadership of conservation biologist and Watershed Committee Chair Brian Holly, and of representatives from the C.R.E.W, the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, BioResource Consultants, Inc., and Glenn Hawks and Associates, along with numerous other volunteers.

Members of the community are invited to participate on any or all of three consecutive Saturdays starting on November 7 - 9:30 a.m. at the Libbey Park Gazebo.

For more info contact Brian Holly - beholly@gmail.com

Salmon Run supports Matilija Coalition

16th Annual Salmon Run – 5K Run/3K Walk

Sunday November 8 - Around 400 runners and walkers turned out for the annual 'Fun Run' event sponsored and organized by our good friends at Patagonia. This year's proceeds benefit the Matilija Coalition, a program started in 2000 by the Ventura County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation to focus attention on the removal of Matilija Dam.

The money raised from the event will directly support steelhead surveys in the Ventura River. Ongoing monitoring is a critical piece of the efforts to restore the river. (We have also applied for another grant from the California Department of Fish and Game for next year's study.)

Here is the short overview of the Matilija Coalition and the Ventura River:

Award winner!

'Watershed Revolution' won 'Best Short Documentary' in the Ojai-Ventura International Film Festival this weekend.

Apart from the fact that it was great to see our film played in a real theater, Watershed Revolution also received a great response from attendees of the film festival.

Each showing was followed by audience question and answer. The number one question - "When will Matilija Dam come down?"


photo: Co-Producers Rich Reid and Paul Jenkin at the Ojai Theater after Sunday night's showing.

Press: Ojai Valley News

Ojai Film Festival

Watershed Revolution will be featured in the Ojai – Ventura International Film Festival this weekend.

Our film will be screening twice during the event in Ojai:

Saturday, November 7, 5:30 pm at Matilija Auditorium
Sunday, November 8, 3:00 pm at Ojai Theater

Individual tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door, and you can purchase a 4 or 6 pack of tickets online.

Watershed Revolution is a locally produced film that asks the question, “What is a watershed?” The answer is explored through interviews with people working to protect and preserve the Ventura River, while stunning high definition cinematography brings to life the beauty of the river.

The 30-minute film profiles community members and organizations working to protect and restore our watershed. It highlights the need for open space and floodplain protection, sustainable agriculture, and community awareness of our most precious resource: water.

“We are honored to be accepted to the Ojai Film Festival, an internationally recognized event,’ said Rich Reid, producer of the film. “This also provides an opportunity for those who missed the premiere screenings this summer to view the film and participate in the discussions.”

For more about the film and our watershed please visit www.watershedrevolution.com

Steelhead Revival

Over 120 people attended the Steelhead Revival presentation yesterday at Patagonia headquarters in Ventura. The event was organized by Matt Stoecker and Mauricio Gomez to provide an overview of the federally endangered southern steelhead trout and highlight efforts to restore this magnificent, iconic species to our local watersheds.

This event, fourth in a series, focused on the Santa Clara and Ventura River watersheds, both of which drain to the ocean in the city of Ventura. Matt provided a lively overview of the species, a presentation filled with photos and video that brought the fish to life. Matt also highlighted some of the recent progress made in our region with removal of small barriers that have reopened upstream habitat critical to the recovery of this endangered species.

I was invited to provide an update on the work of the Matilija Coalition, a program that has benefited from the support of Patagonia since 2000. I gave a brief overview of Matilija Dam and the steelhead monitoring that we have been sponsoring for the past 2 years.

The Q&A included much discussion of the Matilija Dam removal project, and the current impass on sediment management. There was interest in the before and after 'vision' for Matilija canyon, an image that has been integral to the planning process. This is also posted in video format here


If you missed it, there are two more events coming up:

November 7, 3:30 pm, Arroyo Hondo Preserve – Gaviota Coast
In coordination with the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, this presentation will focus on theGaviota Coast (Jalama to Goleta) Watersheds.

November 19, 7:30 pm, Solvang Library, 1745 Mission Drive
In coordination with the Santa Ynez Valley Natural History Society, this presentation will focus
on the Santa Ynez River Watershed.

For additional information and specifics on upcoming events please contact:
Matt Stoecker matt@stoeckerecological.com or Mauricio Gomez mgomez@schabitatrestoration.org.

Many thanks to Patagonia for making this series of events possible.