Ventura River Rats and Tortilla Flats mural

The "Tortilla Flats" mural is almost completed under the Hwy 101 bridge on Figueroa St in Ventura. Tortilla Flats is the name of the neighborhood that once existed by the fairgrounds and river - it was removed through emminent domain when the freeway went in 1969...

My favorite is this image of the Ventura River Rats. This video gives some of the history...

The "Tortilla Flats Archives" includes interviews from over 25 oral history subjects. Quotes from those 'old timers' include: "I don't know who tagged us, but we were 'River Rats' if we swam in the Ventura River... I got beautiful childhood memories of the Ventura River, the fairgrounds, Seaside Park... we used to go surf fishing at the foot of Figueroa... we looked forward to getting out of school to go to the river, and we'd be there for hours and hours..."

The freeway and levee changed things forever...

There will be a dedication ceremony and celebration for the Tortilla Flats mural from 11am to 2pm on May 31st, 2008

Land Conservancy hosts Matilija Dam lecture and tour

It's always fun to show people around and explain the complex project to remove Matilija Dam. This past weekend the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy hosted an evening presentation and morning field tour...




(video courtesy of Rich Reid)

Friday, April 25th at 7pm Healthy River, Healthy Community - Part I
Presentation by: Paul Jenkin of the Matilija Coalition, Nica Katherine Nite, Cal Trout Program Manager
The river runs through us, has so much to teach us as well. Learn more about the Ventura River watershed, including the Matilija Dam removal; steelhead trout in the Ventura River; how the OVLC is working to enhance the health of the Ventura River and how property owners on the river can help protect the river and their property.

Saturday, April 26th from 9am till noon Healthy River, Healthy Community - Part II
Vehicle tour : Take driving tour with Stevie Adams, OVLC restoration project manager, including stops at the Matilija Dam, the arundo removal project, and the OVLC’s Ventura River restoration projects. Meet at the Riverview trailhead of the VRP on Rice Road.

Surfrider Staff Meeting and Open House

April 22-24, 2008

Surfrider Foundation all-staff meeting included summary presentations from all the headquarters and field staff. Apart from getting a "heads up" on what's going on around the country, we did all get to spend some "quality time" at the beach (although the surf could have been better)

On April 24, I watched as the finishing touches to the new office's entry was installed, just before the first guests arrived to tour the LEED-certified "green" building.

Ventura LID Workshop "sells out"

Monday April 21 - Perhaps it was well advertised, or a timely topic, but over 190 people registered for the first large-scale Low Impact Development workshop in Ventura. Over 80% of the attendees were staff from local government agencies.

The agenda included a welcome from Brian Brennan, City of Ventura followed by:

Resource-Based Land Use Planning
The big picture: Linking land use to water quality, and how LID can help improve the health of our watersheds. - Jack Gregg, California Coastal Commission, Water Quality Unit

Low Impact Development – the How's and the Why's
Implementation of soil-based LID systems in stormwater management, and effect on flooding, in-stream erosion, maintaining the water balance, and pollutant removal.
- Timothy Lawrence, Center for Water and Land Use, UC Davis Extension
see presentation here: http://mapucde.ucdavis.edu/sheet/ReRain2.html

LID Retrofit of Existing Infrastructure
Taking a watershed approach to LID retrofit, using the San Jon Barranca as a model
- Paul Jenkin, Surfrider Foundation

A Perspective on Regulatory Approaches to LID in Southern California
History, evolution, and future directions for LID in the Southern California region.
- Xavier Swamikannu, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board

Sustainable Urbanism – Watershed-based Planning Strategies for Ventura County
Combining green infrastructure and community design to protect water resources.
- Clark Anderson, Local Government Commission


Afternoon sessions presented pervious paving technologies for infiltrating stormwater in parking lots and other paved areas.

Hopefully this information will sink in and permeate land use planning in Ventura County.

Ojai Quarry April 2008

Got lots of calls on this one. Landmark bedrock boulder jackhammered out, legacy sycamore torn up and shredded on site... all on scenic highway 33, and the last real trout steam in the watershed.

Ocean Friendly Garden on Midtown Ventura Tour

Saturday, April 19, 2008: This year's Ventura Earth Day event included an Expo at the City Lot on Sanjon Road and a Green Home and Garden Tour sponsored by the Midtown Community Council. The Expo included a large array of educational and environmental groups to explain simple and more complex steps you might want to consider to help you be a better steward of this little planet of ours. Surfrider Ventura Chapter representatives hosted a table at the Expo with information about the work we have been doing for the past 16 years.

The Midtown Green Home and Garden Tour allowed residents to see what their neighbors have already done in their homes and gardens. The Surfrider Foundation presented an "Ocean Friendly Garden" example to demonstrate the concepts of "CPR: Conservation, Permeability, and Retention." Throughout the day over 100 people visited the garden.


The home tour included a printed guide book with descriptions of the environmental aspects of the dozen homes. This page was published in the guide to provide an overview of the "Ocean Friendly" concept.

DNA and social networks

In 2005 I visited Japan as a 'dam removal ambassador' to transmit knowledge gained from the Matilija Dam project. My gracious hosts from River Policy Network provided many opportunities to meet others and speak about ecosystem restoration.

Toward the end of the trip, one of my new friends said he had a gift for me. But first he had to explain. Since I understand no Japanese whatsoever, and his English is limited, he started drawing on a napkin. After much hand waving I recognized his sketch as a virus, and understood him to be describing viral replication, which involves synthesis of viral DNA. Hmmmm.



He then handed me this. He went on to tell me that on his trip to Matilija Dam the previous year he had collected a piece of concrete from the crumbling structure. The 'virus' in the test tube was created using this 'DNA.' Recognizing Matilija Dam to be one of the world's first large dam removal efforts, he has made many of these to present to each of the dam removal activists he encounters.

WOW. Dam removal DNA. A disease? Or an idea to be replicated?







Social scientists have developed tools to describe this. A social network map shows the connections that exist between people and/or organizations (nodes.) Network maps are a way of making visible and understanding relationships that are often otherwise invisible. The maps can show important features of the network that can be acted upon to leverage the network to produce better outcomes in the community.

At a West Coast Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) Network meeting this year, a social network diagram was presented based upon an on-line survey that each participant had completed. Looking at the beginnings of a social network model for EBM I could envision my connections within the small community of awareness that is evolving within the Ventura River watershed, and the growing network of links that literally reach around the world.




Jim Moriarty often speaks of DNA. And this idea was wonderfully communicated in What the BLEEP Do We Know

Here's one way of viewing it: as each of us 'infects' others with this 'DNA' we begin to build a critical mass. This increase in social awareness is the bare minimum that will be required to implement real-world changes to restore the global ecosystems upon which we depend for survival.

As my gift from Japan demonstrates, despite cultural and language barriers, our DNA, our social network, reaches around the globe.