The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District has announced the winners of its first annual digital photo contest.

Fifteen honorable mentions were also chosen from over 400 entries that spanned a wide range of perspectives on nature from minute details to sweeping vistas. View the finalists’ photos at: .

Using web tools like Flickr™, the contest provided a new way for the District to engage the public with its open space preserves and gave contestants an opportunity to explore the diversity of nature through photography. The only contest rule was that entries had to be taken on District land.

Grand prize winner Alex Stoll and second-place winner Eric Lew, both graduate students at Stanford University, heard about the contest through the Stanford Photography Club. "We like any excuse to go out and shoot photos," Lew said. Stoll captured his prize-winning shot at sunrise in the La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve. "Photos are always more interesting with people in them," he said. "You can identify with the picture more."

A new $20,000 webcam gives viewers worldwide access to the beach at Año Nuevo State Natural Reserve, reports the County Times.

Every corner of the remote 9-acre island, long the province of just the few researchers lucky enough to make the trip, has become part of the public domain — along with every burp, bark, snort and primordial grunt uttered by its corpulent inhabitants.

The state is engineering a "soft launch" of the high-definition webcam, a gift from a donor that has taken more than two years to set up with its solar panels and remote-controlled motion technology. ...

Viewers will find plenty of drama over the next two months as hundreds of female sea lions continue to lay their pups, mate one last time and leave their young elephant seals behind on the island to learn to swim, said Gary Strachan, supervising ranger at Año Nuevo State Reserve.

Click to view the webcam.

Aircraft are banned below 1,000 feet between Point Santa Cruz and Pescadero Point within three miles of shore, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

The fixed-wing single-engine Piper came from the south, dipped down toward the water just north of Lighthouse Point, then followed the surf line and zipped up the coast about 30 feet above the cliff’s edge around 3 p.m., witnesses said. The two-tone plane then turned around and headed south along the same course before climbing higher. ...

"What we’re trying to prevent is low-flying aircraft from disturbing the marine life and seabirds," he said.

Pilots who violate the regulations can face tens of thousands of dollars in fines, though Yerena said the first violation usually results in a warning.

T.J. Rodgers continues his plan to build a winery west of Skyline, above La Honda. The Almanac has an extensive report on the state of this controversial project.

Seven years after Mr. Rodgers, CEO of Cypress Semiconductor and a resident of Woodside, got a permit from San Mateo County to drill three caves 300 feet into Langley Hill for the winery, he is still trying to get another permit to install the actual winery in the caves. Grapes from Mr. Rodgers’ three vineyards are now being trucked to San Carlos to make the wine. ...

Months of blasting with dynamite to complete the caves riled neighbors, particularly downhill in La Honda. At the same time, neighbors became increasingly concerned about impacts of the vineyard on their community. They worried about how it might compete for scarce water supplies, or how erosion from runoff might silt up streams and pollute drinking water with pesticides and chemicals. ...

The revised DEIR should be released in April, says county planner Mike Schaller. It will be available for public review and comment for 45 days, and subject to several public hearings before the commission acts on the winery application.

The revised EIR will include results of a new hydrologic study that looks at both groundwater supply and demand in the area, and at surface drainage from the vineyards into Langley and Woodhams creeks. "It should hopefully answer the questions," Mr. Schaller says. One key element in the winery application, a land swap, is being welcomed by downhill neighbors. Mr. Rodgers proposes to trade about 23 acres of land in the watershed of Woodhams Creek for land above the entry owned by neighbor Willard Wyman.

This land trade, which depends on county approval of the winery application, would eliminate a potential vineyard on the steep slopes above Woodhams Creek. This creek provides the water supply for Cuesta La Honda, a community of 280 homes and the La Honda Elementary School.

"The proposed land swap is a big step in the right direction in terms of ensuring the protection of our drinking water," wrote the Cuesta La Honda Guild in a comment last August.

Rainfall this winter is far below historical averages and water districts all over California are considering rationing.  So far, two dozen California water districts have extended rationing imposed last year, and more is like to be on the way, reports the Chron.

In the Sierra Nevada, where ice and snow turn into about 60 percent of the water flowing out of the state’s taps each year, snowpack is about two-thirds of normal.

"Projections for the state’s water supply continue to look poorer as the water hasn’t come down," said Elissa Lynn, the state’s chief meteorologist. ...

In San Francisco, water managers have asked customers to voluntarily cut use by 10 percent, resulting in a 12 percent reduction.

The hydrological gods also have been kind to the city. The watershed draining into the Hetch Hetchy reservoir is at a much higher elevation than the watershed that supplies the East Bay water district, and is on the runway for many major storm systems.

"Our reservoirs are in pretty decent shape," said Michael Carlin, assistant general manager of water at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. "But over the next couple months, we’ll be watching the storms coming through, the trajectories, the reservoirs. ...

Based on that, we’ll see if we can make it on voluntary conservation or if we have to go mandatory."

Hetch Hetchy, which is owned by the SFPUC, supplies water for the County Coastside Water District, which serves Half Moon Bay and El Granada.

Half Moon Bay resident Dennis Paull reports that he has measured the rainfall in December and January of 3.75 inches, only 40% of his 9.25 average since 2001.

Sustainable San Mateo County, an organization dedicated to improving the long-term health of San Mateo County, has awarded Reece Computer Systems with a 2009 Sustainability of the Year Award (Honorable Mention). Reece is the only Information Technology company to have received one of these awards over the last 10 years.

Do you enjoy sharing your knowledge of nature and history? California State Parks is looking for new volunteers interested in helping at two parks in the San Mateo Coast Sector: the Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve and Half Moon Bay State Beach.  Volunteers may choose to help in either or both of the parks. Free training for new volunteers will begin in late February.  Volunteers receive passes for free parking at nearby state parks. Volunteering for parks is a great way to learn new things, share your knowledge with your neighbors, and make new friends!

The HMB Library will present a special program about Volunteer Opportunities at our local State Beaches on Sunday January 25th at 1:30PM.  Ranger Nelle Lyons will describe activities that vary from staffing the Vistors’ Center to joining the Plover Watch.  Other activities include an ongoing habitat restoration program.  It’s a great chance to enjoy the beach, meet some interesting people and, if you’re a high school student, earn Community Service Hours.