A member of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District Board of Directors has asked the board to put an advisory measure on November’s ballot to guage citizens’ willingness to buy the the Peninsula water system. The sytem is owned by California American Water Co., which used to own Montara’s system. Alvin Edwards wants the board to vote now, so that if the board votes the ballot measure down, citizens will have time to gather the necessary signatures to put it on the ballot.

Meanwhile, Felton, in Santa Cruz County, has been exploring buying its water system from Cal Am for some time.

CORRECTION: The original version of this story confused Monterey Peninsula’s buyout with Felton’s. These are two separate efforts.

Farmland on the coast is a lot wetter than usual, due to this year’s unusually heavy rains. This is frustrating Coastside farmers whose fields are a lot muddier than usual. The San Mateo County Times confirms what we’ve suspected, and keeps alive the question of whether Wavecrest delayed their wetlands delineation because their wetlands were too . . . wet.

The bill to keep local authorities from buying private water systems via private domain has been withdrawn by the Fresno assemblyman who sponsored it, according to the Monterey Herald.

The bill, introduced last month, would have required a public agency to show that a privately held utility repeatedly broke the law before it could condemn it and acquire it through eminent domain. Current law presumes public ownership of utilities is preferable and places the burden of proof on the private utility to show why its continued ownership is in the public’s best interest.

Assemblyman Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, is a cheap date.  He had received a $500 contribution from the owner of a Fresno water system whose takeover is under consideration. He introduced the bill at the request of a lobbyist for the California Water Association. The CWA represents 42 private water companies, including California American Water Company (late owners of Montara’s water supply) whose system in Felton is being eyed for public takeover.

Arambula said when he introduced the bill that the lobbyist had described it to him as a "technical amendment without any significant opposition". Then he started hearing from folks in Santa Cruz County who felt otherwise. The story doesn’t mention whether any of his own constituents took him to task and I can’t find any mention of it on the Fresno Bee’s site.

UPDATE:  From Friday’s Wall Street Journal:

Water has caught the eye of Wall Street, too. Water-industry stocks rose 24% last year, topping the 11% gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, and have slightly lagged behind the market so far this year, according to an index of water stocks compiled by Boenning & Scattergood, a West Conshohocken, Pa., brokerage firm. Over the past five years, water stocks have surged 113%, compared with a loss of 17% for the S&P 500.

Assembly member and speaker pro tem Leland Yee (D-12th District) is holding a town hall meeting to discuss public access to the Farallon Islands National Marine Refuge.  The Chronicle reported in February:

House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, and the top Democrat on the committee have introduced a bill that would direct the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to offer special permits to visit the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge in response to requests from amateur radio operators who enjoy broadcasting from remote islands.

But scientists who study seabirds and other species on the islands 28 miles off the coast of San Francisco—which some call "California’s Galapagos"—said even limited public visits could have serious effects on populations of birds and marine mammals that have rebounded since access to the islands by humans was strictly limited in 1969.

Yee will host a meeting that includes a representative of the American Radio Relay League, and a host of environmental organizations (Sierra Club, Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association, Audobon Society, Sierra Club, Enviromental Defenese).  The press release quotes Yee:  "This federal legislation is yet another example of efforts to peel back important environmental protections. I will not stand idly by while our environmental policies are neglected or reversed."

The meeting will be held Thursday, April 14, 2005 at 7:00 P.M. at Richmond Recreation Center, 251 18th Avenue (between California and Clement St.), in San Francisco.

Click "read more" to see the press release.

When I was first set up Coastsider about a year ago, I created a custom link to the TerraServer satellite image database with links to lots of Coastside locations, embedded in a Coastsider page.  I’m still pretty proud of it, as it was kind of a programming exercise for me. But Google just released their new satellite image database, which is superior to the old TerraServer stuff in every way—newer photos, more detail, color, and links to Google’s remarkable new map server.

I’m keeping the original Coastsider map page, because it still has links to topographic maps, which are useful. But from now on, I’m using Google maps and satellite images as my primary map links

Here are some links to satellite images and maps of Coastside locations on Google, TerraServer, and the California Coastal Records Project. I’ve also added some links to historical topographic maps at the US Geological Survey.

You can click on a link on any of these pages to get the corresponding maps. You can also click and drag these images to scroll around them on the screen.

Devil’s Slide | Montara, Moss Beach | El Granada | Half Moon Bay | Cunha Middle and Hatch Elementary Schools | Wavecrest | 22 Acre Park Site and Cypress Cove |

This site always takes my breath away. Kenneth Adelman has taken pictures of every square mile of the California coast.  And now he has added historical photos from 1972, 1979, 1987, 2002, as well as today.

Devil’s Slide | Montara | Moss Beach | El Granada | Miramar | Half Moon Bay | North Wavecrest | Redondo Beach | Ritz-Carlton | Martin’s Beach, Lobitos Creek | San Gregorio State Beach | Pescadero |

These are good if you’re looking for geographical features, such as mountains, streams, and beaches. You may also want to compare the images to the ones on Google for changes. The satellite photos were taken about 1992. Click on the arrows at the edges to scroll around and use the number scale to zoom the image.

Devil’s Slide | Montara, Moss Beach | El Granada | Half Moon Bay | Wavecrest | Cunha Middle and Hatch Elementary Schools | Purissima Creek | Martin’s Beach, Lobitos Creek | San Gregorio | Pescadero |

The US Geographical Survey site has some downloadable JPEG’s of great old maps of Half Moon Bay from 1940, 1943 and 1961, as well as of current maps of the Coastside and points north.

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) Board of Directors voted unanimously last night to purchase the 183-acre Peninsula Open Space Trust/Forde property near Half Moon Bay.  This is the District’s first purchase on the Coastside and its first board meeting here.

The property is adjacent to the District’s Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. It includes the headwaters of Lobitos Creek, a likely spawning area for the federally threatened steelhead, and the scenic top of Irish Ridge, which affords views of the Tunitas Creek and Lobitos Creek watersheds, coastal ranches, and the Pacific Ocean. A mixed evergreen forest of Douglas fir and redwood, including a few first growth trees, characterize a portion of the property’s landscape.

This story is based on MROSD’s press release. Click "read more" to see the full press release.

Michael Laffen, a resident of Montara, has been appointed to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary advisory council. Laffen, a small-business owner, was re-appointed to a second term in an at-large seat. Laffen is a small-business owner.

The council includes representatives for tourism, diving, education, at-large, research and commercial fishing. The council povided input to the sanctuary’s draft management plan, which will be released for public review later this summer.  Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary includes more than 5,300 square miles on the coast.

There’s been some controversy over a 4 to 3 vote by MROSD to buy an acre and half with a "rundown mountain cabin" adjacent to its land in Los Gatos.  The idea is that it will improve parking and access as well as provide a place for MROSD’s local ranger to live.  Those voting against thought it might not be such a hot idea to spend $1 million of the District’s $15 million budget on the dump when there might be cheaper solutions to the access problem and the rest of the cash could be spent on . . . open space.

According to the Mercury News story, one board member "fretted" during the meeting over whether this would become a public relations disaster.

"This is just unfathomable," said Terry Gossett, a Moss Beach engineer and member of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association. "It is a misuse of the funds from taxpayers. It is being used to take care of their own instead of the public, who are the customers."

The article fails to mention that Gossett’s an implacable foe of the District in any event.  It’s not clear that he’d prefer to spend that money buying larger tracts from private landowners on the Coastside. 

On Tuesday night, the La Honda Fire Brigade got a call from a concerned citizen who said that that in the Cuesta La Honda Sub-division in La Honda was too dangerous to pass over.  A fissure had opened up about 50 yards above a land movement that had occurred in 1998 as a result of an El Niño-driven storm.

The 1998 land movement ultimately resulted in the destruction or removal of nine homes.

During recent rains the land started to move again. New fissures were seen developing a few weeks ago. At that time SMCO Public Works made temporary repairs to Scenic Drive so that it could remain passable.

At about 6:30 Tuesday night the La Honda Fire Brigade received the call. This new fissure extends under a home at 230 Scenic, a home that was basically untouched by the 1989 incident.  After consultation with a Sheriff’s Deputy at scene the Fire Brigade requested San Mateo County Public Works to again close the road.

Over the night there was additional movement in this slide to the point where the road is buckled in numerous places, a 6-inch water main separated and was forced to the surface of the road. The rear deck of the home at 230 Scenic is being pulled away from the house.

The Fire Department has requested that San Mateo County building inspectors evaluate the homes on the perimeter of the slide as well as the home that is now partially inside the slide. Utility lines near the intersection of Scenic and Canada Vista are also sagging as a result of the movement of an electric pole. PG&E has been requested to the scene.

All pictures were taken on March 30 at about 7pm.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an edited version of a press release from Larry Whitney of the La Honda Fire Department.

Not long ago the San Mateo County Mosquito Abatement District annexed the coastside and is now out here every day, working to prevent mosquito and West Nile outbreaks.  The district has assigned an officer to cover the coastside from Daly City all the way down to about Santa Cruz.

Abatement officer Kim was out near the Half Moon Bay Airport today, and agreed to answer a few questions about how they treat standing water to stop mosquitos.

She told me about several approaches they have at their disposal, and noted that they decide which to use based on the conditions at each specific site. For example, if mosquito larvae are within a day or so of leaving the water, they apply a thin film of refined mineral oil to the water’s surface.  This drowns the mosquitos.  The oil is very fine, and evaporates with a couple of days.

Earlier in the larvae’s life cycle, the district can apply a growth hormone specific to mosquito larvae.  It keeps the larvae from developing into adults.

Another tool in their arsenal is a bacteria that attacks mosquito larvae.  It, too, is said to be specific only to mosquitos.

The Abatement District offers several services to homeowners, including free mosquito fish.  These fish love to eat mosquitos and make great additions to outdoor ponds.

They also offer to deal with yellowjackets, identify insects, and want to hear from you if you spot any dead birds.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I called the County about a dead crow in my yard a couple of years ago. They came out to collect it that day.