Bush tries to raid salmon disaster funds


By on Mon, June 16, 2008

The Bush administration proposes to pay for mess it created in the Census Bureau by taking funds designed to help salmon fishermen hurt by its water policies, reports Truthout.

The Bush administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Monday, June 9, sent a proposal to Congress to amend the president’s budget and take back $70 million of the $180 million West Coast representatives had put into the farm bill for disaster assistance for fishermen devastated by fishing closures off California and Oregon and in Central Valley rivers.

West Coast Democrats reacted to the proposal by sending an angry letter to President Bush. They called "unconscionable" his proposal to deny the disaster funding to fishermen and use it to pay for a failed contract with the Harris Corporation. Harris, assigned to do the 2010 Census, was forced due to serious mismanagement to abandon its plans for using handheld computers to conduct the census and will have to conduct a costly paper census.

"This proposal is especially egregious when you consider that your administration’s water policies on all of the Pacific Northwest’s major salmon rivers are the reason this disaster funding is needed in the first place," the letter said.

 

Tour Santa Clara County farms,  June 28

Press release

By on Mon, June 16, 2008

"So much at risk, so much to save"

Join the Committee for Green Foothills on Saturday, June 28, for a tour of Santa Clara Valley agriculture and learn more about the heritage and sustainability of local farming. We’ll meet local farmers, hear first-hand about the challenges they face, and enjoy fresh-from-the-field delights.

The day includes transportation through the beautiful hillsides, talks from various farming and land-use experts, a catered lunch, fruit and wine tasting. Our buses will leave San Jose at 9am and return at 5pm.

Advance registration only - transportation details will be sent upon receipt of your registration.

Surfrider Beach clean-up, Saturday


By on Wed, June 11, 2008

Surfrider San Mateo chapter’s next summer beach cleanups is at Surfers’ Beach by Highway 1 in El Granada.

This event starts at 10:00 AM on Saturday 6 June 2008 and will conclude at 12:00 PM. The chapter will provide trash bags and gloves, however we encourage participants to bring them. Volunteers from the Surfrider chapter will be there to answer questions about our coastal environment protection projects, our water quality monitoring lab status as well as accepting donations for funding the lab supplies.

Family and children are welcome as we hope to spread the words of the importance of our environmental awareness to all ages of people.

In the event of rain - the beach cleanup is cancelled. Check our website for the latest updates. For more information, please visit the web site of the Surfrider San Mateo County Chapter at http://www.SurfriderSMC.org.

Intensive two-week permaculture course coming to the Coastside

Press release

By on Tue, June 10, 2008

Join us for our first annual Permaculture Design Course on the San Mateo Coastside. Participants in this inaugural event will play a critical role in creating a center for Permaculture as well as strengthening the permaculture community in the larger bioregion. Your efforts will help build a legacy of sustainability that will carry on for generations to come.

Permaculture is a holistic approach to land use design based on ecological principles and patterns. It will give participants the inspiration and the skills to apply the tools learned to any situation.

In this 72-hour intensive design course, you will learn tools to create a sustainable future in your backyard and beyond! These tools can be applied to any scale, from dense urban settlements to vast rangeland.


Class: 2-Week Intensive Permaculture Design Course

Instructors: Benjamin Fahrer & Doniga Markegard plus special guest instructors

Location: Tunitas Creek Ranch, Half Moon Bay, CA

Dates: July 7 - 19, 2008

Scholarship Deadline Extended to June 16

Click for details

Recycling gets new urgency at Sewer Authority as California enters a drought


By on Mon, June 9, 2008

SAM (Sewer Authority Midcoastside) first looked at recycling 2002, but the current drought is giving the idea new urgency, according to an extensive article by Julia Scott in the County Times

The Sierra Nevada snowpack, source of Hetch Hetchy drinking water for the Bay Area, is at 70 percent of normal this year and scientists predict it will be diminished by 60 to 80 percent by 2099 because of global warming.

In a neat bit of timing, the Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside’s board of directors last week commissioned a new study on the feasibility and expense of producing recycled water for use by the large flower nurseries and thirsty golf courses in Half Moon Bay. The new water users would get a drought-proof source of water year-round, and Half Moon Bay would divert far less potable water to farmers, keeping some in surplus for future needs.

If Nurserymen’s Exchange, the largest flower grower on the coast, switched to using recycled water, it would free up 15 percent of the city’s available water supply from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, said Dave Dickson, general manager of the Coastside County Water District.
...

In spite of the logic, the Sewer Authority has yet to commit anything beyond the funds to hire a consultant to prepare the latest feasibility study, the fourth such study since 2002. In 2005, the project gained momentum when Half Moon Bay voters overwhelmingly passed an advisory measure approving the use of recycled water to irrigate fields and supplement dangerously low flow levels in local creeks.
...
Sewer Authority Manager Jack Foley denied that his agency had faced any delays in formulating a recycled water plan. The new consultant will, among other things, seek a commitment from Nurserymen’s Exchange, local golf course managers Ocean Colony Partners, and other potential customers who, like them, have expressed strong interest. The Sewer Authority will also need to update its cost estimates and seek out state funding sources.
...
The latest feasibility study, in February 2007, spelled out two options: the $5.1 million option would produce 1.65 million gallons per day of recycled water in the summer, while the plant continued to discharge the rest into the ocean in the winter as it does now. The second, $14.5 million option would convert the entire wastewater inflow of 3 million gallons per day for reuse, including local stream flow augmentation.

There’s a lot more at the County Times.

Surfrider San Mateo County public meeting and Coastside archeology lecture, Thursday

Press release

By on Mon, June 9, 2008

Surfrider San Mateo County Chapter
invites you to our General Public Meeting
Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 7:00 PM - Free Event.
San Mateo Coastal Archeology ~ An Evening with Mark Hylkema Montara Lighthouse

In 1769, when members of the first Spanish expedition reached the San Francisco Bay area they encountered numerous tribal communities that lived in a bountiful landscape.  Over a period of 10,000 years, a mosaic of tribal communities have adapted to several major environmental transitions.  Archaeological research has found that tribes spread along the San Mateo and Santa Cruz County coast developed an early focus on marine resources, while neighboring tribes of the Santa Clara Valley and San Francisco Bay shore eventually transformed into more complex levels of social organization.  By the time the explorers arrived, distinctive tribal boundaries and customs had developed.  This discussion will provide an outline of the local prehistory and native lifeway up to the time of European contact.  We will also review aspects of the Spanish, Mexican and early American periods and reflect on what it was like not too many years ago when grizzly bears and the Ohlone people dwelled here.

Mark Hylkema is a State archaeologist with 28 years experience in California archaeology and Native American culture.  He has interacted with many different tribal communities, particularly in central and northern California.  He did his graduate research on the archaeology of the San Mateo and Santa Cruz County coast and has directed excavations throughout the greater San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas.  He works full time as the Santa Cruz District Archaeologist for California State Parks managing cultural resources in an area stretching from San Francisco to the Pajaro River; and has taught undergraduate and graduate classes at Santa Clara University, University of California at Santa Cruz, De Anza College, Ohlone College and Cabrillo College.  A native of Mountain View, he currently resides in Sunnyvale.

Doors open at 7:00 PM
Meeting at 7:30 PM
At Montara Light House

Point Montara Light House
16th Street and Highway 1
Montara, CA 94037

Surfrider San Mateo chapter uses this very picturesque location for our General Meetings and other large meetings.

Please note that parking is very limited. Please carpool and invite your friends to the meeting. Please park only in the

upper lot

which is nearest HWY 1.

CCWD planning rate increases of up to 14% , hearing July 8


By on Thu, June 5, 2008

Note: this was released a couple of weeks ago and I had put it aside until I could spend more time with it. But the governor’s declaration of drought puts this proposed rate increase into new perspective.

Coastside County Water District (CCWD) will be holding a hearing on Tuesday, July 8 at 7pm. According to the district, the proposed increase will be up to 14% or current rates [details], and is due to several reasons, “including, most notably, an increase in the wholesale cost of water purchased from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.” The reasons cited by the district are:

  • Bond costs for Capital Improvement Program over next several years;

  • an increase in wholesale water rates from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission;

  • increased costs of compliance with the changing regulatory requirements; and

  • an infrastructure upgrade program for our two water treatment plants and distribution system required to satisfy new water quality standards imposed upon all water districts in California.

Free e-waste recycling at Coastside Farmer’s Market, Saturday

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Press release

By on Thu, June 5, 2008

Governor declares statewide drought


By on Wed, June 4, 2008

Governor Schwarzenegger has declared a statewide drought today. Here’s the summary from the San Diego Union-Tribune:

"The governor is ringing the bell. We’re heading over a cliff." – Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources

Water rationing: The state could force conservation efforts on water districts if voluntary reductions don’t succeed.

Water czars: The governor will assign two positions: one to implement conservation programs and the other to facilitate water transfers.

Water bank: The state will begin planning to buy water from farmers to transfer to parched regions and create a reserve in case of emergency.

Appeal to Washington: The governor’s executive order declaring a drought directs state officials to seek federal drought assistance.

New reservoirs: The governor will press lawmakers to approve $11.7 billion in bonds, which would include funding for new storage.

 

 

GGNRA holding open house on management plan today


By on Wed, June 4, 2008

This is an open house, NOT a meeting.

Come give GGNRA your comments about Rancho Corral de Tierra at Harbor House in Princeton, Wednesday, June 4th (3:30pm - 6:30pm)

The 4,200 acre Rancho Corral de Tierra property located on the Midcoast will transfer from POST to GGNRA possibly as early as this year.  GGNRA is gathering community input regarding the Rancho Corral de Tierra property.  

Rancho Corral de Tierra is one of the largest areas of open space near San Francisco, the 4,200 acre site is managed by the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) encompasses the majority of an 1839 Mexican Land Grant. 

Meeting Announcement: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/meetingNotices.cfm?parkId=303&projectId=15075

General Managment Plan: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkId=303&projectId=15075&documentID=23015

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