Farmers are fighting a California Department of Fish and Game demand that they remove dams from the Frenchman’s Creek watershed. The Department says that seasonal dams prevent steelhead smolts from reaching the ocean. Farmers have won a temporary restraining order, according to the County Times.

Jim Green, head of the Frenchman’s Creek Water District, said he and the other plaintiffs in the suit had no idea they needed a special permit to operate the dam in his backyard until the Department of Fish and Game told them to remove it in 2004. The landowners, who collectively farm 140 acres of flowers, all received a permit from the State Water Resources Control Board to extract a certain amount of water from the creek.

When the Department of Fish and Game intervened, residents removed the 71/2-foot dam and tried to use wells and other alternative water sources to grow their flowers.

Those sources are now drying up, said Green, who has let 40 percent of his own fields lie fallow for lack of water to cultivate them.

Although the San Mateo County Board of Supevisors at their final hearing on their LCP update voted to accept nearly all of the proposed updates to the Midcoast Local Coastal Program, the supervisors voted to make one significant change to the proposal.  Housing will no longer per an allowable use on the Burnham Strip, which will be re-zoned as El Granada Gateway.  While some new uses will be permited, no more housing will be allowed.

The Burnham Strip is the strip of land between Avenue Alhambra and Highway 1 in El Granada [Google map].

The supervisors also voted to consider separately the exceptions being requested by the Big Wave live/work project for mentally disabled adults.

Coastsider will post video highlights of the hearing.

The League for Coastside Protection is sponsoring an After the Pumpkin Festival beach clean-up at Francis State Beach, Half Moon Bay on Saturday, October 21, from 10am to 1pm. Their goal is to remedy the mess left after the crowds are gone. Volunteers receive a free Commemorative T-shirt.

Print and bring this flyer [PDF] with you, and parking at Francis State Beach lot is free. Picnic tables and BBQs are available if volunteers want to bring a lunch. The organizaters recommend wearing closed-toe shoes, layered clothing, hat and sunscreen. High school student volunteers get Community Service credit.

Lana Ellis

At Half Moon Bay High School, students gathered to get other students into the spirit of the beach clean-up  October 21, 2006. Students in the photo left to right:   Rachel Graham, John Kimsey, Natalia Walicki, Garrett Rogren.  Parent:  Dana Kimsey.

Caffé Lucca is continuing their new program of live entertainment this weekend with an open mic night on tonight Saturday 7 to 9 and Sister Blue on Sunday from 1 to 4pm, plus a hula contest.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released for public comment the draft management plans and proposed regulations for Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries and a joint draft environmental impact statement. The plans are the result of several years of study, planning and extensive public input.

One substantive boundary change is proposed as part of the joint management plan review. NOAA is proposing to add a 585-square nautical mile area around the Davidson Seamount to Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

There will be a public hearing on the plan Dec. 6, 2006, 6:30 p.m. at the Community United Methodist Church, 777 Miramontes Street, in Half Moon Bay.

You can download the plans from the agency’s website.

A couple of readers have accused Coastsider of bias.  Most recently, Don Bacon has raised the issue in a long piece (2,800 words!) on the Review’s TalkAbout forum.  I’m not going to directly answer Mr. Bacon on a point-by-point basis. I don’t have the time to write it and you don’t have the time to read it. You’re welcome to read his piece and draw your own conclusions about where he’s coming from.  But I want to restate what I’m trying to do here.

I’ve been working in the news business for about 20 years. There are no more dedicated navel-gazers than journalists, and objectivity is one aspect of the journalistic navel that gets more than its share of contemplation.

One thing I know is that it’s impossible for a single individual to be objective.  Two years ago, I wrote, "Coastsider isn’t always objective, but it does have principles". My commitment to our readers has always been to be thorough, accurate, fair, and transparent.

Coastsider is a personal site. It’s about what Barry’s interested in, supplemented by contributions from our readers.  I don’t always have time to write about the things I really care about, often because I don’t have time to do the research required to write authoritatively or add something new to the debate.  The park in Half Moon Bay is a good example. Another is the proposed stoplight at Terrace. Most of our readers get that. The first question I usually get is, "How do you find the time to do Coastsider?" A few get annoyed that I haven’t taken up their pet crusade, but are unwilling to do the legwork themselves.

But Coastsider is designed to be a forum for discussion of Coastside issues, and not a platform for me.  Everyone has the right to reply to any story in comments. Anyone can start a topic in Town Hall. Anyone can submit a story to Coastsider itself.  I’ve published major opinion pieces and plenty of comments from both sides of the divide. My only rule is that we carry on this conversation in a civil manner. To that end, I’ve edited, deleted, or bounced submissions from both sides.

Today, I had to revoke the Town Hall posting privileges of one of our members, mainly for being disruptive and insulting.  I hated doing it, but my priority is to make sure that the community has a friendly place to discuss the issues.

I try to avoid a lot of introspective writing on Coastsider.  I think we all lose if we’re spending more time discussing the discussion than the issues that matter in the community. However, I think it’s important that everyone understand what we’re up to here.

At a special meeting last night, the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District appointed Curt Riffle, a long-time resident of the area, to represent Ward 4 (Mountain View and Los Altos), the seat vacated by Deane Little’s resignation in August 2006. Curt Riffle was one of four finalists in the second-round of extensive interviews at the special meeting. Riffle will serve the balance of the term, which expires in November 2008.