Amgen presentation

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Amgen corporation invited me to participate in a "Green Bag Lunch Seminar" this week. We showed the Surfrider video From Sea to Summit as part of a informational seminar on stormwater runoff. I gave a quick overview of what the Surfrider Foundation is doing in Ventura County, and how residents can get involved.

A representative from the City of Thousand Oaks gave an overview of local water quality issues, and Amgen staff provided an overview of the steps the corporation has taken to manage stormwater on their campus.

Afterward, I took a quick tour and saw a few of their stormwater projects, well integrated into their university-like campus.



Dear Paul,

On behalf of Amgen Thousand Oaks, I would like to extend a sincere thank you for speaking at our green bag lunch & learn event. The green bag event would not have been such a great success without someone from the Surfrider Foundation presenting at the event. You did an excellent job explaining how your organization is working to help protect our watershed through conservation, activism, education and research.

The educational video "From Sea to Summit: A Journey through the Watershed" was educational gave good overview on the small lifestyle changes that we can make as individuals to support a healthy environment. We had approximately 90 people attend the event (over 40 on line and about 50 people in the room). I hope you found your participation as a useful opportunity to interact with others that truly care about an environment. Again, I appreciate the time and energy you have devoted to Amgen’s green bag lunch & learn series.

Best Regards,

Amgen Environmental Health & Safety Coordinator

Watershed U - Learning Opportunity

Coming this Spring:

WHEN: Every Thursday afternoon April 22-May 27, 2010, at 4-7pm

WHAT: Watershed U. - Ventura River is a course for those who live, work, or spend time in the Ventura River watershed and are interested in understanding how the river works for you, and how you can help provide stewardship.

Join us at Patagonia headquarters in Ventura as we explore the background information necessary for watershed management; history, geology, water supply, land use, agriculture, floodplain management, water quality, ecology, and conservation.

Sign up now to reserve your spot; visit Watershed U - Ventura River to register.

Continuing education credits will be available for K-12 teachers, water resource professionals, and other stakeholders. College credit will likely be available for an additional fee.

Recreational Rivers

Saturday Feb 6, 2010:
Santa Clara River Kayak Run

I got a call Saturday morning. "Ventura River's only 70 cfs at Foster Park. But it looks like the Santa Clara may be do-able."

We are so fortunate to have two rivers in Ventura...

The rain had just started to come down in full force again. "I'm in. Let's do it!"



Most folks don't consider the recreational possibilities on these rivers in Southern California. After all, they're dry most of the time... Until they flood, and that's often not a safe option. But this year's series of storms has raised base flows so that the couple of inches of rain that fell on Friday made for potentially steady flows in the rivers.

The Ventura River had about 170cfs (cubic feet per second) in Matilija Creek, which when added to the 70 cfs in the North Fork made for over 200 cfs in the upper Ventura River. Enough to paddle a kayak in that reach of the river. The problem was that Casitas Water District was diverting the bulk of the flow into Lake Casitas at the Robles Diversion. So flows downstream of the diversion dam were still far from boat-able.








That's how four of us ended up driving out to Santa Paula with a carload of kayaks on Saturday afternoon. We put in at a steep streambank, and paddled into the fast-flowing chocolate brown river. The river quickly moved us downstream, with multiple opportunities for small surfing waves and class 2 rapids. Despite the rain and drizzle, we were having a blast!











Several miles downstream we approached the Vern-Freeman Diversion Dam. An operator on the intake works starting waving frantically at us as we approached, pointing us to the opposite bank. We knew the dam would mean a portage, and it turned out to be fairly straightforward once we bushwhacked through the willows.







After dragging our boats along the dam and lowering them down, we put back in below the man-made cascade. Paddling along the face of the dam and over to the fish intake, it was obvious why there is a need for re-design for fish passage around this facility. A fish would have a hard time detecting the fish intake from the bigger flows coming over the dam, and even then a drain pipe was delivering a muddy soup right into the entrance pool. A recent CalTrout legal settlement has initiated a design process that will hopefully remedy this problem. After all, steelhead must make it past this obstacle in order to reach the endless habitat in the Sespe Wilderness upstream.












Downstream of the diversion, things started to get a bit more urban. We passed below several large freeway bridges, wondering if anyone was noticing the small flotilla headed down the river. The bridges produced a few nice holes to play in before heading downstream again.










Down in the lower Santa Clara, just a couple of miles up from the estuary, is where things got a bit interesting. Here we almost got lost in the numerous small channels flowing through the willows. It took a bit of creative bushwhacking to find our way out to open water again. A short way downstream, we flushed out flocks of duck that became silhouetted against the sunset sky. It almost felt as if we were in another part of the state.







Tired from paddling all afternoon, and with daylight dwindling fast, I was glad to see the Harbor Blvd bridge ahead. We made the 14 miles down to the estuary from Santa Paula in about 3 hours.












We are looking forward to the next rains in the hopes that we will be able to paddle down the Ventura River. Let us know if you want to come along!




More on recreational rivers here:

http://brt-insights.blogspot.com/2009/02/santa-clara-river-overview-california.html

Urban Runoff in the News

Vince Kinsch, chairman of the Ventura Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation was interviewed today at the flooded Sanjon Rd.

Sanjon Rd is an iconic example of the urban runoff problem. Our chapter has been advocating for a wetland restoration and urban watershed program as a demonstration of Solving the Urban Runoff Problem.

In the news today on KCAL Channel 9




link to this blog post and video here: http://www.venturariver.org/2010/02/urban-runoff-in-news.html


Related news: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jan/24/storm-drains-push-debris-pollutants-into-the/

Beach restoration moving forward

Feb 1, 2010 - Surfers' Point Working Group Meeting

The working group met for an update on plans to break ground later this year. Funding is now available to construct the $3M first phase of the project that will relocate the bike path and parking lot near the rivermouth. Construction will begin after Labor Day 2010.

The city engineer has been able to secure a source for the 26,000 tons of cobble and 18,000 tons of sand that will be used to enhance and restore the beach. This huge mass of river rock from nearby Santa Paula Creek will be used to construct a 'cobble berm' on the back-beach, to be buried underneath reconstructed sand dunes.



This design will provide protection from future erosion with a natural alternative to the concrete seawalls that makes Ventura County famous. (2/3 of our coast has been hardened with concrete or rock structures.)



more here: http://surferspoint.org/

VHC Land Donation

Ventura Hillsides Conservancy Receives Third Land Donation

This donation builds on 2 other donations near Foster Park that will help preserve the floodplain in the long-term vision to create a 'River Parkway.' Protecting the floodplain from future development benefits water quality, habitat and public access.

Press release Ventura, CA (January 25, 2010). The Ventura Hillsides Conservancy is the recipient of a third donation of land to add to its conservation holdings. The gift came from Ventura County residents Donald Moore and Gary Moore.

The parcel, consisting of approximately ½ acre, is adjacent to the two parcels donated to the Conservancy in 2009 by the Waldo Trust. The Moore and Waldo properties are located between the Ventura River and the Ventura River Trail to the south of Foster Park.

Donald Moore, who lives in Ojai, and his younger brother, Gary Moore, who lives in Ventura, donated the scenic riverside property that they inherited from their parents, Leslie Moore and Neva Moore. The family chose to give the acreage to the local land trust to ensure that it would protected as open space, said Donald Moore. Gary Moore added that he was pleased to give the lush riparian area to the Conservancy because “it should be protected from development.”

Like the Waldo Trust parcels, the Moore property is a remnant of a larger lot that once fronted Ventura Avenue, and was created from the old Rancho Santa Ana subdivision. As children, the brothers recall living in a house on land that is now part of the Ojai Freeway (State Route 33). They have fond memories of playing in and around the Ventura River. “It was a vibrant neighborhood” says Gary Moore. “It was a great place for a kid to grow up. I spent most of my early childhood in the river bottom and climbing the nearby hill. I rolled through so much poison oak that I basically became immune to it. I also remember that there were no leash laws back then and everyone seemed to have a dog running around. It truly was a special place.”

When the state built the Freeway in the 1960s, large portions of the Moore, Waldo, and neighboring properties were taken through eminent domain, leaving a string of remnant parcels along the riverside west of the State right of way. The remnant parcel donated by the Moore family had remained in the Moore family’s ownership since that time.

The Moores were very pleased to have found an organization that will hold and care for their family’s property. “We know the property is in good hands now, and that is comforting to us” says Gary Moore. “I encourage other owners of Ventura River land and hillside land to donate to the Conservancy. They are our local protectors of open space land, so we all should support their mission.”

In the news: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jan/29/resorting-the-river-parcel-by-parcel/

Coastal flooding - Sanjon

Recent high tides and large surf have built up the berm along the beach in Ventura. What was a sandy beach is now a cobble berm... cobble originating from the Ventura River. Wave overtopping of this berm has filled the Sanjon estuary, backing up all the way onto the street. The road has been closed since the weekend. Several years ago, State Parks ended the practice of artificially breaching the lagoon in order to allow natural restoration of the area. This has been successful in allowing the wetland to regenerate, and often forms a longer meandering flow path before discharging to the ocean. As we have documented in "Solving the Urban Runoff Problem," restoring this wetland would help solve water quality problems as well as the ongoing flooding of lower Sanjon road.