Matilija Dam final design grant approved

Another grant has been approved for the Matilija Dam Ecosystem Restoration Project.  $5M from the state Wildlife Conservation Board will fund final design and engineering for the removal of the dam as well as downstream levees.  This funding will keep the project moving forward after the current work under a $3.3M California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) grant is completed in 2021 and get these projects "shovel ready."

Concept illustration of Matilija Dam with two 12' diameter holes to flush sediment from the reservoir

An excerpt from the press release at CDFW News:

At its May 20, 2020 quarterly meeting, the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved approximately $36.2 million in grants to help restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat throughout California. Some of the 31 approved projects will benefit fish and wildlife — including some endangered species — while others will provide public access to important natural resources. Several projects will also demonstrate the importance of protecting working landscapes that integrate economic, social and environmental stewardship practices beneficial to the environment, landowners and the local community.

Funding for these projects comes from a combination of sources including the Habitat Conservation Fund and bond measures approved by voters to help preserve and protect California’s natural resources.

Funded projects include:

• A $5 million grant to the Ventura County Watershed Protection District for a planning project that will complete final design plans for Matilija Dam removal and for three downstream levee construction/rehabilitation projects as essential components of the Matilija Dam Ecosystem Restoration Project, a watershed-scale dam removal initiative and one of California’s largest dam removal efforts located five miles northwest of Ojai in Ventura County

... For more information about the WCB please visit wcb.ca.gov.

With support from the Resources Legacy Foundation (RLF) through its Open Rivers Fund, the Matilija Dam Funding Committee has successfully assisted the Ventura County Watershed Protection District in raising over $20M towards the removal of the obsolete Matilija Dam.  This latest news confirms the successful strategy outlined in the 2017 Funding Plan developed for this complex project:

Concurrent with the design work undertaken with the CDFW Prop 1 grant funds, the Subcommittee will actively pursue additional funding to enable design and construction of those individual Project components that are not likely to be significantly altered in bringing the Project to 65% design ready. Such funding would advance the Project on a faster timeline. Moreover, developing “shovel ready” project components will be critical to securing funding from currently existing state funding sources and evolving legislative opportunities. If successful, this strategy will not only lead to dam removal sooner, but significantly reduce the overall cost of the Project.


Matilija Dam Grant Funding 2016-2020

Dec 2016-2020  Resources Legacy Fund/Open Rivers Project          $707,500
May 2017          CDFW    65% Design Planning Project                  $3,300,504

Sept 2017          NFWF     Estuarine and Coastal Modeling                $278,002
May 2019          CDFW     Santa Ana Bridge Replacement            $13,426,938
May 2020          WCB       Final Design                                             $5,025,000

Total:                                                                                               $22,737,944  

On this blog:

November 30, 2016
Hewlett Foundation support for Matilija Dam Removal

December 29, 2016
Matilija Dam State Prop 1 grant

April 27, 2017

Matilija Dam Funding Plan

May 24, 2017

Ventura County accepts $3.3M grant

February 12, 2018

County Approves Matilija Dam Contract

August 2, 2018

Matilija Dam Studies Begin

August 8, 2018

Coastal Studies for Dam Removal

May 14, 2019

Santa Ana Bridge replacement awarded $13.4M grant

May 28, 2020

Matilija Dam final design grant approved

In the News:

Matilija Dam removal plan gets $5 million boost, Ojai Valley News, June 5, 2020

Promenade Emergency Repairs

Promenade revetment after construction, June 2020

During the week of January 6, 2020, City crews were notified of a large void beneath the Ventura Promenade. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the revetment and foundation material had eroded away.

Sandbag temporary protection, Ventura Promenade

February 8, 2020

The City initially pumped concrete to fill the void under the walkway to prevent collapse.

The final project phase consists of installing approximately 200 linear feet of up to 4-Ton size rock revetment along the beach side of the Promenade starting just east of the beach access stairs at Paseo de Playa. Work began the week of May 1 and access along the promenade will be blocked while construction is underway. More information here.

Equipment placing boulders, Ventura Promenade, May 5, 2020
(photo from webcam Surfline.com)

It has been almost a decade since the last time rocks were placed in front of the promenade.  At that time sufficient funding was not available for the planned improvements, including replacing the stairs and installing a shower at Paseo de Plaza.  As predicted, that section of the promenade will soon need a re-work.  

Ventura Promenade, ongoing erosion at the site of the last reinforcement in 2011

Work is currently being done under an Emergency Permit from the Coastal Commission.  By definition, the Coastal Act provides for "emergency" when "unforeseen" events occur.  Will this next section of the promenade be another "emergency" or will the City undertake comprehensive planning and budgeting to maintain our beaches?

Unfortunately this 50-year-old infrastructure is showing its age, and the cost of maintaining or replacing it may become untenable in the face of rising seas.

On this blog:   Ventura Promenade repairs, May 11, 2011

City of Ventura:  https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/1142/City-Projects

Elwah steelhead success story

More good news from the Elwah River...  An article in Northwest Sportsman reveals the incredible resilience of the steelhead which have rebounded faster than predicted following the removal of two dams on the Elwah River in Washington State.  The video, "Rising from the Ashes" tells the story from the perspective of the dedicated biologists and volunteers who have undertaken annual snorkel surveys on the remote and hard to access river in the wilderness of the Olympic National Park.

The rapid recovery of the summer steelhead on the Elwah demonstrate the value of resident rainbow trout above dams.  Given the chance, even after 100 years with no possibility of returning from the ocean, these fish can make a comeback.

This is real world confirmation of the hope for recovering the endangered southern steelhead populations blocked by Matilija Dam.  With no human intervention, other than just getting out of the way, we can realize a rapid recovery of the native fish and the ecosystem on which we all rely.




New Film Highlights Elwha Summer-runs ‘Rising From The Ashes’, Northwest Sportsman, April 23, 2020

On this blog: steelhead

Ecosystem flows

Natural flows in rivers throughout the American West have been significantly disrupted by dams and diversions, groundwater extraction, land use changes, and other human influences.  Over time this has led to the decline of freshwater ecosystems to the point that many species have become endangered.  For instance, rivers rely on natural floods for maintenance of the river channel and floodplain, and flow of critical nutrients and biota.  Large dams mute or eliminate downstream flooding (winter flood pulses) by capturing these flows in a reservoir.  Similarly most western rivers are drying up during the dry months (summer/early fall base flows), an increasing concern with more frequent drought and heat due to climate change, and the primary concern on the Ventura River.

Functional Flows, figure from "A Path Forward for California's Fresh Water Ecosystems", PPIC 2019

The diagram shown here illustrates alterations to the natural flow regime throughout the year and a proposed "Functional flow regime."  The aim of functional flows is to re-establish some of the basic river functions in highly modified systems to restore ecosystem function.

The question is how to develop a management paradigm to allocate water to functional flows and ecosystem health?

A recent report by the Public Policy Institute of California presents the case for Ecosystem Based Management as a solution to California's water problems.  Maven's Notebook presents an excellent summary of recent discussions along with the technical references.

In particular, this report concludes that the current management focus on endangered species is failing, and we need a more holistic approach:

Ecosystem-based management emphasizes the simultaneous management of water, land, and species to improve ecosystem condition for native biodiversity and human uses. It shifts the management emphasis to the social, economic, and environmental benefits that come from healthy ecosystems, rather than narrowly focusing on mitigating harm to protected species.

Sustainable watershed management plans, backed by binding comprehensive agreements, are the best way to accomplish ecosystem-based management. These agreements can be adopted by state and federal regulators to meet Clean Water Act and ESA requirements and can align other agency priorities and actions.

With ecosystem-based management, there are a suite of actions available.  The first is to establish an ecosystem water budget that is an allocation of water for the environment that functions much like a senior water right that can store, trade, and flexibly allocate that water to respond to changing conditions.

An outline of this management approach is presented in the PPIC Policy Recommendations:

Promote inclusive planning and governance

• Identify the desired ecosystem condition
• Establish metrics
• Provide strong scientific support
• Set up transparent governance
• Ensure reliable funding

Employ multiple ecosystem management tools

• Establish ecosystem water budgets
• Employ functional flows
• Manage native and non-native species
• Manage at the appropriate scale

Encourage sustainable watershed management plans

• Align agency actions
• Promote comprehensive agreements
• Set timelines and backstops
• Update water quality control plans
• Incentivize or mandate plans

It is important to highlight the differences between ecosystem-based management and other, often similar approaches. For example, 

      * ecosystem management seeks to manage the ecosystem for species conservation goals and objectives, such as resilient populations of native plants and animals. This is accomplished principally by constraining land and water use and often uses recovery of protected species as a primary objective. In contrast, 

      * ecosystem-based management integrates human uses into the setting of conservation goals and objectives, balancing the uses of the resource. Ecosystem-based management also differs from 

      * Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), which focuses principally on coordination and funding of local water management projects while managing their impacts on ecosystems.


Renewed discussion of Ecosystem-based Management supports the vision presented in the Ventura River Ecosystem blog.  This approach applies readily to the Ventura River Watershed, especially with ongoing planning for this priority basin under SGMA.  The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act provides for self-organized groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) and required groundwater sustainability plans.  However, in our case the Ventura River would ideally combine the two existing GSA's into a single watershed-based agency to better realize the Ecosystem-based management approach.

On this blog:

Ventura River; Ecosystem-based Management

Reference:

text in italics above quoted from: 

Mavens Notebook: Ecosystem-based Management: A New Paradigm for Managing California's Freshwater Ecosystems

A Path Forward for California’s Freshwater Ecosystems, PPIC Water Policy Center, December 2019

• PPIC Policy Recommendations

More information:

TED GRANTHAM: THE EVOLUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS IN CALIFORNIA

March rains

March storm moves over the Ojai Valley. This thunderstorm produced a brief period of hail.

After, a record dry January and February, the rains returned in March.  Perhaps not the "March miracle" of the past, but certainly appreciated given the potential for an otherwise very dry year.  At 13" for the season, Ojai is still way below the 23" average rainfall, but it looks like a wet spring ahead.

28 day Rainfall Map, March 2020

The storm of March 11 delivered almost 5 inches at Old Man Mountain, which typically registers the highest rainfall in the region.  Old Man Mountain lies at the headwaters of Matilija Creek, resulting in quickly rising waters during a downpour.  

24 hour rainfall, March 16, 2020

The hydrograph below shows flows in the river for the month of March at Matilija Creek and Foster Park.  The March 16th rain event resulted in peak flows for the season.

Ventura River above Hwy 150,  5pm
March 16, 2020

Ventura River at Santa Ana bridge,  6pm
March 16, 2020

This short burst of energy in the river moved significant amounts of sand and gravel sized sediment downstream.  In addition to visible deposition in Matilija reservoir, sedimentation was evident at Robles diversion and the reach downstream in the Ventura River Preserve.   Gravel is an important habitat consideration for the endangered steelhead, which lay eggs in "redds", or pockets formed in the gravel.  The effects of the Thomas Fire continue to be evident as the river transports sediment eroded from the mountains downstream, to the benefit of riverine habitat. 

Robles Diversion dam, March 19, 2020

Ventura River downstream of Robles Diversion, gravel bars, March 19, 2020

Ventura River Preserve, March 21, 2020

Ventura River Preserve, April 1, 2020

Flows in the river were also translated into rising groundwater at the Ventura River Water District wells and increased storage in Lake Casitas.

Water Supply, Courtesy of Ventura River Water District
April 1, 2020

At time of writing the watershed is preparing for another potentially significant storm and more rainfall for the week of April 5.


On this blog:
Matilija Reservoir March 2020
Steelhead spawning surveys
Thomas Fire


Reference:
Ventura County Rainfall map
Casitas Municipal Water District
Ventura River Water District

Matilija Reservoir March 2020

Matilija Reservoir March 17, 2020

It appears that our March rainfall event moved more sediment into Matilija reservoir.   Flows in the upstream delta are currently split so that the remnant reservoir has two inlets, one on each bank.  Last year saw significant deposits at the right bank (background of this photo.)  Here, new deposits are visible on the left bank (in the foreground of the photo).

Matilija Reservoir March 21, 2020

By March 21, the reservoir elevation had been lowered due to Casitas Municipal Water District's operations to release water from Matilija reservoir for downstream diversion at Robles.  This revealed the extent of the sedimentation, and allowed the inlet flows to erode a channel.  Note that although the creek was flowing clear, the reservoir still had suspended sediment lingering from earlier in the week.

The hydrograph below shows the flows recorded at USGS gages just below Matilija Dam (red line 11114495) and downstream at Foster Park (green line 11118500).  The difference between these lines is approximately what is diverted into Lake Casitas (excepting other inflow from North Fork Matilija Creek.)

Note the small peak at Foster Park on March 19 when the operation of Robles diversion was temporarily interrupted for maintenance, perhaps due to the influx of sand and gravel moving downstream.

Robles Diversion dam, 6pm March 19, 2020

Robles Diversion, daily and year to date Acre-feet, March 2020

On this blog: Ventura River post-fire sedimentation 2019


USGS Flow gages:
Foster Park:      https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ca/nwis/uv?site_no=11118500
Matilija Creek: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ca/nwis/uv?site_no=11114495

Casitas Municipal Water District diversions:  https://www.casitaswater.org/your-water/learn-about-diversions

Lower Ventura River - a decade of cleanup

Almost a decade after the initial cleanup in the lower Ventura River, nonprofits and volunteers continue to take on the endless role as "Trash man" to those who leave their waste in the river bottom.

This video illustrates the dirty job undertaken by Dan Hulst, Preserve Director with the Ventura Land Trust.  It is still a full time job...

The Lower Ventura River from Jason Hernandez on Vimeo.


Looking back to 2011, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, seeking to bring attention to a growing problem,  performed surveys of the area and estimated over 200 people living in the river bottom with no trash or sanitary facilities.  The sheer volume of toxic and human waste poised to flush into the ocean was overwhelming.

In 2012, the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy, now Ventura Land Trust, acquired the property downstream of the Main Street bridge.  Working through a process set up through a Trash TMDL, local authorities served eviction notices to the camps, and the Conservancy was able to come in and clean up the mess.


Eviction Day (2012) from Matt Linkin on Vimeo.




Ventura Land Trust continues to monitor and maintain the area, working with law enforcement and organizing volunteer workdays to clean up the never-ending mess.  A long term solution has yet to be developed, but social service agencies and nonprofits continue to make progress on improving access to shelters and transitional housing for those who desire.


For more information and to volunteer, contact:

Dan Hulst, Preserve Director, Ventura Land Trust: dan@venturalandtrust.org

Ben Pitterle, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper: ben@sbck.org


On this blog:

2011:
Stream Team Trash Survey
Salmon Run focuses on trash issue

2012:
VHC River Cleanup
More River Cleanups

2013:
Ventura River Cleanup short film