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Bulletin Board

Environmental Indicators

A list of 101 "scientifically defensible" indicators of the Estuary's health was completed at a January workshop, according to the Environmental Defense Fund's Rod Fujita. Scientists who participated in the workshop have been developing the list since October. To come up with it, Fujita says they divided the Estuary and its watershed into manageable areas for analysis, such as upstream tributaries or the greater San Francisco Bay, identified habitat types within those areas, then selected indicators based on such criteria as the amount of data available, relevance to important ecological processes and scientific validity. Fujita says the focus now is on defining target threshold levels for a set of the best indicators, so "we'll know what we're shooting for," a process he expects to take at least a year. Scientists are also discussing how to whittle the list of indicators down to two or three for each category - producing a short list of leading ecological indicators that can eventually be presented to the general public. (510)658-8008 or (415)721-7680

Water Resources and Delta Restoration Act

Filling the taps of the 49 million people expected to inhabit California by the year 2020 (a leap of 19 million from 1990) is one of the purposes of the proposed Water Resources and Delta Restoration Act of 1996. The act, numbered SB900 and championed by State Senator Jim Costa, would place a general obligation bond measure (for around $500 million) on the November 1996 ballot designed to help finance a more reliable water system for the state, with emphasis on the implementation of core actions common to any comprehensive long-term solution to water supply and environmental problems confronting the Bay-Delta Estuary. According to Costa, the act is designed "to take the CALFED Bay-Delta process and complement and implement it." Among other things, the bond measure would fund fish and wildlife habitat restoration and protection measures, levee rehabilitation, low interest loans and grants for wastewater and ag drainage water treatment facilities, and relief for land retirement in San Joaquin Valley areas with poor drainage and high selenium levels. (916)445-4641

Legality of Parcels

Local governments must now recognize the legality of parcels of created prior to 1893 (when state subdivision map act laws were first enacted) according to new 1995 appellate court rulings. The ruling forces Santa Clara County to recognize more existing legal lots in remote areas of the County's watersheds than could now be created under the County's General Plan and zoning laws, according to Santa Clara's Bill Shoe. He says the additional smaller lots could entice more residential speculation than would occur on the larger lots still viable for ranching. Concerned about possible long-term, cumulative impacts, the County recently implemented a stop gap measure to reinstate discretionary review of individual building sites within the Coyote and Anderson Reservoir basins of the Diablo Range. Until the local water district's watershed planning efforts gain more momentum, development of homes in these watersheds will get closer scrutiny from agencies responsible for protecting the environmental resources within these two basins. (408)299-2521

Marsh Restoration Funding

Marsh restoration got top billing from U.S. Fish & Wildlife's S.F. Bay Program in 1995, with $145,000 in program funds supporting either planning work or on-the-ground restoration for Sonoma's Tolay Creek, Novato's Scottsdale Marsh, Hayward's Ora Loma Marsh and Vallejo's Cullinan Ranch. The five-year-old- program, dedicated to protecting and restoring the natural resources of the Estuary, is now seeking proposals for future cooperative projects. Recent year total program funding has averaged $250,000. In addition to restoration, the 1995 program supported studies on the migration of western sandpipers, the effects of ag drainage on Delta smelt, the value of tidal marshes to estuarine fish, and the effects of dredging-related contaminants on fish. Dollars also went to the S.F. Estuary Institute's "Teaching About Watersheds" conference, ESTUARY newsletter and U.S. Fish & Wildlife's participation in implementation of the S.F. Estuary Project's CCMP. For more information on past projects, or to propose future projects, contact: Richard Morat (916)979-2116 ext. 334.

New Coast Protection License Plate

A whale's tail graces the new coast protection license plate offered by the California Coastal Commission. The tail is "a symbol for a clean, productive, healthy ocean," says the Commission's Amy Wiens. Proceeds from the plate sale will help support the highly successful Adopt-a-Beach and coast cleanup programs, which face major funding cuts, according to Wiens. She says Coast Cleanup Day 1995 got 37,000 people to California's shorelines to pick up 450,000 pounds of debris, including 500 tires, three cars and a cement truck abandoned on the Yuba River. The plates cost $50 or more over the normal registration fee, depending on how personalized they are. To order call (800)COAST4U.

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