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Bulletin Board
A First For Contra Costa
The Environmental Alliance, a local volunteer organization, is spearheading Contra Costa County's first watershed management plan in the 10,400-acre Alhambra Creek watershed. The watershed stretches from Briones Park to Martinez and covers more than 6,000 separate parcels, including rural, agricultural and urban lands. The Contra Costa Resource Conservation District, which is sponsoring the new planning effort by the alliance, has persuaded a group of Natural Resource Conservation Service scientists to provide an initial assessment of the watershed's health and is considering using volunteer monitoring to evaluate baseline water quality prior to implementing the watershed plan. The plan is scheduled for completion in 1999. Contact: CeCe Sellgren, Conta Costa RCD, (510)672-6522
Dioxin Right to Know
A network of refinery workers, neighbors and environmentalists recently pressured the U.S. EPA into granting a petition to list dioxin and 27-dioxin like compounds under the right-to-know Toxic Release Inventory Program (TRI). According to Greg Karras of Communities for a Better Environment, which organized the network and sponsored the petition, dioxin in the most toxic of known pollutants. "The public has a right to know about dioxin discharges, particularly since other less toxic chemicals have been reported for years," he says. The EPA has also requested comment on lowering the reporting threshold for dioxin, which is usually produced at levels lower than those of other TRI-listed chemicals. A final decision on whether to list dioxin will be made after the agency determines a reporting threshold for dioxin that is lower than the current 10,000-25,000 pound annual limit for industry. Karras says the only way to solve the dioxin problem is with a threshold of zero. The July 7 deadline for comments on the proposed listing was extended to September 5 at the request of the Chlorine Chemistry Council. Contact: Greg Karras (415) 243-8373
North Bay Slough Studies
During the years that the Navy occupied Mare Island it kept the Napa River dredged to allow passage for submarines, altering the flow of water and sediment in the river and the adjacent sloughs. Now that the Navy is gone, those flows are of profound interest to scientists planning the restoration of the 40,000-acre wetland between the river and Sonoma Creek. "The big question is, does all the water flow in one layer in the sloughs or not," says Geoff Schladow of UC Davis, which is cooperating with the U.S. Geological Survey in an on-going study of the sloughs. Although Schladow notes that restoration of the wetland will further alter the flows, he says the study is focusing on existing flows with a view to creating conceptual and mathematical models that will help guide restoration. Contact: Geoff Schladow (916)752-6932
Pow-Wowing on Diazinon
A public-private committee aimed at stemming the flow of the pervasive pesticide diazinon into Estuary waterways just released its first products - four summary reports addressing water quality and toxicity, target watersheds, outdoor use and control efforts (see Now in Print). According to Urban Pesticide Committee chair Tom Mumley of the S.F. Regional Board, the evolving control strategy consists of outreach and education (with emphasis on integrated pest management), as well as regulatory reform activities such as as improving labels and addressing water quality issues within the pesticide pre-registration process. Diazinon is one the most commonly used general purpose pesticides in California, and is frequently found in Bay-Delta urban runoff and creeks at levels that are lethal to test organisms and exceed the state-recommended maximum of 80 ppt. In 1996, levels topping 50,000 ppt were found in Castro Valley street gutters. "We have yet to determine or rule out whether the problem is due to overuse, improper use or proper use," says Mumley. The Committee plans additional studies while implementing and refining its prevention program, possibly using Castro Valley as a pilot watershed. Contact: Tom Mumley (510)286-0962
Invasive Species Get Western Focus
Forty-eight representatives from 19 states, four provinces and the islands of Guam and Hawaii gathered for the first meeting of the Western Regional Panel on invasive species in Portland, Oregon this July. Created through the recent reauthorization of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Species Prevention and Control Act, the panel is tackling the tough task of preventing the spread of exotics in the marine and freshwater systems of the West. Panel attendees - including representatives from CALFED, the S.F. Estuary Project and the S.F. Estuary Institute - heard horror stories and discussed vectors and control options for everything from brown tree snakes to zebra mussels, then set up procedures and committees to develop workplans. Contact: Marcia Brockbank (510)286-0780
Education Segue
Anyone wondering why those familiar and award-winning Kids in Creeks workshops and Teacher Action Grants seem to have been taken over by an unfamiliar organization called the Aquatic Outreach Institute needn't fear a hostile or out-of-state takeover. This is the same S.F. Estuary Institute education program, complete with staff and materials, it's just off on its own and wearing a new label. The program separated from the Institute this spring. Since its inception 10 years ago, the program has, among other things, educated nearly 1000 K-12th grade teachers, inspired numerous school-based environmental restoration projects and community watershed awareness efforts, and created a computer program on S.F.Bay that runs as a permanent exhibit in eight musuems and visitor centers. Contact: Kathy Kramer (510)231-5655
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