untitled

Russian River Watershed Council

Full Council Meeting

Draft Minutes of July 10, 2004

9AM - 1PM Cloverdale Veterans Memorial

Thanks Jerome Dix for facilitating our meeting! A quorum of voting members (15) was present at 9:25.

AGENDA APPROVAL - The agenda was rearranged because the RRIIS presentation was postponed to the September meeting. It was important to have a live internet connection for proper presentation. Caucus breakouts were to extend through the morning break. A motion was made to approve the amended agenda (Scott Barrow, Chuck Vaughn). Motion passed unanimously.

MINUTES OF 5/15/04 APPROVAL &endash; After clarification from Marian Jones on the necessity to follow the Activity, Project and Program Profile on pages 50-51 in the POA for activities such as Fred Euphrat's Water Budget class, the revised minutes were passed with 13 ayes, 0 nos and 2 abstentions.

AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENTS &endash; Keenan Foster from the SCWA announced that there will not be a regular representative from the SCWA attending RRWC meetings because of budget constraints. Jody Hymes commented that the timing of their withdrawal at attendance was ironic because of recent statements about the need for public input.

Scott Barrow introduced two new members of the Environmental Caucus: Jody Hymes from the OWL Foundation and Phylis Burt from the Sierra Club.

Chuck Vaughn reported from the RRIIS Committee. He welcomed any member input. He emphasized that now is the time. The development contract is coming to an end and the RRIIS will be presented officially at the September meeting. Outreach of all kinds is welcomed.

Robert Clemens from the Sonoma section of the Russian River Clean up announced the clean up date is September 25th. He reported that the woman who has been helping in the office is tied up and they are looking for someone with computer skills to step in between August 15th and September 20th. The job mainly involves data entry. The woman who has been doing it will help the new person get up to speed.

Joan Kelley reported that the next phase of the northern section of the Russian River clean up by Russian River Unlimited between Ukiah and Hopland will be next weekend on July 17th. The Hopland to Cloverdale section will be done on September 11th, the same day as our next meeting.

Jody Hymes from the OWL Society, reported that they were looking into a problem on Green Valley Road where a landowner is tearing out the riparian zone on his property. She was looking for a pamphlet about the dos and don'ts of work around waterways. The POE section of the Chaw group has discussed such guides. Jerome said the RCD has a video on the subject. The representation from Fish and Game said he was aware of the problem and he would check it out.

OFFICERS' REPORT &endash; Rusty Klassen reported that the meeting with the Corps of Engineers in San Francisco was well attended by both organizations. There was a good dialogue concerning cooperative measures under the shadow of budgetary constraints. He felt all parties came out of the meeting with a better understanding of how the two organizations could work together in the future and a renewed desire to do so.

Rusty also reported that the Steering Committee has been reviewing the Coordinator position. Joan Kelley and Scott Barrow have been working with Linda on that review. In the midst of the review an unexpected development occurred that forced Linda to request a leave of absence. This has thrown things off but we will see how things develop. Rusty "encourage(d) members to keep on keeping on. When you feel worn down, take a deep breath and get up and keep going."

The officers have been in place for one year. It is time to review and vote on those positions. The officers have been Fred Euphrat and Rusty Klassen for President and Vice President, Joan Kelley has been Treasurer and Kay McCabe has been Secretary. Rusty agreed to continue for at least six months and Joan agreed to continue. Fred announced that he needed to step down for now because the demands of the rest of his life are too great to be able to fulfill the duties of President or Vice President properly. He urged the RRWC to continue to reexamine our structure. Kay McCabe was not present but it was agreed that she had her hands full with her lead role in organizing the Russian River Celebration. Also it was decided that if people do not actively step up to the plate, they should not be voted in. Dave Berman stated that he would be willing to take one of the positions on a temporary basis until the positions were officially filled. Jody Hymes also volunteered to do the same. Judy Christianson made a motion to renew the officers that agreed to continue, (Rusty Klassen and Joan Kelley), and to continue to look for replacements. There was more discussion and the motion was renewed by Bob Rawson and seconded by Scott Stegman. The motion passed with 22 ayes, 0 no, 0 abstain. The Council agreed to have Jody Hymes stand in for Vice President and Dave Berman stand in for Secretary until replacements are found

REPORT FROM SOTOYOME RCD - Kerry Williams, from the Sotoyome RCD spoke next. She introduced Rick Kay from the Gualala watershed group. She reported that the Directory is almost done. They are filling in the gaps. The workgroup has almost completed the link on the RRWC website where people can go and fill out forms to be listed in the directory. The draft will go through the POE workgroup before coming to the full Council. One of the requirements is to make the Directory compatible with the RRIIS. Zeno want the database to be searchable, e.g. someone could make a query and find all the RCD's working with the RRIIS.

Kerry said that she has been working on a grant with Fish and Game for a design for Lake Sonoma's Warm Springs Dam Visitors Center. The goal is to make the center more interactive. The RCD has selected a design team. They will be working with the Corps of Engineers and focus groups, that include a public process, Friends of Lake Sonoma and the Tribes. She would like the public process to go through RRWC. She was hoping the September meeting could encompass this process which would take one to one and a half hours. Time is of the essence. They are six months behind. There will be other meetings in Healdsburg, etc. The result of the grant will be the design of the center not the actual construction of it.

September meeting is being planned to be at Mac Murray Ranch, thanks to Chuck Connor and Gallo Vineyards. This site was chosen for the RRIIS roll out. It holds 75 &endash; 100 people. There was concern that there was not enough time for both discussions. Gary Reedy from KRIS passed out a flyer on KRIS and gave a short presentation.

PANEL DISCUSSION - There was a panel presentation and discussion. The panel was comprised of Tom Kendall and Fari Tabatabai from the US Army Corps of Engineers, Randy Poole from the Sonoma County Water Agency and Kathyrn Kuhlman from North Coast Water Quality Control Board.

These are Joan Kelley's notes from the panel discussion:

Tom Kendall from the USACE was the first speaker. He said the Management Plans are important to the Corps. They are looking for ways to plug in: flood protection, restoration. Regulatory role is another aspect. See Power Point handout. He outlined three program approaches of the Corps. 1. Individually authorized studies and projects. 2. Continuing Authorities Programs (CAP) and 3. Special Area Management Plans (SAMP). Each has different eligibility requirements and match demands.

Kat Kuhlman from NCWQB: Region 1 jurisdiction includes Russian River and coastal drainages like Eel River and Klamath River all the way to Oregon border. They administer the rules of the Federal Clean Water Act. Recently program emphasis has been on Non point source pollution (NPS), Government lawsuits, and permit Streamlining. There is a move to separate water quantity monitoring from water quality. An integrated approach is important. They need to be considered together &endash; choose carefully.

Two ways she elaborated on programs by reviewing decisions about:

1) Healdsburg Permit: discharge to groundwater

Judge ruled no discharge to surface water. Must monitor not regulate pollution to river

2) Discharge &endash; Santa Rosa Permits

* Rule making on sediment is better way to regulate discharge for all rivers in region

* Monitoring synoptic studies with USDA for endocrine disruptors. A very exciting development!

* Programs &endash; to keep urban slime from entering waterways include wastewater management inspections for sediment, not only pollutants, ongoing Groundwater study and support for Coho recovery.

Overall program goals include: Development of integrated monitoring &endash; coordinating where, when to sample, standards for temperature, pathogens and Clean Water Act 5 chemicals of concern (Sediment, Temperature, Pathogens, Nutrients, Mercury (Lake Sonoma),TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load).

NCWQB works with County Health Departments on beaches - better monitoring similar to current programs from state and ocean beaches should be extended to rivers.

Randy Poole &endash; SCWA: Working on an Integrated Water Management Plan for Northern California with NCRWQCB (North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board)

June 2005 $500,000 Funding from Prop 50 is being sought by 1. NCRWQCB 2. Department of Fish and Game 3. Coastal Conservancy as they identify projects by March 2005 to submit to state and include local Jurisdictions, agencies, federal government to Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, EPA and NOAA Fisheries. Focus is recovery of Coho Salmon but it will benefit other species

State coming out with requirements in the next 30 days with California vs Federal considerations

The North coast has only 3% of California's population @ 1,000,000 This is a disadvantage to attract funds when funds are highly competitive.

Need integrated plan to present to the state. Need collaboration, need to come together to have a greater voice in Sacramento.Draft hearing will come and then coordinate with other regions in the state

Judy Christianson asked about SCWA deciding to not come to RRWC meetings.

Randy Poole said State is taking $2,000,000.(?)

Fred Euphrat: If Prop 50 coming to North Coast, can we get Special Area Management Plan funded?

Desire in watershed community. The program already here could take SAMP approach.

Randy said it is worth discussion.

Rusty: Biological study Hatchery related stream study

ESU regions havea complex process.To move forward on projects still have to go through feasibility studies, CEQA review Possible funding sources are EPA and USDA. We must work on state and federal level(3% population of state is a problem) and find partners outside regional groups to make impact.

RRWC &endash; relationship to Corps of Engineers

Old authority to study watershed north of San Francisco Bay. 503 Watershed management

Need to talk to Congressmen and women to use same NCA streams to fix and build program.

To get a SAMP program, applicant needs: 1. Author 2. Be appropriate for study 3. Get authorization for construction 4. Get authorization for funding.

Denny O'Brien, representing the Friends of the Eel River asked about the low flow proposals.

Randy Pools: He noted there are water quality and water quantity issues, conservation and wastewater concerns. He doesn't see how an end to the Eel diversion would happen. He said 7-10,000 coho are in the Russian River system. That is 3-4 times the Chinok in the Eel. The amount of water coming down from Lake Mendocino is used to help the Salmon's survival. To lower the level may put the population at risk. He is not willing to do that.

The RRWA (Russian River Watershed Association) is made up of public agencies and jurisdictions. Need Joint Powers Authority (JPA)? Some funding with Prop 50, Chapter 8. Who will get money? Not clear which organization will receive funds for RRWA.

Richard Shoemaker: He said Proposition 50 promised to counties that they would get money but it did not happen. Need integrated plan &endash; hopefully some money will come to local jurisdictions as well as state agencies. Randy said we need to work together to get water bonds to pass.

Karen Rippey: There is long term funding for long term monitoring. Protocols &endash; matched with other efforts. Replacing old monitoring system.

Scott Stegman: California Toxics Rule situation.

Brock Dolman: Relationship of Lake Pillsbury to Lake Mendocino. Flow, sediment.

Rue Furth: Is there anyone taking the overall view to prevent projects that have unintended consequences &endash; where we can't go back? Rusty: That is a goal not just a plan.

Fred: We can back you up to lobby for funding. We need to be informed to work effectively together.

CAUCUS BREAKOUTS & ADJOURNMENT - The Council broke into Caucuses to define goals for the following year. The meeting adjourned from those meeting.

Russian River Watershed Council	Full Council Meeting
Draft Minutes of July 10, 2004	9AM - 1PM Cloverdale Veterans Memorial


Thanks Jerome Dix for facilitating our meeting! A quorum of voting members (15) was present at 9:25. AGENDA APPROVAL - The agenda was rearranged because the RRIIS presentation was postponed to the September meeting. It was important to have a live internet connection for proper presentation. Caucus breakouts were to extend through the morning break. A motion was made to approve the amended agenda (Scott Barrow, Chuck Vaughn). Motion passed unanimously. MINUTES OF 5/15/04 APPROVAL &endash; After clarification from Marian Jones on the necessity to follow the Activity, Project and Program Profile on pages 50-51 in the POA for activities such as Fred Euphrat's Water Budget class, the revised minutes were passed with 13 ayes, 0 nos and 2 abstentions. AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENTS &endash; Keenan Foster from the SCWA announced that there will not be a regular representative from the SCWA attending RRWC meetings because of budget constraints. Jody Hymes commented that the timing of their withdrawal at attendance was ironic because of recent statements about the need for public input. Scott Barrow introduced two new members of the Environmental Caucus: Jody Hymes from the OWL Foundation and Phylis Burt from the Sierra Club. Chuck Vaughn reported from the RRIIS Committee. He welcomed any member input. He emphasized that now is the time. The development contract is coming to an end and the RRIIS will be presented officially at the September meeting. Outreach of all kinds is welcomed. Robert Clemens from the Sonoma section of the Russian River Clean up announced the clean up date is September 25th. He reported that the woman who has been helping in the office is tied up and they are looking for someone with computer skills to step in between August 15th and September 20th. The job mainly involves data entry. The woman who has been doing it will help the new person get up to speed. Joan Kelley reported that the next phase of the northern section of the Russian River clean up by Russian River Unlimited between Ukiah and Hopland will be next weekend on July 17th. The Hopland to Cloverdale section will be done on September 11th, the same day as our next meeting. Jody Hymes from the OWL Society, reported that they were looking into a problem on Green Valley Road where a landowner is tearing out the riparian zone on his property. She was looking for a pamphlet about the dos and don'ts of work around waterways. The POE section of the Chaw group has discussed such guides. Jerome said the RCD has a video on the subject. The representation from Fish and Game said he was aware of the problem and he would check it out. OFFICERS' REPORT &endash; Rusty Klassen reported that the meeting with the Corps of Engineers in San Francisco was well attended by both organizations. There was a good dialogue concerning cooperative measures under the shadow of budgetary constraints. He felt all parties came out of the meeting with a better understanding of how the two organizations could work together in the future and a renewed desire to do so. Rusty also reported that the Steering Committee has been reviewing the Coordinator position. Joan Kelley and Scott Barrow have been working with Linda on that review. In the midst of the review an unexpected development occurred that forced Linda to request a leave of absence. This has thrown things off but we will see how things develop. Rusty "encourage(d) members to keep on keeping on. When you feel worn down, take a deep breath and get up and keep going." The officers have been in place for one year. It is time to review and vote on those positions. The officers have been Fred Euphrat and Rusty Klassen for President and Vice President, Joan Kelley has been Treasurer and Kay McCabe has been Secretary. Rusty agreed to continue for at least six months and Joan agreed to continue. Fred announced that he needed to step down for now because the demands of the rest of his life are too great to be able to fulfill the duties of President or Vice President properly. He urged the RRWC to continue to reexamine our structure. Kay McCabe was not present but it was agreed that she had her hands full with her lead role in organizing the Russian River Celebration. Also it was decided that if people do not actively step up to the plate, they should not be voted in. Dave Berman stated that he would be willing to take one of the positions on a temporary basis until the positions were officially filled. Jody Hymes also volunteered to do the same. Judy Christianson made a motion to renew the officers that agreed to continue, (Rusty Klassen and Joan Kelley), and to continue to look for replacements. There was more discussion and the motion was renewed by Bob Rawson and seconded by Scott Stegman. The motion passed with 22 ayes, 0 no, 0 abstain. The Council agreed to have Jody Hymes stand in for Vice President and Dave Berman stand in for Secretary until replacements are found REPORT FROM SOTOYOME RCD - Kerry Williams, from the Sotoyome RCD spoke next. She introduced Rick Kay from the Gualala watershed group. She reported that the Directory is almost done. They are filling in the gaps. The workgroup has almost completed the link on the RRWC website where people can go and fill out forms to be listed in the directory. The draft will go through the POE workgroup before coming to the full Council. One of the requirements is to make the Directory compatible with the RRIIS. Zeno want the database to be searchable, e.g. someone could make a query and find all the RCD's working with the RRIIS. Kerry said that she has been working on a grant with Fish and Game for a design for Lake Sonoma's Warm Springs Dam Visitors Center. The goal is to make the center more interactive. The RCD has selected a design team. They will be working with the Corps of Engineers and focus groups, that include a public process, Friends of Lake Sonoma and the Tribes. She would like the public process to go through RRWC. She was hoping the September meeting could encompass this process which would take one to one and a half hours. Time is of the essence. They are six months behind. There will be other meetings in Healdsburg, etc. The result of the grant will be the design of the center not the actual construction of it. September meeting is being planned to be at Mac Murray Ranch, thanks to Chuck Connor and Gallo Vineyards. This site was chosen for the RRIIS roll out. It holds 75 &endash; 100 people. There was concern that there was not enough time for both discussions. Gary Reedy from KRIS passed out a flyer on KRIS and gave a short presentation. PANEL DISCUSSION - There was a panel presentation and discussion. The panel was comprised of Tom Kendall and Fari Tabatabai from the US Army Corps of Engineers, Randy Poole from the Sonoma County Water Agency and Kathyrn Kuhlman from North Coast Water Quality Control Board. These are Joan Kelley's notes from the panel discussion: Tom Kendall from the USACE was the first speaker. He said the Management Plans are important to the Corps. They are looking for ways to plug in: flood protection, restoration. Regulatory role is another aspect. See Power Point handout. He outlined three program approaches of the Corps. 1. Individually authorized studies and projects. 2. Continuing Authorities Programs (CAP) and 3. Special Area Management Plans (SAMP). Each has different eligibility requirements and match demands. Kat Kuhlman from NCWQB: Region 1 jurisdiction includes Russian River and coastal drainages like Eel River and Klamath River all the way to Oregon border. They administer the rules of the Federal Clean Water Act. Recently program emphasis has been on Non point source pollution (NPS), Government lawsuits, and permit Streamlining. There is a move to separate water quantity monitoring from water quality. An integrated approach is important. They need to be considered together &endash; choose carefully. Two ways she elaborated on programs by reviewing decisions about: 1) Healdsburg Permit: discharge to groundwater Judge ruled no discharge to surface water. Must monitor not regulate pollution to river 2) Discharge &endash; Santa Rosa Permits * Rule making on sediment is better way to regulate discharge for all rivers in region * Monitoring synoptic studies with USDA for endocrine disruptors. A very exciting development! * Programs &endash; to keep urban slime from entering waterways include wastewater management inspections for sediment, not only pollutants, ongoing Groundwater study and support for Coho recovery. Overall program goals include: Development of integrated monitoring &endash; coordinating where, when to sample, standards for temperature, pathogens and Clean Water Act 5 chemicals of concern (Sediment, Temperature, Pathogens, Nutrients, Mercury (Lake Sonoma),TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load). NCWQB works with County Health Departments on beaches - better monitoring similar to current programs from state and ocean beaches should be extended to rivers. Randy Poole &endash; SCWA: Working on an Integrated Water Management Plan for Northern California with NCRWQCB (North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board) June 2005 $500,000 Funding from Prop 50 is being sought by 1. NCRWQCB 2. Department of Fish and Game 3. Coastal Conservancy as they identify projects by March 2005 to submit to state and include local Jurisdictions, agencies, federal government to Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, EPA and NOAA Fisheries. Focus is recovery of Coho Salmon but it will benefit other species State coming out with requirements in the next 30 days with California vs Federal considerations The North coast has only 3% of California's population @ 1,000,000 This is a disadvantage to attract funds when funds are highly competitive. Need integrated plan to present to the state. Need collaboration, need to come together to have a greater voice in Sacramento.Draft hearing will come and then coordinate with other regions in the state Judy Christianson asked about SCWA deciding to not come to RRWC meetings. Randy Poole said State is taking $2,000,000.(?) Fred Euphrat: If Prop 50 coming to North Coast, can we get Special Area Management Plan funded? Desire in watershed community. The program already here could take SAMP approach. Randy said it is worth discussion. Rusty: Biological study Hatchery related stream study ESU regions havea complex process.To move forward on projects still have to go through feasibility studies, CEQA review Possible funding sources are EPA and USDA. We must work on state and federal level(3% population of state is a problem) and find partners outside regional groups to make impact. RRWC &endash; relationship to Corps of Engineers Old authority to study watershed north of San Francisco Bay. 503 Watershed management Need to talk to Congressmen and women to use same NCA streams to fix and build program. To get a SAMP program, applicant needs: 1. Author 2. Be appropriate for study 3. Get authorization for construction 4. Get authorization for funding. Denny O'Brien, representing the Friends of the Eel River asked about the low flow proposals. Randy Pools: He noted there are water quality and water quantity issues, conservation and wastewater concerns. He doesn't see how an end to the Eel diversion would happen. He said 7-10,000 coho are in the Russian River system. That is 3-4 times the Chinok in the Eel. The amount of water coming down from Lake Mendocino is used to help the Salmon's survival. To lower the level may put the population at risk. He is not willing to do that. The RRWA (Russian River Watershed Association) is made up of public agencies and jurisdictions. Need Joint Powers Authority (JPA)? Some funding with Prop 50, Chapter 8. Who will get money? Not clear which organization will receive funds for RRWA. Richard Shoemaker: He said Proposition 50 promised to counties that they would get money but it did not happen. Need integrated plan &endash; hopefully some money will come to local jurisdictions as well as state agencies. Randy said we need to work together to get water bonds to pass. Karen Rippey: There is long term funding for long term monitoring. Protocols &endash; matched with other efforts. Replacing old monitoring system. Scott Stegman: California Toxics Rule situation. Brock Dolman: Relationship of Lake Pillsbury to Lake Mendocino. Flow, sediment. Rue Furth: Is there anyone taking the overall view to prevent projects that have unintended consequences &endash; where we can't go back? Rusty: That is a goal not just a plan. Fred: We can back you up to lobby for funding. We need to be informed to work effectively together. CAUCUS BREAKOUTS & ADJOURNMENT - The Council broke into Caucuses to define goals for the following year. The meeting adjourned from those meeting.