Ventura River Watershed News – Oct. 23, 2012

Nov. 7 Watershed Council Meeting Cancelled;
Goals/Objectives Subcommittee Meeting to Take its Place
The November 7 meeting of the Watershed Council has been cancelled due to the need to dive into the work of developing a watershed management plan.

Since the room is reserved and the meeting is on people’s calendar’s, I’ve repurposed the meeting date/place, and so the November 7 meeting will be a Watershed Plan Goals and Objectives Subcommittee Meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to develop a final recommendation, for the Council’s consideration, of our plan’s goals and related objectives, along with a description of the methodology/framework used to arrive at those goals and objectives. No other issues will be addressed at this meeting.

We will bring together our working goals, the work of our five Technical Advisory Committees to develop measurable objectives, the work of our Ag/Econ Subcommitttee, and other work on goals, objectives and methodology. I’ll be sending out more information on this meeting by October 31. Please plan to attend if you were involved in any of the related committees, and/or have specific interest in weighing in on the plan’s goals and objectives.

The Goals/Objectives Subcommittee Meeting will be held on November 7, from 8:30 am – 12:00 pm. I will likely either decrease the overall meeting time, or break this time down into smaller segments by topic. For now, please keep the entire time slot open if you are interested in attending. The meeting will be at the EP Foster Library Topping Room, 651 E. Main St., Ventura.

A Success by All Accounts:
Good Turnout, Good Input at the Watershed Plan Public Scoping Meeting 

The Kunkle Room at the Oak View Community Room was nearly full the evening of October 3, with 60 people showing up for our Watershed Management Plan Public Scoping Meeting – and that despite it being held on the same night as the first Presential debates. For 28 of the people in attendence, this was their first Watershed Council meeting.

After a brief overview presentation and introductions, participants had the opportunity to write on a card their “biggest concern” and their “best idea” with regard to the watershed. These cards were collected and then read aloud so we could all hear each others’ concerns and ideas.

Then we had a discussion. We talked about groundwater concerns, the cost/hassle/time of permits to clear channels and remove Arundo, the need for education, Matilija Dam, steelhead, the need to affect policy, pesticides, the cost-effectiveness of schemes to enhance our water supplies, the threat of fires, economic considerations, graywater, the need to balance the demands on our limited water, and more. After hearing the written and spoken ideas of others, participants had an opportunity to fill out another card summarizing what they believe to be the five biggest concerns and five best ideas, as well as any questions they had.

We received lots of positive feedback from those in attendence about the meeting and the process, and we got what we wanted: to hear the concerns of people “on the ground” in the watershed, to see which issues were of greatest concern, and identify patterns from the feedback. The responses on the submitted are still being tallied, and we will have that data out to you soon.

A BIG THANKS to Paul Jenkin, Bill O’Brien, Emily Ayala, Vickie Peters, Lisa Brenneis, Ojai Valley Land Conservancy and whoever brought the pistachios (btw, I have your bowl) for helping with refreshments. And a special thanks to Ann Rosecrance, rockstar event promoter.

Algae TMDL Public Hearing Rescheduled to Dec. 6
The date of the public hearing at which the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board will consider adoption of the algae TMDL for the Ventura River watershed has been postponed from November 8, 2012 to December 6, 2012. The hearing will still take place at 9:00 am at the City of Simi Valley Council Chambers, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road, Simi Valley, CA 93063. The deadline for submitting written comments has already passed. For more information contact Jenny Newman at the Regional Board at 213/576-6691 or jnewman@waterboards.ca.gov.

Rain Barrel Truckload Sale in Ventura Oct. 27
The Ventura County Integrated Waste Management Division, along with other county departments and area cities, are hosting a rain barrel and backyard compot bin truckload sale on Saturday, October 27, 2012. The 55-gallon rain barrels, which come with mosquito netting, a hose-compatible spigot, and a system for connecting multiple barrels together, sell for only $57, and the compost bins for $44.

Besides being good for capturing our precious rainwater for reuse, and for reducing stormflows, the mosquito-proof rainbarrels offer a great way to store contingency emergency water.

The sale will run from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm, and will take place at the Ventura County Government Center Hall of Administration parking lot, 800 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura. More information go to www.wasteless.org or call 805/658-4321.

Here’s some sample math to show the potential runoff that could be collected in rain barrels:

Ojai: A home that measures 47 feet long and 27 feet wide at the dripline of the roof, in the city of Ojai, which averages 21.3″ of rain, would have a net runoff of 13,479 gallons in an average rain year. (We’ll pretend, for the sake of the math, that we actually had something called “average” in this watershed.)
Ventura: The same sized home in the city of Ventura, which averages 14.7″ of rain, would have a net runoff of 9,302 gallons in an average rain year.

Of course, our rains tend to come in just a few big storm events each year, so unless you have a yard full of barrels or we get nice intervals between storms where you can use your captured water, your ability to capture all this water is limited. Still, if one-third of the households in the Ventura River watershed installed two rain barrels each, this would capture 516,010 gallons of water each time it rains enough to fill the barrels (4,691 households x 55 gal x 2 barrels). And if you really want to help the watershed and your water bill, a line of six or eight barrels on the side of your house could water your veggie garden for quite awhile through the dry months.

The rule of thumb for calculating rainfall runoff volume on a catchment surface/roof is 600 gallons of water per inch of rain falling on 1,000 sq. ft. of catchment surface, with some minor adjustments for the porousness of your roof, etc. (Source: Lancaster, Brad, Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands)

Come Help with the Lower Ventura River Clean-up on Oct. 27
Ventura Hillside Conservancy has another river clean-up scheduled for Saturday, October 27, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm on their new river bottom property between the Main Street bridge and the freeway. Volunteers interested in helping should meet at 9:00 am at the Main Street bridge. Wear hard-toed shoes, long pants and a long-sleeve shirt and bring sun protection. Here is a great video that documents the Hillside Conservancy’s September 8 cleanup event. For more information, contact the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy at 805/643-8044.

Invitation to the “Water: Take 1” Online Short Film Contest Awards Ceremony on Nov. 8
Ventura Water invites you to attend their Water: Take 1 Short Film Contest Awards Ceremony on Thursday, November 8, 2012 from 6:00-8:00pm, at the Brooks Institute of Photography, 5301 N. Ventura Avenue in Ventura.
The film contest is an initiative to highlight our relationship with water: How we look at it, how we use it and how we share it.

The awards ceremony will kickoff with a screening of the top 10 finalist films followed by the announcement of the Water: Take 1 winners. Complimentary refreshments will be served at the event.

RSVP by November 1 for the free awards ceremony, which is open to the public, by sending an email to watertake1@cityofventura.net For more info, go to www.watertake1.com.

A Call to “Practice Safe Citrus”
At our September 6, Watershed Council meeting we heard from farm advisor Ben Faber about a couple of pests that pose BIG threats to our watershed. One of them is the Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP), which is lethal to citrus. Emily Ayala, Watershed Council member and fifth generation Ojai farmer, has recently written an article about the ACP in the fall edition of the journal Edible Ojai. As Emily says in the article, “ACP and HLB have ruined over one-third of Florida’s citrus production in less than a decade.” “HLB” is short for Huanglongbing, the bacterial disease that the psyllid carries.

The implications of this pest for our watershed can’t be underestimated. As Emily states: “The current strategy in California to keep this insect and disease at bay is to spray for the insects whenever they are detected. Right now if an ACP were to be found in Ojai, all citrus within 400 to 800 meters (depending upon topography, etc.) of that find would be treated to hopefully ensure that all insects are eradicated.”

Emily goes on to say, “Ojai farmers cannot afford more expenses. I estimated that if we end up with widespread spraying it would cost my family farm approximately $40,000 per year to treat for psyllids. That is more than the typical net return for our farm on an annual basis. The East End of Ojai would change very fast as tiny, small and medium farms pencil out the rate of return with the extra costs of psyllid treatment. Farms would allow their trees to die and orchards would be bulldozed. We are already farming on some of the most expensive farmland in the world. The value of our crops has not increased in step with rising costs of water and labor. Add the cost of insecticide spraying and we simply would not be able to grow citrus in Ojai.”

The article urges vigilence by everyone to ensure that this pest does not find its way to, or take hold in, our watershed. Here is the complete article. 

And this Just In…
Four Asian Citrus Psyllids were confirmed in Ventura County last week by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. All were found in residential areas. One was in downtown Ventura, one in the Heights area of Camarillo, and two in Fillmore. See the pests section of the Ventura County Farm Bureau website at www.farmbureauvc.com for more information.

Ventura County Restoration Master Plan Under Development
Pam Lindsey of the Ventura County Watershed Protection District (WPD), with assistance from Sarah McGinnis and Thomas Sanford of the AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project, has begun an effort to create a Restoration Master Plan (RMP) for all of Ventura County. Relying heavily on GIS-based analysis, the master plan will document past restoration projects and prioritize future potential restoration sites. This plan is intended to serve as a tool for all agencies and entities in the area involved in riparian and wetland restoration. It should helps us take a more integrated and landscape level approach to restoration so that we can achieve our restoration goals more effectively and efficiently.

The project team is beginning this project by compiling information on past and current restoration projects, as well as relevant spatial data, such as on biological resources. If you have any data that could help this important, please contact Sarah McGinnis at sarah.mcginnis@ventura.org or 805/658-4373 or Thomas Sanford at thomas.sanford@ventura.org or 805/658-2904.

“Dry weather forces some Ventura County agencies to buy more water” 
Here is an interesting recent article in the Ventura County Star about low water levels in in our watershed.

Recent Ocean Water Quality Bacteria Samples Fail to Meet State Standards
Several beach locations in the watershed (Promenade Park at Figueroa and Paseo De Playa Street) as well as other locations in Ventura County failed to meet State standards for bacteria last week after retesting. Warning signs were posted at beaches that exceeded state standards for bacteria. Here is the press release from Ventura County Environmental Health Division (EHD). It is believed that the water quality failures are due in part to high tides on October 15 and 16 and resultant release of bacteria present in the sand/sediment. Monitoring is performed weekly by EHD and results are posted here.

New Watershed Council Brochure
What is the Watershed Council? Our new brochure answers that question, along with providing some history on the Council’s accomplishments, and some fun “by the numbers” facts about the watershed. Here is the complete brochure.