New Location for our November 3rd Watershed Council Meeting.

Save the date for our next Ventura River Watershed Council Meeting on Thursday, November 3rd at 9am. We will have a full agenda with a presentation on the Draft Ojai Basin Alternative Groundwater Sustainability Plan, an update on the Ventura River instream flow requirement, and more. The Bell Arts Factory has generously made their community room available for our meeting at 432 N. Ventura Ave, Ventura, CA 93001. I will be sending out a full agenda soon and hope to see you all there.

Matilija Dam Removal Focused Council Meeting .

Thank you to all of you that were able to make our evening meeting this month. We had a great turn out with over seventy participants, including some new faces and some that we have not seen in a while. Peter Sheydayi, interim Director of the Ventura County Watershed Protection District gave a brief introduction on the Matilija Dam Ecosystem Restoration project. Peter updated the group on the work of the Matilija Funding Committee. Peter also talked about the round table discussion facilitated by Congresswoman Julia Brownley with representation from federal, state, and local elected officials to develop a coordinated understanding and funding strategy for the project. Paul Jenkin from the Matilija Coalition gave a great presentation on the history of the Matilija Dam, where we have come, and why we can set our sights on a 2020 removal timeframe. Paul also generously provided stickers, a coffee mug, and a reusable water bottle with the new Matilija Coalition artwork that highlights the connection between dam removal and resilience of our coastal cities within ventura county.

Darren Kettle from the Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) gave a brief presentation on Measure AA that is on the ballot for all ventura county voters. Darren explained the history of transportation measures in ventura county and the process that went into developing Measure AA. Darren also talked about how other counties were able to bring in more state and federal funding than ventura county because we do not have the local matching funds that other counties have with local transportation taxes. Darren also explained the potential to use this local funding source to match state and federal grants for the Matilija Dam Ecosystem Restoration Project including associated bridge projects downstream of the dam. We had over an hour of thoughtful questions and answers, making this meeting a successful conversation among this diverse group of stakeholders in the watershed. Thank you all for making the event a great success.

Sincerely,

Zoë Carlson, Ventura River Watershed Coordinator

VenturaWatershed@gmail.com C: 530.401.7689 T: 805.308.8512 www.venturawatershed.org