Conservation News

IF YOU LIKE WALKING IN THE RAIN,
STOMPING IN PUDDLES,
ENJOY SPONTANEOUS ADVENTURE,
AND WANT TO MONITOR STORMWATER RUNOFF...

The Coastal Watershed Council and the cities of Capitola and Santa Cruz invite you to join the

FIRST FLUSH 2008

Known as the First Flush, this first significant rain of the season washes all the dust, dirt, detritus and everything else from our urban landscape into our water. It provides us with a unique, once-a-year opportunity to sample what is running off our neighborhoods and into our creeks, streams and ultimately the Monterey Bay . This Urban Run-off can contain bacteria, nutrients, pesticides, heavy metals, oil and more!

Volunteers will measure water temperature, pH, conductivity and transparency and collect samples that will be sent to the lab for analysis.

Training Session for Capitola and Santa Cruz:
Tuesday, September 16th, 6:00-8:00 PM
Simpkins Family Swim Center
979 17thAvenue, Santa Cruz

Dry Run:
Saturday, September 20th, 9 AM-NOON
Note: Dry run falls on the Annual Coastal Cleanup day and we are coordinating with Save Our Shores to do clean-up at our sites so you will be part of the Annual Coastal Cleanup as well.

Participation requirements:
Willingness to collect water samples during the first Major rain of the season (day or night).
Attend both Tuesday training session and Saturday morning dry run event.
Need raincoat, boots and a flashlight.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Santa Cruz County : Debie or Nancy at 831-464-9200 or e-mail urbanwatch@coastalws.org
Monterey County : Anna Holden, 831-647-4227 or e-mail: Anna.Holden@NOAA.gov

This event is funded by the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary,Cities of Capitola, Monterey , Pacific Grove and Santa Cruz , in collaboration with the Citizen Watershed Monitoring Network and the Coastal Watershed Council.

2009 Salmonid Restoration Conference in Santa Cruz
By Dougald Scott

The 2009 Salmonid Restoration Conference will be held March 4-7, 2009 in Santa Cruz. This is the 27th Annual Conference and has developed into the foremost salmonid and habitat restoration colloquium in the Pacific Northwest. It is jointly sponsored by Salmonid Restoration Federation and the California Department of Fish and Game.
The first two days of the conference will be filled with full-day workshops and field tours. The third day begins with a half-day plenary session followed by one and half days of technical, biological, and policy-related concurrent sessions. The conference focuses on a broad range of salmonid and watershed restoration topics for those of us interested in salmonid conservation.
The NCCFFF Steelhead Committee is sponsoring a session on the biology of Central and South Coast steelhead. Although details are still being worked out, presentation topics are likely to include:

Life History Trajectories of Steelhead (Factors affecting anadromous vs. resident forms)
Genetic Relationships of Steelhead in Southern San Francisco Bay
Role of Coastal Lagoons in Steelhead Survival
ESU Status of Steelhead in the South Central and Southern Coast DPSs
Food Web Interactions of Coastal Steelhead

Other session topics in the planning stage include: Dam Removal; Water Diversions; How Climate Change and Oceanic Conditions Affect Salmonids; FERC Relicensing Restoration Opportunities; Fluvial Geomorphology; Fire Ecology, Forests, and Fisheries; Engaging Watershed Communities; Coho Salmon Recovery and Restoration Efforts; The State of California Commercial Fisheries; and Bay Delta Management.
Workshops and Field Tours in the planning stage include: Fish Passage Design and Implementation; Estuary Restoration; Levee and Flood Management; Science and Recovery Planning through Multi-species Management; Carmel River Restoration Tour; Sustainable Agriculture, Range Management and Water Quality Tour; Urban Lagoons Tour; Central Coast Coho Recovery Streams Tour; Sediment Reduction and Erosion Control Tour; and NOAA Fisheries Lab and Broodstock Program Tour.
This conference is a great opportunity for Santa Cruz Fly Fishers members to learn about the cutting edge of salmonid conservation and exchange ideas with others interested in restoring our streams and fisheries. Put the dates on your calendar and learn more about salmonid restoration efforts. Details can be found on the SRF website: www.calsalmon.org.

This e-mail was forwarded to the SCFF, via the NCCFFF:

From: "Michael MacWilliams"
Date: August 22, 2008 12:21:02 PM PDT
To: network@nccfff.org
Subject: [NCCFFF_Network] Owens River and Piru Creek Legislation Support Letter

NCCFFF Network,

As you may remember I wrote in March 2008 requesting club sign-ons for protecting the Owen's River Headwaters. The final version of this letter of support is a downloadable PDF file (Anglers_Letter_Mar08.pdf). I really appreciate all of the clubs/groups that signed on including NCCFFF, SWCFFF, CalTrout, California Fisheries Restoration Foundation, Tahoe Truckee Fly Fishers, Mission Peak Fly Anglers, Golden West Women Flyfishers, Tri-Valley Fly Fishers, Diablo Valley Fly Fishers, and Peninsula Fly Fishers. In part through the strong support of the angler community, the Owens River headwater streams were included in the legislation that was introduced.
I am writing regarding an additional sign-on letter supporting the protection of the Owens River headwaters and Piru Creek now that the legislation has been introduced as the Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage Act (S.3069/HR6156). The new sign-on letter draft (NCCFFFLetter.pdf).
I have contacted each of the clubs directly who signed on to the previous letter, but if your club is not listed and you would like to be added to the sign-ons for the new letter supporting the legislation, please email me.

Thanks again for your support,

Michael MacWilliams (mmacwill@gmail.com)

Stuart Leavenworth: All of a sudden, new dams don't look quite so attractive
By Stuart Leavenworth - sleavenworth@sacbee.com

This article might be of interest to the SCFF members. It was published in the Sacramento Bee, dateline August 24th, 2008.
The entire article is available as a downloadable PDF file at http://www.sacbee.com/325/v-print/story/1179131.html