UNNATURAL PREDATORS, UNEASY
CONTROLS
For the past 15
years, biologist Leora Feeney has monitored endangered California least
terns, trapped their predators, and tried to keep one of their habitats
- approximately 60 acres at the Oakland Airport - free of invasive
vegetation. ("I tell my husband I'm going to go weed the airport,"
jokes Feeney.) Although young terns have not fledged at the airport
since 1989, they do use the site for courtship and resting on soft sand.
Feeney believes the airport is crucial for the endangered terns as an
additional site to the Alameda Naval Air Station, where the terns have
successfully bred for over ten years and predators are carefully
managed. "Its really important when you have an endangered species
to have more than one site, especially if predators get really focused
on one of them," says Feeney. In 1982 for example, feral cats
became focused on the Naval Air Station, and the following year, when
the Station had only three nests, the airport had over 80. What Feeney
likes least about her job is "predator management" - keeping
non-native, predatory animals like feral cats and red foxes from
decimating terns. But Feeney's predator control options are limited:
when Animal Damage Control (part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture)
shot foxes at the colony after least terns were confirmed nesting there,
fox and cat-lovers protested so much that shooting is now prohibited and
predator management limited to trapping the animals for later
euthanasia. Feeney wishes fox and cat supporters would realize that
being trapped and confined in a small space for several hours is more
stressful to the animals than being shot. Although when instructed to
accompany the sharpshooters, Feeney found herself dreading the
experience, she says she now believes that, if the shooting is done
properly, the animals literally don't know what hits them. "It was
like turning the lights out," she says. Just one cat or red fox can
do an incredible amount of damage, according to Laura Collins, biologist
at the Naval Air Station. Both are focused predators that will return
again and again to an area where they have found abundant food. The red
fox also displaces native predators like the grey fox, which tends to be
less likely to forage in open areas. Red foxes have even been known to
follow the scent of biologists to nesting sites. Trapping and relocating
the cats and red foxes is not an option, since the problem will be
relocated right along with the animals. Although an effort was made a
few years back to relocate red foxes, wildlife officials in other states
decided not to accept them, fearing diseases and parasites. Feeney says
the red fox has been the tragic victim in California from the start,
introduced for hunting, fur farming, and even as pets - and now caught
between animal rights activists and those charged with protecting
endangered species. Despite a firm belief in the need to control foxes
and cats, Feeney also has great empathy for them. "Some of these
animals take a while to trap," she says. "They're incredibly
intelligent and wily - they've got nerve endings too; you develop a
relationship with them." Feeney also empathizes with the fox
rescuers and cat-colony feeders, people who have spat on her and
threatened her life. "If I didn't understand so clearly the
dynamics of the damage these animals are doing, I'd probably be right
there with them," she says. But she wishes they could realize that "terns
are wonderful animals too," and that the quality of life for these
foxes and cats is not very healthy, with too many predators in one area
and not enough food or shelter. Once a cat colony has been established
at a site, people frequently dump unwanted cats there, which just adds
to the problem. At the Alameda Naval Air Station, the biggest predator
problem is feral cats, which are primarily controlled by trapping and
euthanasia. Native predators, such as birds of prey, which can also
become a problem in small patches of habitat, are trapped and relocated.
The cost to the Station ranges from $7,000-$15,000 a year, according to
the Navy's Doug Pomeroy. At the S.F. Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the
endangered clapper rail population doubled after a program to control
foxes and feral cats was implemented in 1991. The Refuge shares two
full-time animal control officers (and their salaries) with a number of
other South Bay agencies. As human development continues to encroach on
the Bay's last natural areas and wildlife are relegated to patches of
habitat that attract unnaturally high concentrations of predators, it
may be time for everyone to think twice about what is being saved and
what is being lost and about the prospect of managing predators in
perpetuity. "Pets belong in the home, they don't belong in parks,
wetlands and endangered species habitats, no matter how cute and cuddly,"
says the Audubon Society's Arthur Feinstein, a self-professed cat lover.
"Seeing cats or introduced foxes as 'natural' and 'wild' in these
contexts borders on ecological ignorance." "I think when the
public goes out into our last remaining open spaces, they want to see
and enjoy other living things besides domestic cats," says Feeney.
Contact: Leora Feeney (510)522-8525 or Laura
Collins (510)843-3263 lov
CALFED - CLOUDY OUTLOOK FOR
DRINKING WATER ?
Water
diverted from the Delta may not be able to meet forthcoming new national
drinking water standards using currently accepted advanced treatment
technologies, according to a draft study commissioned by the California
Urban Water Agencies. The study frames source water quality
characteristics in the context of total organic carbon and bromide
concentrations, both of which may be affected by different Delta
management strategies. CUWA's Byron Buck says the study's purpose was to
provide CALFED with suggested criteria related to source water to help
in selecting a long-term Bay-Delta solution. Buck says the Delta
presents unique challenges to drinking water suppliers due to high
levels of organic carbon in runoff and to the intrusion of
bromide-containing seawater. Among the primary health concerns for Delta
water are pathogens, such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium, and
disinfection by-products such as bromate. One reason for the push for
new standards is concern over Cryptosporidium, which is relatively
harmless to healthy people but can be deadly for those with impaired
immune systems. According to Bruce Macler of U.S. EPA, the agency
charged with developing the new standards, Cryptosporidium is the
agency's new indicator species. "It is extremely difficult to kill.
If you are killing that, you can be pretty sure you are killing
everything else." Ozone disinfection is required to kill
Cryptosporidium; however, ozone reacts with bromide to produce bromate,
a carcinogen that may also cause birth defects. The CUWA study used "reasonable,
conservative assumptions" to project what the new EPA regulations
will be, says Buck. The scenario includes a limit on disinfection
by-products of 40 µg per liter for total trihalomethanes, 30 µg
per liter for the sum of five haloacetic acids, and 5 µg per liter
of bromate. The panel evaluated the source water quality characteristics
necessary to meet these requirements using standard treatment, and
concluded that source water would have to contain less than 3 mg per
liter of total organic carbon and less than 50 µg per liter of
bromide. The report concludes that "based on the historic
concentrations of these constituents [in Delta water] it is unlikely
that the criteria for bromide could be met under existing conditions,
even in wet years." The report goes on to call on CALFED to examine
a variety of actions aimed at enhancing source water quality, including
in-Delta hydraulic modifications to limit seawater intrusion, pollutant
source control programs for organic carbons and pathogens, water storage
and management, increased outflow and isolated facilities (the PC
euphemism for new canals and water conveyances). In the absence of
better source water quality, says Buck, "water providers would have
to look at microfiltration and reverse osmosis, both of which are very
expensive and also cost water-perhaps increasing water demand by as much
as 15% to 25%." In addition, these technologies have never been
tried on the scale that would be required by agencies relying on water
from the Delta. CALFED's Rick Woodard says that it's hard to guess what
the impact of the report on CALFED - whose current approach on source
water is much more general - will ultimately be. Nevertheless, he says,
"we are certainly very interested in knowing what the EPA's
reaction is." But Macler warns against placing too much emphasis on
either the study or EPA response to it. "Water quality will be
substantially improved by whatever alternative comes out of the
Bay-Delta process," he says. CUWA is calling on the EPA to provide
some guidance to CALFED while the new drinking water standards are in
the works (a two phase process, with the first phase expected at the end
of 1998 and the second in 2002). Macler notes that new regulations will
be an incremental change to a system that is already very protective of
human health. They will also be the result of a negotiated process that
includes all stakeholders and will be at least partly based on
feasibility. "It would be disingenuous to use the study's
conclusions to make an argument for a specific CALFED decision,"
says Macler. "My concern is that projected water quality
requirements for utilities will drive decision making to the detriment
of other Delta interests, such as the environment."
Contact: Byron Buck (916) 552-2929 or Bruce Macler
(415)744-1884 ch
BULLETIN BOARD
High
Selenium in the Bay
New research by the U.S. Geological Survey found levels of the
naturally occurring trace element selenium - associated with the
front-page waterfowl deformities at Kesterson willdife refuge in the
1980s - are not only higher in Suisun Bay than previously thought, but
also could be strongly influenced by river inflows. According to a paper
in the Regional Monitoring Program 1995 annual report, high inflows in
May 1995, for example, coincided with the lowest concentrations of
selenium in resident clams while subsiding flows in October 1995
increased selenium concentrations. Thus the amount of freshwater flow
appears to influence the bioavailability of selenium to clams, and the
sturgeon, birds and other life that feed on them. "Our findings
could have implications for Delta water management and agreements,"
says the Survey's Sam Luoma. Also influencing selenium's creep up the
food chain is the invasion of the Asian clam (Potomorcorbula amurensis),
shown to concentrate 2-3 times as much selenium as other residents in
1984-86. Luoma and others are now working to answer a new spate of
research questions including which types of selenium are producing the
high readings in Suisun Bay and from what sources - the Asian clam,
Central Valley drainage (see p. 5), or nearby oil refineries?
Contact: (415)329-4481
Wetland Debits and Credits
Building seawalls, riprap shores and boat docks are just some of the
small Bay fill projects that over decades have claimed acres of Bay
wetlands. Many such projects are too small to justify eye-for-an-eye
mitigation in terms of protection or restoration of equivalent wetland
resources. However, the new S.F. Bay Wetland Mitigation System proposed
by the staff of the S.F. Bay Commission might for the first time offer a
process and currency for dealing with small wetland debits and credits,
as well as a field test for revamping mitigation approaches for larger
ones. The proposal, now in its fourth draft, received its first public
hearing at BCDC on April 17 and could be implemented early as 1998.
Contact: (415)557-8775
Ecosystem
Re-Hab
CALFED, a
cooperative federal and state effort to develop a long-term solution to
Bay-Delta water conflicts, released a 68-page executive summary of its
Ecosystem Restoration Plan at a public workshop early this April. The
summary is short on prose and long on detailed action lists but
basically embraces the following systemwide targets: restore
75,000-120,000 acres of freshwater and brackish tidal marsh, and shallow
water habitat, as well as 100-200 miles of riparian woodland and shaded
riverine areas; provide 300,000-500,000 acre feet of increased critical
period flows to restore physical processes and ecological functions;
replace 40-100 tons of river and streambed gravel annually to enhance
anadromous fish spawning; provide new or improved fish passage aids and
fish screens at selected diversions; develop floodways on the San
Joaquin and Cosumnes Rivers; manage undesirable and interfering
introduced species; and manage water quality problems that degrade
ecosystem health. The full-fledged plan will debut this May.
Contact: (916)657-2666
Stormdrain
Retrofits
Technology can
do its part to help clean stormwater racing down the drain with its
pollutant payload of heavy metals, oil, grease and sediments. Several
enterprising companies have, for example, developed filters to attach to
drains. According to EPA's Nonpoint Source News Notes, the "Enviro-Drain"
filters runoff through three trays - the first stalls sediment and
debris; the second removes oil, and the third neutralizes fertilizers
and pesticides (cost $400 to install and $3-10 to replace filters
monthly). KriStar's "Fossil Filter" captures contaminants in a
metal trough (installation $500-600, plus trough cleaning costs every
six months). A more permanent solution is a "Stormceptor" - a
precast concrete system fitted underground which traps petroleum and
suspended solids. Although it costs a lot more than the filters to
install ($7,600-$33,500), the once-yearly maintenance via vacumn trucks
is easier on manpower and the pocketbook. (None of the costs above
include disposal.)
Contact: Enviro-Drain (206)820-8364;
KriStar (800)579-8819; Stormceptor (800)762-4703.
Watershed
Science Blueprint
"A
holistic approach to watershed management" is how the Coyote Creek
Riparian Station's Mike Rigney describes the S.F. Estuary Institute's
new Bay Area Watersheds Science Plan, released in draft this January.
The plan sets forth a three-phase program for developing comprehensive
scientific information on local watersheds, and then using that
information to set goals for watershed health and to monitor progress.
The plan calls for extensive research and field reconnaissance,
including developing a Geographic Information System map of the
watershed, habitat surveys and data collection on topics such as soil
types, vegetation, rainfall and stream flow. Because water quality is a
top priority of watershed management, the plan emphasizes the need for
detailed inventories of pollution sources and potential controls. The
plan also calls for the participation of trained volunteers. Rigney says
that although numerous state and federal programs acknowledge the
importance of watershed health and management, until now there have been
no guidelines on how to inventory, assess and monitor watershed
functions.
Contact: (510)231-9539
Channel
Island Coordination
About
800 often-overlooked fragments cut off from larger Delta islands by
dredging are the subject of a "Coordination of Efforts"
currently being circulated by the S.F. Estuary Project. The non-binding
document - drafted by the Project's Delta In-Channel Islands Workgroup -
stipulates a commitment to protecting the islands, which are home to
fish, wildlife, wetland and riparian plants, and numerous special status
species. As a step toward coordination, the workgroup is now part of
CALFED's Levee and Channel Technical Team. Project staff hope to get at
least 50 signatures on the coordination document from interest groups,
landowners and agencies.
To see or sign, contact
(510)286-0924
CAPITAL BEAT - OLD FLOOD MONEY
FOR NEW METHODS
A bill that would help restore urban and rural waterways-with no new
federal funding-will be introduced to Congress this spring by Oregon
Representative Elizabeth Furse. Known as the Waterways Restoration Bill,
the act would use existing funds from the Natural Resources Conservation
Service's Small Watershed Program, to finance projects that would use
innovative, environmentally-healthy methods to restore streams and other
waterways. The act also favors projects offering environmental and
job-training benefits to low-income and minority communities. The
Program was created by Public Law 566 in the 1950s to reduce flooding
and erosion and to improve water quality. "Some good erosion
control projects were done under this old program, but there were also a
lot of environmentally-destructive small dams and channelization
projects," says Ann Riley of the Coalition to Restore Urban
Waterways. The goal of the new bill is to support community-designed,
non-structural projects while satisfying the Small Watershed Program's
original goals. Such projects might include creating riparian greenways
and floodplain zones, revegetating and bio-stabilizing eroding banks,
removing channels and culverts, restoring streams, organizing local
watershed councils, and training participants in restoration. "There's
no new money in Washington," says Ann Riley. "The only way to
do something like this is to take old programs and re-work them. But we
need legislative authority to spend the money in a good way."
Contact: Ann Riley (510) 848-2211 lov
LEGISLATION - CUTTING RED TAPE
TO TRANSFER WATER
Legislation that would smooth voluntary transfers of water supplies
between the haves and the have nots took a baby step toward the
governor's desk on March 18, when State Senator Jim Costa held hearings
on a Model Water Transfers Act. California has a long history of water
transfers, and new types of transfers promise to figure prominently in
today's search for a way to balance environmental, farm and urban
demands on California's scarce supplies of freshwater. But the new
legislation's purpose is primarily to overhaul, streamline and clarify
existing transfer law. "Water transfers are governed by at least
four different statutes, enacted over the course of 30 or 40 years, with
different standards from one statute to another, " says East Bay
MUD lobbyist Randy Kanouse. "The Model Act would consolidate the
standards into one clear set for short-term transfers and another for
long-term transfers." Sponsors of the Act include the California
Business Roundtable, the California Chamber of Commerce, the California
Farm Bureau and the California Manufacturers Association. The Act would
give end users, such as farmers, more power to transfer water. Under
existing law only water right holders can transfer water. The Act also
sets forth specific guidelines relating to water wheeling-the use of
publicly owned water supply systems to transport water. According to
Kanouse, the current rules for wheeling are too general. The most
contentious issue relates to the fees that agencies may charge for the
use of their systems. Although there is widespread agreement about the
need to clarify water transfer law, certain provisions of the Model Act
worry some environmentalists and members of the agricultural community.
The Act would expand the definition of a short-term transfer from one
year to two years, and establish an expedited process for short-term
transfers, including exempting them from CEQA environmental review. The
Farm Bureau's David Guy contends that these provisions encourage
short-term transfers over long-term ones. However, Santos Gomez of the
Pacific Institute's Water Transfers Project says that the Act's wording
would allow a series of short-term transfers, although not to the same
party consecutively. "You could essentially have a long-term
transfer to two parties without CEQA review," he says. The Act
includes a provision that for every acre foot of transferred water a $5
security deposit must be made to the State Board, against which third
parties injured by the expedited transfer could file claims. Gomez and
others worry that this provision amounts to a cap on the compensation
third parties could receive, and question the Act's underlying
assumption that market processes are the best way to allocate the
state's water supplies. "Should we let an agency's ability to pay
for water be the only criteria, or should we consider other factors,
such as need?" asks Gomez. Kanouse and Guy both acknowledge that
the Model Act represents only a first step toward new water transfer
legislation. Any formal bill will be the result of extensive dialogue
and negotiation among all the stakeholders. In addition, many of those
close to the issue say that significant action on water transfers is
unlikely until CALFED chooses its preferred alternative for the
Bay-Delta. "Stakeholders all agree that a transfer bill should not
disrupt the CALFED process," says Kanouse. In the meantime, Senator
Costa has introduced a so-called "spot bill," a placeholder
allowing him to introduce water transfer legislation later this session.
Contact: David Guy (916) 924-4037 ch
ENVIROCLIP - ROCK LOPPING
Harding. Shag. Arch. Blossom. The names
of these underwater rocks scattered across San Francisco Bay might
suggest a certain nautical charm, but the possibility of one of them
piercing the hull of an out-of control tanker certainly doesn't. That's
why U.S. Representative George Miller (D-Martinez) has introduced
legislation to shear the tops off the rocks, which are dangerously close
to the Bay's busiest shipping channels. Because some of the rocks are
less than 35 feet below the surface at low tide, they present a hazard
to modern supertankers, which draw up to 50 feet and hold 18 million
gallons of oil. Miller's bill, based on recommendations made by the
Harbor Safety Committee, authorizes the Army Corps to conduct
feasibility studies. Ultimately, some or all of the rocks could be
altered, giving a minimum of 55 feet of clearance. The Corps will
consider various methods of removing the tops, including using dynamite
or dredging equipment to scrape them off. Cal Fish & Game's Bob
Tasto says that the rocks provide habitat for several species, including
ling cod, rockfish, and anchovies. They are also popular spots for
recreational fishing, because the rocks provide fairly shallow water for
catching stripers. Because of the devastating damage from a large oil
spill, the bill has drawn cautious support from environmentalists,
including the Center for Marine Conservation and Save the Bay. The
Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations also favors it. The
Federation's Zeke Grader notes that the legislation includes provisions
for replacing damaged fish habitat, which he says would be a relatively
easy task. But United Anglers of California's John Beuttler says that
even if the rocks are lowered, there's still a "plethora of places
where these ships can run aground." He thinks alternatives, like
requiring tractor tugs to guide all incoming tankers through the Bay,
might be less disruptive. "Anytime you have to destroy the
environment to protect it, maybe you're not looking at things the right
way."
Contact: Miller's Office (510)602-1880 or United
Anglers (510)525-3474 o'b
POLLUTION - SILVER CREEK
SELENIUM SURGE
Too much
water coming too fast is the reason given for a controversial
commingling of selenium-laced flood flows and agricultural irrigation
drainage in San Joaquin Valley channels often used to serve wildlife
refuges this January. The event originated in the Silver-Panoche Creeks
watershed where high runoff forced San Joaquin drainers to route both
storm flows and their drainage through refuge channels instead of a
bypass - largely due to the limited capacity of a newly built connector
to the bypass in the San Luis Drain. The event stepped over the limit
lines of a hard-won 1996 drainage management agreement for the
selenium-plagued region in two ways. Under the agreement, agricultural
drainage cannot be discharged into Salt Slough and other channels
serving local wetland and wildlife refuges, and certain selenium load
restrictions must be met. Load restrictions were exceeded by 10% and a 2
ppb state selenium standard for Salt Slough and other channels was also
exceeded. Drainers argue that a 10% stretch is a considerable
achievement given such record rains, and point out that during the
preceding first four months of the agreement, they succeeded in reducing
selenium loads. "They're claiming an 'act of God' and saying they
aren't responsible for any of this, when we've watched Silver Creek
overflow year after year," says the Environmental Defense Fund's
Terry Young. "It's bad planning on their part. They built that
connecting channel too small." But drainers say the connector was
sized to carry problem agricultural drainage not to "solve all the
flood control problems on the West side of the valley," according
to Dan Nelson of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority.
Nelson says the agreement even cites Silver Creek as an example of an "unforeseen
circumstance" beyond the control of drainers. "Now we need to
have a discussion about how Silver Creek and stormwater fit into the
discharge accounting in the agreement," says Nelson, who recently
made an informal proposal to BurRec that rainfall-induced drainage not
be counted in the load restrictions. (BurRec owns the San Luis Drain, a
section of which the agreement allows San Joaquin drainers to use as a
bypass). Young describes herself as "ballistic" about the
proposal. "After five years of negotiation on the agreement and
just four months of implementation, the drainers are angling to change
the deal. It's a bad faith effort in my book," she says. But
BurRec's Penny Howard sees the fact that the drainers haven't made any
more formal proposals as a willingness on the part of the farming
community to learn from experience and explore other drainage management
options. At the very least, Young thinks drainers should have more
aggressively tried to minimize the drainage flows through the sloughs,
which row crop farmer David Cory insists that they did. Cory says
drainers carefully coordinated with the downstream water district and
refuge managers to uphold the environmental commitments of the
agreement. "No water deliveries to the refuges were taking place
when the overflow went through," he says. What the actual
environmental impacts of the discharge were won't be known for a couple
of months, when all the monitoring data has been analyzed. Preliminary
results show no short-term toxicity to aquatic organisms, perhaps due to
dilution by high flows, according to Howard. Any revaluation of the
project is premature until all the data is in, says Howard, adding that
the first part of the agreement only lasts for two years, during which
time a long-term plan must be developed. "We're in learning mode,
and this is in effect a field laboratory with certain controls,"
she says. "As long as we honor the process, and learn lessons, the
agreement can still succeed."
Contact: Penny Howard
(916)979-2476 aro .
THE MONITOR - AIR WATER
TRADE-OFF ?
Does cleaner air
mean dirtier water? A key ingredient of California's reformulated
gasoline has begun showing up in surface and groundwater around the
state. Methyl tert-butyl ether, or MTBE, an oxygenate meant to reduce
vehicle emmissions, has been used in small quantities for years, but
comprises approximately 11 percent by volume of the reformulated fuel
mandated by the State of California last year. The additive travels
quickly, does not degrade naturally and resists ordinary treatment. It
has been found at low levels in groundwater and reservoirs throughout
the Bay Area, including Anderson, Coyote and San Pablo Reservoirs.
Suspected sources include leaking underground fuel tanks and pipelines,
watercraft, and aerial deposition. Although the U.S. EPA considers MTBE
a possible carcinogen, little is known about the effects of the chemical
on humans or the Estuary. "MTBE's presence is new and there are a
lot of unknowns about it," says Sandy Oblonsky of the Santa Clara
Valley Water District. The District recently began an MTBE monitoring
program for wells, reservoirs and percolation ponds, and is planning
another for stormwater. As of February, all water suppliers are required
to monitor for MTBE. The EPA currently has a health advisory for MTBE of
20 to 200 parts per billion in drinking water, while the California
Department of Health Services has established an action level of 35
parts per billion. So far, MTBE levels found in Bay Area water have been
well below these limits. In the meantime, some environmentalists suggest
that an alternative oxygenate, such as ethanol, should be substituted
immediately. Ironically, says Julia May of Communities for a Better
Environment, a recent study in Denver found that MTBE was not effective
at reducing carbon monoxide. "It's toxic and it doesn't do what
it's supposed to do," she says. According to the California Air
Resources Board's Allan Hirsch, however, MTBE in gasoline was found to
reduce carbon monoxide by approximately 10 percent in studies conducted
in the winter of 1992-1993.
ch
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Estuary,
In your February article on the proposed
listing of steelhead trout, you mentioned that biologists consider the
steelhead to be an "umbrella species" , providing, through its
listing, protection for other species which inhabit the same streams. I
would like to concur with that designation and provide one example from
the South Bay. Historically, steelhead migrated up several streams and
the Guadalupe River in great numbers providing sustenance for local
Native Americans and early Spanish settlers. Flourishing within these
same waterbodies were substantial numbers of other fish, reptile and
amphibian species. One species in particular, the California red-legged
frog was as prevalent in South Bay streams as the steelhead. But as the
Santa Clara Valley became more populated, dams were built and streams
were straightened and lined with concrete to provide flood control
protection. Non-native species such as bullfrogs, bass, and perch
competed with red-legged frogs for dwindling riparian resources. Just as
steelhead populations have suffered from the destruction or alteration
of rivers and streams, so too have its neighbors such as the red-legged
frog. Although the red-legged frog received protection under the
Endangered Species Act as a threatened species last year, the added
listing of the magnificent steelhead will undoubtedly provide
supplimental habitat protection measures for red-legged frogs as well as
for the myriad other species which depend upon wetland and riparian
habitat. Additionally, resource managers would for the first time have
broader regulatory support for watershed-based planning efforts. It's
just a shame that we have to wait until these species are on the brink
of extinction before we recognize the tragedy of their loss.
Michael Rigney
Coyote Creek Riparian Station Editors Note: Please
send your thoughts, comments and opinions on Bay-Delta water issues and
ESTUARY stories to: ESTUARY P.O. Box 791 Oakland, CA 94604
RECYCLING - SAN JOSE STAUNCHES
FRESH FLOWS
Up to 21 million
gallons of treated wastewater now being discharged into the South Bay
each day - wastewater that is rapidly converting salt marsh habitat for
endangered species into freshwater marsh -will be diverted to industries
for reuse, and onto golf courses and parks for irrigation by the close
of 1997. To help accomplish this feat, San Jose and other South Bay
cities are now completing over $140 million worth of new pipes, pumps
and other wastewater recycling facilities. This infrastructure will
divert the 21 mgd of tertiary-treated effluent to over 300 private and
public agency recycled-water customers in San Jose, Milpitas, and Santa
Clara. It starts with a new pumping station near the treatment plant and
connecting 108-inch-diameter pipe. From there, 60 miles of newly-laid
pipeline will take the recycled water in three branches along flood
control and railroad rights-of-way and beneath surface streets to the
three cities. In San Jose, two new pumping stations will add pressure
and equalize the flow, so the water can be carried up into the hills. At
the last pumping station, the city will build a small reservoir for
temporary storage. A retrofit grant program will help recycled-water
customers finance the on-site improvements needed to keep recycled and
potable water separate. As an incentive to encourage its use, rates for
the recycled water will be considerably lower than those for potable
water. The recycle-bound wastewater will come from the San Jose/Santa
Clara Water Pollution Control Plant, which treats water from all or
portions of 8 South Bay cities and in 1996 discharged an average of 132
million gallons into the Bay per day, 12 million gallons in excess of
the 120 mgd maximum imposed by the S.F. Regional Board in 1991. Part of
the problem for the San Jose plant is that it's a shallow bay
discharger, which means its effluent must be more diluted than that of
deep-bay dischargers like East Bay MUD. A bigger problem is the Silicon
Valley and South Bay economic boom, and its spiraling increases in
wastewater loads. The new recycling facilities are just one part of a
$258 million, three-part action plan - first approved in 1991 and now
being implemented - for reducing discharges. The second part expands a
1980s water conservation/education program to emphasize rebates for
homeowners and commercial property owners who install ultra-low-flush
toilets. The third part - purchase and some restoration of two tracts of
salt marsh totaling 404 acres - mitigates for 380 acres of salt marsh
converted to freshwater marsh between 1970 and 1985 as a result of plant
discharges. Once the 21mgd begins coursing through the recycling
pipeline, it should help the South Bay get back down to the 120 mgd
limit in its discharge permit. A revised plan for how to keep this lid
on in the years ahead goes to the Board in May, with a public hearing
scheduled for June 18. "Just putting more pipes in the ground could
break our residents' backs, in terms of costs we have to pass on,"
says the city's Lindsey Wolf. "We're looking at a whole range of
measures for maintaining the 120 mgd while continuing to grow. No one
wants a moratorium on growth." Some scientists and
environmentalists question whether the program, however ambitious, will
succeed in stopping further salt marsh conversion. "My guess is
that at 120 mgd, the conversion would continue," says Howard
Shellhammer, a San Jose State University salt marsh harvest mouse
expert. Shellhammer and other biologists have noticed less of the
endangered mice in the South Bay. As Cal Fish & Game's Deborah
Johnston explains, "People are just now starting to realize the
extent of the change that has occurred." Shellhammer predicts that
as water demands continue to grow, the city's options for reducing
discharges could become cost-prohibitive and unsustainable. Greg Karras,
with Communities for a Better Environment, points out that discharges in
excess of 120 mgd are partially due to industrial wastewater, and claims
that many companies have already proved they can recycle more water
inside their plants cost-effectively. "There's every indication we
can solve this problem," he says. "The only issue is whether
the cities and industries can start reducing the flows now, before more
salt marsh is converted to fresh."
Contact: Lindsey Wolf
(408)277-5533 lov
SCHOOL YARD - WET AND WILD
EDUCATION
Each spring since 1995 the freshwater marsh at Big
Break in Oakley has been invaded by hordes of small creatures sporting
brightly colored plumage and emitting shrill cries. They are not exotic
birds or bugs; they're first graders from Vintage Parkway Elementary
School participating in the school's Wet 'N Wild program, which teaches
students and their families about the Delta and the marsh. "For a
few weeks we pretty much eat, drink and breathe the wetlands," says
teacher Nancy Huffaker, who heads the program this year. Through
activities that include collecting plant and animal specimens,
monitoring animal tracks and debris, and writing stories about the
Delta, students learn about the water cycle, water quality, and marsh
wildlife. In past years students have stenciled storm drains, conducted
marsh clean-ups and created a book entitled Down the Drain about the
effects of stormwater pollution.. Two Vintage Parkway teachers launched
the Wet 'N Wild program after attending an October 1994 Kids in Creeks
workshop. Kids in Creeks' sponsor, the Contra Costa Clean Water Program,
provided funding through its Teacher Action Grants program, which awards
grants of up to $1,500 for innovative classroom-based environmental
awareness and restoration projects. The grants are administered by the
Aquatic Outreach Institute (formerly the S.F. Estuary Institute's
Education Program), which also runs Kids in Creeks. More than 700
teachers have participated in Kids in Creeks workshops since the program
was launched in 1992. The workshops, which use local urban creeks to
teach watershed protection, are offered on a county-wide basis and
provide teachers with resources specific to their counties. Antioch High
School science teacher Jim Hybarger has received several Teacher Action
Grants, as well as funding from the City of Antioch and DuPont Chemical,
for his 10th grade science curriculum incorporating restoration,
monitoring and other West Antioch Creek activities. In 1996, Hybarger's
students replaced non native vegetation at the creek with native
California big leaf maples and valley oaks. This spring, Hybarger and
his students are planting a demonstration vegetable garden which will
use integrated pest management techniques. "I'm hoping that we'll
be able to show the vegetables at the county fair in July," he
says.
........................................
Contact: Kathy
Kramer (510) 231-9507 ch
END
jmc 06/15/98 |
