February 17, 2005
The meeting of the American River Watershed Group (ARWG) meeting was called to order by Bill Templin, American River Watershed Coordinator at 10:00 a.m. at the Auburn Recreation District Canyon View Community Center located at 471 Maidu Drive, Auburn.
Present: Bill Templin, American River Watershed Coordinator; Rich Gresham, Manager; Stewart Feldman, Director; and Katie Maloney, Sr. Administrative Assistant, Placer County Resource Conservation District; Mal Toy, Resource Development and Marie Davis, Consultant, Placer County Water Agency; Erik Holst, US Forest Service (USFS) Eldorado Nat’l Forest (NF) Fisheries Biologist; Marilyn Jasper, Clover Valley Foundation and Sierra Club; Eric Nichol, CA Dept. of Water Resources Engineer; Shana Avalos, Bureau of Reclamation American River Water Education Center Manager; Liz Mansfield, El Dorado Irrigation District (EID) Watershed Coordinator; Carol Kennedy, USFS Tahoe NF Watershed Program Manager; John Lane, Teichert Environmental Engineer; Bill Christner, ECORP Consulting, Inc. Fluvial Geomorphologist; Doug Ferrier, Forest Slopes Management; Edmund Sullivan, Placer County Senior Planner; and Jill Anderson, El Dorado County and Georgetown Divide Resource Conservation Districts Watershed Coordinator.
Check-In:
Bill Templin led the “Check-In” procedure that entails telling meeting participants who you are, how you are, any time constraints, the identification of desired stakeholders not present, emergent issues, and individual expectations.
Bill handed out a list for participants to add potential future agenda items to and reviewed potential tours and presentations being explored and solicited feedback.
Bill handed out a copy of the contact list he has compiled from different sources and solicited additions and/or changes to the information contained thereon.
Review & Approval of Minutes:
No changes were made to the minutes.
Additions to the Agenda:
No additions were made to the agenda.
Sediment Dynamics Study (SDS) Update:
Bill Templin reported the Technical Advisory Committee’s (TAC) meeting included reviewing the types of work to be conducted and the reporting requirements that will include a monthly written progress report and a quarterly face-to-face meeting to discuss progress and any issues that need to be addressed.
Rich Gresham reviewed Placer County Resource Conservation District’s role in the study as facilitator of communications between the TAC, the ARWG, and the project managers.
Mal Toy, SDS Project Manager reported the project timeline has been set back a month in order to address the changes in Tetra Tech’s (TT’s) “scope of work” before moving forward with Sierra College’s contracting process. It is hope that Sierra College will complete the contract approval process in April.
Carol Kennedy pointed out TT’s study timeline is shorter than the grant timeframe therefore, the lost time should not be an issue.
Marie Davis noted the importance of having an agreed upon foundation for the study before moving forward and indicated the time spent to work out issues up front is time well invested.
Mal noted the shift from oral to written progress reporting makes it necessary to pin down work plan details to ensure the study stays on track.
Mal proposed changing the study name to Sediment Study and dropping the word the “dynamics” from the study title.
Eric Nichol indicated a name change can be addressed at the same time as the workplan changes.
No objections were voiced regarding the suggested study name change.
The next TAC meeting will take place on March 10th at 8 a.m.
Activities Update:
Watershed Coordinator: Bill reviewed his activities over the last month and handed out copies of his activity report dated February 17th and solicited comments. There were none.
Public Outreach Team: Bill noted his workplan includes developing a Public Outreach Team that has facilitated the development of several tours within the watershed including the Auburn Dam Site restoration area and the Teichert Cool Cave Quarry tours. Bill announced the next tour will take place on March 9th with a tour of the Colfax Waste Water Treatment Plant. More information will be forthcoming on the planned tour.
Bill reported he had developed a PowerPoint presentation with photos of different sites within the watershed that may be candidates for restoration activities and noted some ideas and solicited feedback from the group.
Mal Toy cautioned Bill about taking pictures without having the landowner/manger, whether public or private, activity involved in the effort.
Bill acknowledged that Mal’s point is well taken.
Group discussion revolved around erosion issues.
Edmund Sullivan noted the Auburn Ravine/Coon Creek watersheds baseline analysis included a flyover that has helped identify erosion issues. The county has hopes of working with landowners in potentially grant funded efforts to address these types of problems and noted that landowner response to the idea, so far, has been positive.
Carol Kennedy pointed out the Sediment Study will be looking at the watershed, as a whole, in very general terms.
Group discussion revolved around invasives, erosion and sedimentation, voluntary cost share programs, differences between the American River watershed and western Placer County watersheds, especially in terms of anadromous fish issues, and fish sampling results in those western watersheds.
Bill reviewed meetings with Dr. Charlie Alpers and Mike Hunerlach of US Geological Survey (USGS) and mercury studies pertaining to abandoned mine sites in the Bear River/Yuba River watersheds and the correlation between geological parameters and where mercury has been found. USGS has sampled several sites within the American River watershed for mercury and shown interest in exploring mercury issues within the American River watershed.
Liz Mansfield noted the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) has also been exploring mercury issues in watersheds where they are active in relation to their FERC re-licensing effort. She noted it has been a hot topic of discussion.
Bill noted Mike Hunerlach has indicated he felt mercury issues should be included in the Sediment Study in relation to historical mining practices and their present day impacts. Bill noted the USGS website includes great information on mercury issues.
The group acknowledged that in a past presentation from Charlie Alpers, interest in expanding USGS mercury studies to the American River was expressed.
Carol Kennedy noted the USFS has a good inventory of abandoned mines and stream surveys that indicated free mercury is very prevalent in the Yuba River system.
Bill note Mike Hunerlach indicated free mercury is present in the American River also.
Stewart Feldman brought up intersystem water transfers between the Yuba River and American River systems and wondered it they contribute mercury to the American River system.
Mal noted the real issue is the conversion of free mercury into methyl-mercury when it becomes bio-available and enters the food chain and becomes a threat to the health of the ecosystems.
Bill closed discussion by indicating he will acquire a USGS fact sheet regarding mercury and pass it on the group for further review.
Stakeholder Reports:
American River Watershed GIS Proposal: Liz Mansfield reported $60K in funding from the Sacramento River Watershed Program (SRWP) has been made available to promote an interactive GIS website based on the Watershed Information Model (WIM). She indicated $120K is needed to construct the basic structure of the site and proposed expansion of the GIS based information for the American River. She invited the inclusion of Placer County’s GIS data to the effort. It was noted the county’s effort was focused on western Placer. The effort is being undertaken with the guidance of Western Shasta Resource Conservation District that developed WIM and Liz reviewed potential data layers including hydrology, political boundaries, vegetation, soils, water quality data, etc. There will be no parcel data included to ensure the avoidance of private property issues.
Rich Gresham, SRWP Board Member, noted the lobbying effort to make the American River a focal point of the GIS effort meant to clearly demonstrate to CALFED that WIM, developed by Western Shasta RCD, is transferable and useful.
Liz noted details such as who will house the data are still being worked out.
Carol Kennedy brought up the importance of keeping data updated and a need to develop data standards.
Bill closed discussion in order to accommodate stakeholders with time constraints.
Updates on Watershed Issues of Interest: In response to an inquiry regarding PCWA’s East Loomis Canal Efficiency Study Mal Toy noted he is not tracking that particular effort, but indicated the agency has begun a collaborative process to understand how to best move water through the system in an efficient manner while looking at delivery options, piping vs. open canals and ditches. He stressed PCWA is looking to have landowners actively involved in the process.
Group discussion revolved around the challenge of effectively and fairly dealing with the complicated delivery issues. Especially in terms of canal and/or ditch leakage where habitat has become established and the potential impacts of stopping water that directly contributes to those habitats.
Mal noted PCWA and Sierra Club conversations regarding routine canal maintenance have revolved around the possibility of a PCWA biologist closely evaluating impacts of routine maintenance to see if certain activities may require a more extended environmental process than currently in place.
Bill inquired about the Yuba/American River water transfers as it might pertain to mercury issues.
Carol Kennedy responded that most inter-watershed transfers are conducted above the point where historical mining activities took place.
Group discussion ensued regarding the differences between federal and state responses to mercury issues and the challenges those differences present to landowners/managers wanting to be proactive in cleaning up mercury problems.
Recreational Impacts on Water Quality: Jill Anderson reported discussions are taking place regarding Hangtown Creek in Placerville and the potential development of trails, the need to develop a master plan, conduct a feasibility study, review current restoration activities, and potential economic impacts to the community in order to guide the effort in terms of recreation restoration, water quality monitoring, and mapping efforts.
Jill announced the South Fork American River Watershed Group will be hosting a Stewardship Day in April to take place in the Georgetown area to promote watershed activities.
Bill noted a lack of stewardship in portions of the watershed connected with recreational uses.
Group discussion revolved around carrying capacity and recreational impacts.
Liz Mansfield reviewed Silver Lake issues, El Dorado Irrigation District meetings being planned to address water quality issues connected with failing septic systems, and future studies of the problem.
Mapping and Grant Progress: Rich Gresham reported concept proposals for both a Senior/Disabled Defensible Space Assistance Program and a Cost Share Program for fuel load reduction efforts in Strategically Placed Area Treatment (SPLAT) areas within the Ponderosa Fire Safe Council region of the foothills were submitted to the CA Clearinghouse with the assistance of Bill Templin. The next Alliance meeting will take place Monday the 28th at the Bowman CA Dept. of Forestry & Fire Protection (CDF) office at 10 a.m.
Bill noted he will attend the Alliance meeting as is looking forward to the completion of their effort to map past, present, and future projects that will guide a funding search for implementation.
Colfax Shaded Fuel Break Project (SFB): Stewart Feldman reviewed the project that encourages voluntary fuels reduction by private landowners within a project area to be selected within the Bear River watershed with input from local fire agencies as to appropriate placement of the SFB, the partners involved in the effort, meetings being planned, and potential sites being considered.
Next Meeting:
Agenda Suggestions: Bill reviewed the list of agenda suggestions made and thanked everyone for their input on items of interest and noted that he has already contacted Sierra Pacific Industries about presenting to the group. Additional agenda items of interest included a tour of PCWA dams and systems.
Bill proposed a future joint meeting with the South Fork American River Watershed Group that could be held in either Georgetown or Cool.
Open Discussion: Bill reported that discussions with ARD are taking place to explore the possibility of acquiring office space at the Canyon View Community Center for office and meeting space for an American River Watershed Center and for the group.
Adjournment:
The next meeting will take place on March 17th at a location to be determined. The meeting was adjourned at 12:08 p.m.