Page 40 - Sonoma County Gazette Oct. 2019

October is here! This is the month where we get pumpkin spice everything! Well, yes, but it’s also the month where we anxiously scan the horizon for rain clouds—and smoke plumes. One brings relief, the other dread. If you’re like me, you are proud of the defensible space work you’ve done, and humbled by the amount yet to do. Don’t lose momentum! Use the fall and winter months to plot and plan your strategy for next year, as an individual and as a team member in whatever organizations you have joined or are thinking of joining.
Fall in Monte Rio. I just returned from a long Caribbean cruise
Okay, that’s enough about fire for now. Let’s talk about another elemental force—water. Last month at the regular monthly CMRPD Board meeting,
fish biologist Elizabeth Ruiz of the Russian River Salmon and Steelhead Monitoring Program, California Sea Grant Extension (RRSSMPCSGE – oh, forget it!) gave a presentation showing the positive effects of this year’s stream augmentation efforts. I’m sure there is a long name and sixteen-letter acronym for that too—biologists sure have long attention spans!—But I’m going to leave it at “augmentation”.
to appreciate what you have here. Do I want to be that gay man from Riyadh Saudi Arabia that can’t be out and open with his family or with anyone in Saudi Arabia? Do I want to live in the tropics where the temperature is in the upper 90’s and the humidity in the upper 70s? This was my first trip to Wilton Manors. For those that don’t know, it is a community in Ft Lauderdale that has the second highest LGBT population in the country after Provincetown, Mass. Like the River and Palm Springs, it is laid back, but very active such as a packed drag show on Monday nights. What struck me most is many of the restaurants have doggie menus and one even offers 2 for 1 Mimosas if you bring your pup along. I assume the 2nd isn’t for your pup! We need doggie menus at our restaurants here! Travel is great, but it’s always nice to come home to Monte Rio.
What is being augmented, and by whom? I’ll take the second answer first.
A full list of those involved would probably take the rest of the column space herein, but I will take a shot at it: The Russian River Coho Water Resources Partnership (RRCWRP) is an umbrella group consisting of, please use a No. 2 pencil, the Sonoma Resource Conservation District (SRCD), the Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District (GRRCD), Trout Unlimited (TU), California Sea Grant (CSG), and the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center’s Water Institute (OAECWI). So all together that is...oh, all right. I’ll stop. I’ll be here all month, try the buffet.
Supervisor Lynda Hopkins is advocating for a SMART train
Now, to the first question: what is being augmented? You have probably already deduced “the stream”. More specifically, the stream flow. Third question: Why? This is the most important question. We know that Dutch Bill Creek is seasonal, meaning it dries up in summer, leaving isolated pools up and down its length. It is in these isolated pools that the seasons, Coho and steelhead fry try to survive the long, hot summer until the rains
get Dutch Bill hooked up again and clear their way to the ocean. Because of various human diversions of the creek flow, the “drying up” is more extreme than it would be without us, so the various members of the alphabet soup paragraph above have a common interest to mitigate that human impact. They do that by communicating with the various Dutch Bill water use shareholders (most of whom are already in the alphabet soup) and identify when and where some of the water previously diverted by humans can be returned to the creek.
Advocating for Peace & Quiet: For the past year the Russian River Alliance has been advocating for a noise ordinance in our area. After a lot
of research, and feedback on social media, we have a success. In the past
if you called the Sheriff’s dispatch you would be told that there is no noise ordinance in unincorporated Sonoma County, but that they would send out a deputy as a courtesy. We do in fact have two noise ordinances, one being at the county level and one at the state level. They are both “disturbing the peace” ordinances which includes noise.
I’ve covered who, what, where, and why. When did this take place? This spring and summer, for the fourth time in the last five years, water was released from storage tanks in Westminster Woods (WW) (tanks built
to increase storage and allow WW to better manage their water supply and minimize the diversion from the creek in the first place), thereby significantly increasing the flow in Dutch Bill Creek during the dry summer months. Biologist Ruiz’ presentation was detailed and informative, with graphs, charts, and maps showing the results of comprehensive data collection, and also showing a direct benefit to the salmon and trout fry summering in Dutch Bill’s isolated pools. Thanks to this water release, isolated pools were less isolated, deeper, and cooler, all of which had a direct and quantifiable positive effect
Attending our board meeting last month was Lt Mike Raasch and Sgt Brian Parks. They both agreed to talk with dispatch and to enforce the existing ordinances. These ordinances make no distinction between vacation rentals
or other properties. Please let me know if you have reported a noise complaint and are not getting satisfactory results. Obtain an incident report number from your call which would be needed for follow-up. As with most issues on the River, the discussions were polarized, but the result is reasonable and fair to all. We aren’t going to be shutting down resorts “we are Guerne-Vegas”,
on the survival odds of those fish – all of which was clearly communicated
by Ms. Ruiz (I’m sure we will be calling her Dr. Ruiz in the very near future). Despite my comedy stylings at the expense of the alphabet soup profusion of acronyms, charts, maps, graphs, and data, her presentation was crystal clear to the layman as well as the scientist. Much clearer than this column, I’ll warrant.
is their Workforce Housing Fund. This fund provides short term housing assistance (emergency rent, deposits) for our local workforce when they need
it most. The program is for the people that serve us every day and occasionally need help to prevent becoming homeless. During the floods when workers
lost their homes and their jobs, the Russian River Alliance was first to provide assistance. During the slow off-season winter months assistance is also
needed. The Alliance is holding a fundraiser Friday November 1st at the top of Salesforce East Tower in San Francisco. Buses with the Russian River Sisters on board will be available so you don’t have to worry about having a good time before, during, or after the event. Cleve Jones, AIDS quilt/ NAMES Project founder and a local resident will also be at the event. For tickets or more information visit RussianRiverAlliance.org
On Saturday November 2nd, the Monte Rio Chamber presents Casino Night at the Community Center. This fun event raises funds for the Holiday Food Basket Program for Monte Rio School and for the Chamber’s other events such as Independence Day Fireworks. For tickets & INFO: MonteRio.org
Why is Dutch Bill so fascinating to fish biologists?
That is a subject for a future column or columns! In my research for this month’s missive, I have barely scratched the surface of the amount of study directed at our humble waterway. You can be certain I will return to this subject, as column inches allow.
40 - www.sonomacountygazette.com -10/19
Vacation Wonderland, we just keep getting better.
with an after stop in South Florida and Wilton Manors. While the cruise was originally going to Cuba, at least the redirected cruise had an excursion to stunning Trunk Bay beach in St John. A rare long vacation really can help expand your perspective on life. Having top notch cruise service and meeting happy engaging folks from around the world is awesome. It also helps you
station in Fulton with electric bus service from the River.
Hoping the station will also have sufficient parking and FastCharge and Level 2 EV chargers. Although this is a longer-range project, it certainly would help connectivity with the River for tourists and residents.
but we are going to stop gas leaf blowers literally being used at 4:30 in the morning. Vegas also has a noise ordinance. We all have the right to peaceful enjoyment of our homes. Happy to report this issue only a took a year to reach a resolution. I appreciate the efforts of our local law enforcement to work with the community.
Another successful initiative of the Russian River Alliance