Project News

July 2009

Flood Migitation and the Ross Valley Watershed Program
Suits filed by Ford Greene and Marin United Taxpayers Association against the storm drainage fee are working their way through the courts. The California Supreme Court has agreed to review Ford Greene's suit against the County, which sets aside the Appeals Court decision in Greene's favor and leaves the storm drainage fee in place. It is expected to take up to two years for the decision to be issued. The Board of Supervisors voted on April 15, 2008 to authorize spending up to $1.3 million to launch some components of the program. Stetson Engineers submitted the winning proposal to analyze detention basins to reduce peak flows during the largest storms; assess opportunities for optimizing creek storage capacity; investigate dredging in the lower channel; and prepare environmental compliance strategies to expedite selected projects.

The existence of the suits does not change the fact that flooding remains a major threat to the viability of the businesses in downtown Fairfax, Ross, and San Anselmo; to many homes; and to public facilities like town halls, fire stations, libraries, and schools. We thank the County for moving forward with planning to address environmental and flood management problems, regardless of the suits. Simply put, flooding will not go away, even if the storm drainage fee election is overturned. Though it is expensive to work toward solving the problems, it will be much more expensive to do nothing.


FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs)
FEMA has updated the Flood Insurance Rate Maps for the Ross Valley to reflect recurrent severe flooding that has occurred since 1977, when the previous maps were published. In general, the flood zones in the new maps, which became effective May 4, 2009, are larger. However, some properties may no longer be in a flood zone. To check for the status of a specific parcel, you can download the new maps by entering a street address using this URL: http://msc.fema.gov/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/FemaWelcomeView?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langID=-1


Corte Madera Creek Flood Control Project
Congress allocate $236,000 for the US Army Corps of Engineers to continue continue on the Corte Madera Creek Flood Control Project, which if all goes well will increase the capacity of the concrete channel and the natural channel upstream of it in Ross and improve fish passage in Kentfield and Ross. The scoping meeting for the NEPA and CEQA review was held on July 23, 2008. An additional $500,000 to fund completion of the EIS/EIR is pending in Congress.



Pending Proposals

We seek out funding opportunities and submit proposals several times a year, usually in cooperation with the Flood Control District or one of the towns in the watershed. We are severely constrained because nearly all programs require significant matching funds, and the Ross Valley Watershed Program would provide most of those, if it had a freer hand. One proposal is currently under review by the grantors.


Pending Contracts

Ecology Study Area Enhancement and Culvert Repair, submitted to California Coastal Conservancy
$124,000 Requested; $221,000 Total Budget
Scope: This project, which includes culvert repair, continued habitat enhancement, and water quality monitoring, will not be activated until the Ross Valley Sanitary District has replaced the force main that is buried in the berm along the creek. The Flood Control District will repair culverts leading to the Berens Slough and the Cut-off Slough around the Ecology Study Area. Culvert repair would entail three steps: cleaning out the existing impaired culverts, installing inserts to restore the design flow of the original culverts, and planting native wetland and upland vegetation in the areas disturbed by construction.
Volunteers and Conservation Corps North Bay crews would continue removing Vinca, blackberry, broom, and smaller eucalyptus and acacia trees. We will also install more native plants and extend the irrigation system, order materials, and continue maintenance of the site.
Friends will prepare a monitoring plan and monitor water and air temperature, conductivity, and pH in each slough and in the main channel. This will establish baseline water quality parameters. Other parameters may also be measured. Monitoring would continue after the culverts are repaired to quantify changes that result from improved circulation. NOTE: This has been delayed while the Ross Valley Sanitary District studies replacement of the Kentfield Force Main and this money may no longer be available by the time a decision is reached.


Active Contracts

1. Invasive Spartina Project, funded by the California Coastal Conservancy
$67,000 provided by the Coastal Conservancy for the 2009 treatment season. Scope: Friends is the local sponsor of the Coastal Conservancy’s Invasive Spartina Project, an effort to eradicate invasive cordgrasses through the Bay. Our participation began in 2002; we expect several more years of work before the project can be declared a success. Even then, we will continue monitoring to find and remove plants that persist in some locations.

2. Design and Permitting of Barrier Treatment for Saunders, Pastori, and Lansdale at San Anselmo Creek, funded by National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Salmonid Habitat Restoration Fund
$150,000 provided by NFWF; $250,000 Total Budget
Originally, this project covered design and permitting for treatment of the barriers to salmonid passage at Saunders and Pastori avenues. However, the owner of the Pastori barrier declined to cooperate when funding for construction became available, so NFWF gave us permission to continue the permit process substituting Lansdale Station, using a design prepared for the Center for Ecological Management and Restoration with funding from the California Coastal Conservancy. Therefore, designs are available for all three barriers; permitting will be pursued for construction at Lansdale and Saunders.

3. Larkspur Creekside Revegetation and Restoration, funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program.
$15,000 from USFWS; $30,600 Total Budget
The goal is to improve habitat for the California clapper rail, a federally listed species, by removing non-native invasive species and installing both upland and wetland plants. This effort builds on the Invasive Spartina Project’s work on removing the abundant non-native cordgrass on this site. Success in the upland areas has been good. However, our efforts in the tidal areas have been compromised by grazing domestic geese that a Mill Valley resident persists on feeding near the upstream end of the project.

4. Final Design for Lansdale Barrier Removal at San Anselmo Creek, submitted to National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Salmonid Habitat Restoration Fund
$100,000 Total Budget
Scope: Additional surveys and soil boring will be taken to provide the information necessary to finalize the design, prepare detailed design drawings, and obtain permits. The design includes: