October 21, 2004
The meeting of the American River Watershed Group (ARWG) meeting was called to order by Bill Templin, American River Watershed Coordinator at 11:15 a.m. at Placer County Water Agency’s American River Room located at 144 Ferguson Road, Auburn.
Present: Bill Templin, American River Watershed Coordinator; Stan MacDonald and Stewart Feldman, Placer County Resource Conservation District (RCD) Directors; Marie Davis, Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) Consultant; Cliff Heitz, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) District Conservationist; Rich Johnson, USFS American River District Ranger; Carol Kennedy, US Forest Service (USFS) Watershed Program Manager and Matt Triggs, USFS Wildlife Biologist – Tahoe National Forest; John Lane, Teichert Aggregates; Marilyn Jasper, Clover Valley Foundation and Sierra Club; Lesa Osterholm, Bear River Watershed Coordinator; David Shabazian, SACOG; Michael Garabedian, Friends of the North Fork; Bonnie Bagwell.
Bill Templin began the “Check-In” procedure, telling meeting participants who you are and how you are, your time constraints, the identification of desired stakeholders not present, emergent issues, and individual expectations.
In Katie Maloney’s absence, Stewart Feldman agreed to record minutes of the meeting.
Approval of Agenda and Minutes:
No changes were made.
Sub-Committee Reports:
Placer County Fire Safe Alliance:
Bill Templin described the workshop scheduled for the next meeting, October 26th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the American River Room. Ken Hood, BLM representative and Chairman of the Alliance interim Board, will lead the group in development of a comprehensive projects map reflecting fire risk reduction activities and projects to improve collaboration and planning of fire reduction efforts.
Bonnie Bagwell suggested inviting Placer County Planning Dept. to share information about assets at risk in the county.
Stewart Feldman remarked that the Hazard Mitigation Plan being developed by Placer County Office of Emergency Services (OES) ought to be integrated into the Alliance planning effort.
Watershed Coordinator Report:
Bill Templin informed the group about the DMA 2000 Hazard Mitigation Plan meeting he attended in July. He also attended the Bear River Watershed Group (BRWG) meeting in September, deferring details to Lesa Osterholm, BRWG Coordinator.
Bill reported on the Sacramento River Watershed Group meeting he attended. He gave an update on the progress of the committee planning the three-day American River Conference scheduled for Spring 2005 at CSUS.
Bill reported that the Regional Watershed Coordination Team has been working on the “American River Watershed Portal” (http://www.americanriverwatershed.net/), defined as “an online library resource that provides access to watershed information for the Upper American River Region. The region encompasses the watersheds of the South Fork, Middle Fork and North Fork of the American River, as well as the Bear River, which is linked to the American River Basin through a system of canals developed in the Gold Rush era and continuing to provide water throughout the region.” The portal is established and maintained through collaboration and coordination between government agencies, irrigation districts, resource conservation districts, and residents of the watershed.
Bill made contact with Christine Mai, El Dorado National Forest Wildlife Biologist, who shared information about activities in the South Fork American River, Rubicon River and Middle Fork American River watersheds.
Bill attended a meeting of the Foresthill Chamber of Commerce, at which a Biomass Utilization facility was discussed. Bonnie Bagwell mentioned that this was an idea proposed by an ad hoc subcommittee of the Alliance, made up of Cliff Heitz, Luana Dowling, and Bonnie.
Cliff Heitz suggested that a solution might come from research and development of biomass technology in southern California.
Rich Johnson indicated that the USFS could provide a presentation to this group about the watershed and how it works (“factors” for water).
Marie Davis asked if maps of the watershed could be produced and laminated or mounted for use during meetings. Bill suggested that USFS might be able to help with this.
Marilyn Jasper commented that placemat-sized maps of the watershed might be effective for public education and awareness.
Project Updates:
Sediment Dynamics Study (SDS):
Bill Templin explained the Grant Administration and Management Team, consisting of Sierra College as Grant Manager, Placer County Water Agency as Project Manager, and Placer County RCD to facilitate communication to the ARWG.
The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) will be soliciting responses from the short list of four consultants interested in performing the work outlined in the SDS. A discussion followed, concerning the process and time frame for this solicitation and ultimate selection of a subcontractor.
Business:
Bill asked Lesa Osterholm to describe the proposed Wood Center in Nevada County. Lesa described this as a proposal from the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County, which has funding for start-up costs (BLM?). Progress has been made on finding a suitable parcel for this project, near the Nevada County Fairgrounds, on land that BLM manages. The Center would be involved in collecting and utilizing forest products in many ways: chipping material for mulch, making pine needle wattles for erosion control, and processing small logs into marketable products.
Stewart Feldman reported on a tour he attended at the SPI plant near Lincoln, and he suggested that the plant wood be worthwhile for others to visit. He could make arrangements for group tours.
Draft Preferred Blueprint Scenario for 2050:
David Shabazian presented a review and discussion of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) Regional Blueprint Scenario for growth in the region. SACOG is a metropolitan planning organization, utilized to distribute transportation funds in this six-county region. Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties participated in this project. El Dorado County declined, because they were involved in a General Plan Update.
David narrated a PowerPoint presentation on the Regional Blueprint process and its findings. Its goals include developing a response to the air quality “non-attainment status” of the region, targeting land use planning and its impacts on regional transportation, open space, and quality of life.
The document offers a Preferred Alternative, which reduces the impact of development on open space and transportation needs in the region. SACOG described the “base case”, held public meetings to determine “neighborhood scale” scenarios, looked at “county scale” scenarios, and projected “regional scale” scenarios.
The “Preferred Alternative” scenario would result in about 50% of the region in urban uses and would reduce agricultural land conversion to about 2/3 of the “base case” (100 sq. mi. instead of 166 sq. mi.) option.
Many questions on a wide range of subjects followed, extending the discussion to about 1:00 pm. Bill and others thanked David for sharing the information with the group.
Open Discussion:
Though scheduled next on the agenda, Carol Kennedy remarked that she would prefer not to offer her presentation on Weather/Climate Studies in the time remaining. This comment led to a discussion of time management and improvements in the group’s meeting structure. Suggestions included:
having the Coordinator’s report and grant updates distributed in writing with the agenda, so that the group could be updated more efficiently
presentations should be scheduled early in the meeting as a “timed” agenda item, with business conducted afterward.
the group should not plan more than one major presentation at a meeting.
Next Meeting and Adjournment:
The next meeting will take place on November 18th at the American River Room. The meeting was adjourned at 1:10 p.m.