AMERICAN RIVER WATERSHED GROUP

March 16, 2006

The meeting of the American River Watershed Group (ARWG) meeting was called to order by Bill Templin, American River Watershed Coordinator at 10:15 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, Placer County Resource Conservation District (PCRCD); Kevin Roberts, Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI); Dan Teater, US Forest Service Tahoe Nat’l Forest; Bill Cave, Auburn Lake Trails Fire Safe Council; Steve Gallanthine, US Geological Service; Heath Wakelee, Granite Bay Flycasters; Alicia Pool, ECORP Consulting; Matt Triggs, US Forest Service American River RD; Stan MacDonald, Placer County Resource Conservation District (PCRCD); Larry Goodell, Auburn Flycasters; and Elizabeth Holtz, El Dorado Irrigation District.

Check-In:

Bill Templin led the “Check-In” procedure that entails telling who you are, how you are, if you have any time constraints, emergent issues, and/or individual expectations.

Review & Approval of Minutes:

Minutes were reviewed and moved by Bill Cave, seconded by Larry Goodell for approval. Motion carried.   

Watershed Coordinator Monthly Report on Progress:  Bill noted he will email his monthly progress report.

Additions to the Agenda:

No additions were made to the agenda.

Discussion Topics:

1.  Review of Draft Decision Making Protocols

Bill Templin introduced the topic and described the interest for review of decision making process used by the American River Watershed Group.  Bill Cave suggested that the process should not hamper the ability of the group to move forward with appropriate grants or decisions that promote the mission. He suggested we should do the internal work that gets everybody together in the collaborative approach but not allow one person to exercise authority to stop a proposal once underway.

2.  Review of Draft Project List for Prioritizing and Use to Write Proposals

Bill Templin provided an overview of past and potential projects which included the angler survey t0 gather important fishery information that is needed to better understand the distribution of all types of fish that anglers might catch in our watershed, game fish as well as Threatened and Endangered Species.  Partners for this effort include Calif. Department of Fish and Game, Granite Bay Flycasters, Auburn Flycasters, North Area Sportsmen’s Association, Foothills Network and Trout Unlimited’s new local Sac/Sierra Chapter.

Alicia asked if sub-watersheds might be examined for their particular issues and potential projects. The group agreed that might be a useful exercise and suggested the group look at the Sediment study first and bring the South Fork Watershed Group into the discussion as part of the exercise. Alicia also suggested the need to identify reference streams for benthic, amphibians, etc., in the North Fork.

ARWG Discussion of Management & Decision making on Active Priority Watershed Issues:

1.         Watershed Assessment – Bill and Elizabeth introduced and discussed CABY (Cosumnes American Bear Yuba Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, IRWMP) which is in the initial stages of development and includes a Planning Committee and water quality, water supply and habitat sub-committees.  Bill encouraged participation by members of the ARWG. The next scheduled Planning meeting is April 5^th and will be held at ARD at the Canyon View Community Center.  The Integrated Regional Water Management plan is scheduled to be completed in December 2006. Progress on this project will be provided monthly in Bill’s monthly report and in more detail at our meetings and whenever any of you want to know.

2.         Fuel Reduction and Forest Management – Bill mentioned that there are projects sponsored by various agencies but as a group we don’t have a very good understanding of the total effort.  Matt Triggs indicated that he would try to provide an overview of the Tahoe National Forest fuels projects at an upcoming meeting. Rich indicated that NRCS has EQIP funding available for private landowners and will be able to provide information at a later date on where those projects may be located.  Bill Cave mentioned that he might be able to provide updates on future projects within El Dorado County area. We need to contact CDF to find out more about their plans and project locations.

3.         Climate Change – No update provided

4.         Water Quality – Bill indicated that SWAMP data base is accepting other automated data and that there is a data sharing protocol, but SWAMP still has further development needed before it will be fully functional and available for use. SWAMP stands for the Surface Water Ambient Water Monitoring Program of the State Water Resources Control Board, originally designed to handle the results from Volunteer Monitoring activities throughout California.

5.         Fisheries – Bill reminded the group that the Upper American River Foundation is moving forward with assistance from Granite Bay Flycasters and Auburn Flycasters.  A river cleanup is sponsored by the Placer County RCD and is scheduled for April 30, 2006 at 9:00am at Oxbow Reservoir. After the scheduled a cleanup members are invited to fish or otherwise enjoy the river and may participate in a BarBQue.

Due to time constraints discussion on the rest of the agenda items will be postponed until next month.

Next Meeting:

The next regular meeting will take place on April 20, 2006 at the Canyon View Community Center.

Agenda Suggestions and Open Discussion:

Agenda Item: 

ARWG MOU and decision making protocol, projects list, possible presentation by Matt Triggs regarding USFS Fuels projects. 

A future agenda item would be a discussion from Bill Cave regarding Fire Safe Councils operations in El Dorado County and Community Wildfire Protection Plan. 

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 12:05 p.m.