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River Issues

Gravel Mining in the Gualala River

Update, June, 2009: Sonoma County has issued a Notice of Determination for gravel extraction from 12 gravel bars in the South Fork and Wheatfield Fork of the Gualala River, installation of summer crossings to access the mining sites, processing gravel at a plant adjacent to the river, and maintenance of a diversion sump and the diversion of water from the …

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April showers bring May flows to the Gualala River

The low flow winter drought conditions that prevailed on the Gualala River were erased by late April rainfalls that scoured the gravel beds and flooded bars and floodplains. Aquatic wildlife that breed in well-oxygenated flowing water on coarse gravel and cobbles, like foothill yellow-legged frogs, got a reprieve. So did recreational users of the river. Whether this year will be …

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Cattle on the River

Cattle from the upper watershed (Wheatfield Fork) annually move down from the dry hillslopes in August and September to graze and loaf in the cool, moist riparian zone of the Gualala River. This year, their hoofprints and manure could be found around Valley Crossing. One of the many small herds of cattle (shown below) was found on the Wheatfield Fork …

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Fireworks over the Gualala River estuary? Not this year

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For information on more recent events, see: Fireworks over the Gualala River estuary? Update: June 25, 2008 Today, the 1st District Court of Appeals rejected the appeal by the Gualala Festivals Committee. The Coastal Commission’s order stands: no fireworks over the Gualala River estuary without a permit. Update: June 19, 2008 The Gualala Festivals Committee canceled their controversial plans to …

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Retaining wall: Letter to the Editor

by Peter Baye This letter was published in the Independent Coast Observer on January 25, 2008. Editor: What’s in a name? Will something called a “soil retention system” rather than a “retaining wall” conserve the natural, mature coastal bluff vegetation along the river bank? In a word, no. Regardless of whether the scenic coastal bluffs along the Gualala River bank …

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Retaining wall: Open Space article, by Britt Bailey

by Britt Bailey, Director Environmental Commons This Open Space article was published in the Independent Coast Observer on January 25, 2008. There are a myriad of opinions with respect to Mr. John Bower’s proposal to build a retaining wall or retaining structure on the bluff in Gualala. Speaking for Environmental Commons, I’d like to clarify our reasons for opposing and …

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Retaining wall: Letter to the Editor

by Peter Baye This letter was published in the Independent Coast Observer on February 22, 2008. Editor: The ICO’s editorial on “The Surf project” (February 15, 2008) is right about the benefits of a new downtown building layout that opens up coastal views. But it misses the point entirely about the nature and problems of “piecemealing” the bluff project ahead …

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Retaining wall: Letter to the Editor, by Karl Anderson

by Karl Anderson This letter was published in the Independent Coast Observer on January 25, 2008. Editor: With his new proposal John Bower would seem to acknowledge that a large concrete wall in the Gualala River estuary would be an eyesore. But his “soil retention wall” ignores the fact that the bluff is stable and does not need to be …

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Gravel Mining

Letter to the editor published in the Independent Coast Observer November 2, 2007 Editor: Early in September, Friends of the Gualala River asked hydrologist Dennis Jackson to analyze the impacts of in-stream gravel mining in the Gualala River and to comment on the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the Gualala Redwoods gravel mining permit renewal that is being considered by …

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Gravel mining decision delayed

Supervisors give planners more time to weigh hydrologist’s report on Gualala River by Bleys Rose, The Press Democrat, October 24, 2007 [excerpt:] Build-up of gravel in the Gualala River is reigniting familiar debate in Sonoma County over whether riverbed mining helps or hinders the health of waterways. For more than a decade, county supervisors have been discouraging mining of gravel …

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Gualala River – Appraising Parkland

The Forest

Report: California taxpayers may be getting fleeced by unreliable system to appraise sales price for park and open space land by Paul Rogers, San Jose Mercury News, October 23, 2007 [excerpt:] California voters have approved spending billions of dollars to buy new parks, wildlife refuges and open space preserves in recent years. Yet taxpayers may be getting fleeced because state …

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Fireworks over the mouth of the Gualala River?

For information on more recent events, see: Fireworks over the Gualala River estuary? Update: October, 2007 The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released a preliminary joint report on seabird and marine mammal monitoring conducted under its direction at Gualala Point Island, which is part of the California Coastal National Monument: Seabird and Marine Mammal Monitoring on Offshore Rock Islands …

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Gualala divided over fireworks

Independence Day event stalls after complaints over impact on seabirds by Bob Norberg The Press Democrat June 27, 2007 [excerpt:] A quarter-acre rock 100 yards from shore, where thousands of seabirds nest, has become the front line in Gualala’s war over an Independence Day fireworks celebration. “It is the Fourth of July, we are celebrating our Independence Day like thousands …

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Retaining wall: Letter by Julie Verran

Letter regarding CDP #55-2006 by Julie Verran Ms. Beddoe, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Hall, CDP #55-2006 should be denied. The only viable alternatives are No Project, or public use as a park with a bluff trail, parking and more native trees and shrubs planted to help shield Highway 1 and the rest of downtown Gualala from tsunami run-up. That would be …

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Expand Gualala Point Park

Published in the Independent Coast Observer on November 3, 2006. Only 70 years ago, in the mid 1930s, most of the central and upper reaches of the Gualala River Watershed still were covered with virgin old-growth redwood forests. The trees shaded the river and its tributaries, and a deep network of tree roots helped prevent erosion of forest soils. Salmon …

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Gualala River Park

Historical Proposals 1955 – Sonoma County Planning Commission Revised Beach and Shoreline Master Plan Excerpt:   Priority 1 – F. Gualala Riverbank and coastal shoreline. “This area is proposed for a major park because of its size, its natural beauty of second growth timber and other foliage, and because of its location along the Gualala River and the south fork. …

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Reports on 2006 Fireworks

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Two separate reports by Residents of The Sea Ranch Report No. 1 Several of us walked to the bluff next to Gualala Point Island rookery to monitor the fireworks’ effect on rookery residents, not knowing WHAT to expect – IF anything. We were amazed and troubled by how immediate and extensive the effect was. Alarm cries from the seabirds began …

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New vineyards sprayed with herbicides

3/20/2006   Peter “All the big new vineyards on Annapolis Road have recently been sprayed with herbicides, and the characteristic brown-out and discoloration is showing up now, demonstrating how extensive the spray area is… and during an intense period of rain and runoff to seasonal creeks. The old Annapolis vineyard and new olive plantations are managed for weeds by non-chemical …

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Changes at Valley Crossing

“At Twin Bridges (Valley Crossing), the big gravel bar at the confluence of the south fork has split into two channels: one running right through the alder riparian zone, and a shallower one that has breached the gravel bar. The gravel bar is very low in height compared with previous years.” “The willows planted by Matrix of Change a few …

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Harbor Seals at the River Mouth

                 “At the tip of the Gualala Point sand spit on March 17, nine small harbor seals were hauled out on the back of the spit, near the edge of the muddly freshwater river outflow. There were no human footprints in the sand because the low beach was overwashed until low tide, barring …

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