Estuary / Lagoon

On May 16, 2024, the California Coastal Commission issued a permit to Bower Limited Partnership for replacement of the failed retaining wall behind the Surf Market and directly above the Gualala River estuary. The Surf Market building was built too close to the bluff edge in 1983, in violation of coastal development permit CDP No. NCR-80-P-75, which is why the …

Mouth of the Gualala River on May 20, 2024; photo courtesy of Bob Rutemoeller

In September, the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy (RCLC) unveiled the Conservation Plan for the Mill Bend Preserve at a public meeting and celebration. This was a major achievement and the result of two years of collaboration between the environmental consultant, Prunuske Chatham, Inc., and a dedicated Working Group of RCLC individuals that included FoGR representation. The Abstract to the Conservation …

Drought Changes in the Gualala River Estuary’s Summer Lagoon: Native Aquatic Vegetation versus Algal Blooms A virtual field trip with questions and answers – (more than you wanted to know) Friends of Gualala River, August 2021 Peter Baye, Ph.D, Coastal Ecologist, Botanist Question: What is all the green stuff in the Gualala River lagoon? Is it one of the “Harmful …

  The mouth of the Gualala River opened to the ocean on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020 at ~11:30am, reconnecting the important lagoon fish rearing habitat for out-migrating salmonids, synchronized with suitable stream conditions for returning spawners. This is a high tide, high swell, low-energy breach condition in the photos. When the lagoon is full and it breaches on a low …

News from: Redwood Coast Land Conservancy May 21, 2020 Sometimes it does take a small group of passionate locals to conserve a river estuary forever. In 2017, 113 acres of scenic and environmentally sensitive coastal wetlands and adjacent uplands surrounding the Gualala River went up for sale for the first time in over 70 years. The community came together, signaled …

by John Walton   In the fall of 2017, the Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) working group considered a proposal to engage the community in a discussion regarding the 112 acre Mill Bend Properties, including the estuary of the river, that had recently been offered for sale for the first time in nearly 70 years. FoGR’s Board suggested presenting the …

by W.W. Keller news@mendonoma.com © copyright 2018, Independent Coast Observer reprinted with permission The Redwood Coast Land Conservancy and the Mendocino Land Trust announced on Thursday, Nov. 8, that an offer to buy the Mill Bend property in Gualala by an unidentified conservation buyer, has been accepted. The deal includes both the Mill Bend and the Lower Mill Bend parcels. …

Friends of the Gualala River is astonished to learn that NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the federal agency responsible for the recovery of coho salmon and steelhead, is PROPOSING TO REMOVE THE GUALALA RIVER ESTUARY (our beautiful lagoon from the beach upstream through the regional park) from the Marine Sanctuary. Incredibly, they are proposing the same for the Russian …

On Friday, June 13, 2014, Peggy Berryhill interviewed Richard Charter, long-time defender of the coast, on KGUA, 88.3 FM in Gualala, CA. Listen to the interview on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kgua/richard-charter-ocean-santuary-613/ “An interview with the legendary Richard Charter about the NOAA hearings in Point Arena, Gualala and Bodega Bay on permanently protecting our ocean from Bodega Bay to Point Arena from oil drilling, …

These are time-lapse videos of the Gualala River mouth in Northern California during the months of February, March & April, 2009, taken by Dane Behrens, a PhD student in Environmental Science at UC Davis. They were taken with a time-lapse package from Harbortronics (www.harbortronics.com) at 20-minute intervals. This was taken with the permission of Don and Jan Plenty, who let …

(CDP 55-2006) Proposed construction of a new 285-foot long concrete block retaining wall behind the Surf Supermarket parking lot in downtown Gualala, to connect to an old 105 foot long retaining wall behind the Surf Supermarket itself. May, 2010 updateThe old retaining wall behind the Supermarket failed in 2006, allowing sediment and debris to flow into the Gualala River estuary …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

3/15/2006   Harmony “New rains have recently joined the Gualala River taking with them all sorts of dirt and debris. As the river flows into the ocean you can vividly see how it is not an instant union.” “The colors of the ocean show just how far the river water stays together. Over time it will assimilate and the two …

3/6/2006   John “Old-timers say that Annapolis has two seasons… dust and mud. Well, with several days of non-stop heavy rain, I have to say we are definitely still in the mud season.” “Here’s a mudslide that closed Annapolis Road during yesterday’s storm. The Gualala River is down in the canyon to the left.” “A small muddy stream is flowing …

1/26/2006   Jeanne 1/26/06 Storm on Gualala Point Beach; photo credit, Jeanne Gadol“I was driving south from Gualala towards the bridge around noon on a very stormy January 26th when I noticed the waves flowing over the sandbar. I grabbed my camera and settled in along the bank just below the pullout south of the Breakers. There was a small …