River Issues

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

“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 …

                 “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 …

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 …

3/7/2006   Britt “A break in the weather provided an opportunity to check out the stability of the soils along the North Fork and Little North Fork of the Gualala River.” “A hill slide onto the main haul road which runs alongside the North Fork.” “At the convergence of the North Fork and Little North Fork, the haul road is …

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 …

2/20/2006   Peter “The river mouth has formed a double sand spit, an atypical configuration — a small ‘counter-spit’, growing in the reverse (south) direction of the main spit’s growth, overlaps the ocean side of the spit, and deflects the shrunken mouth southward about a hundred feet. It partially chokes the mouth, so the lagoon stands above the low tide.” …

12/31/2005   Peter “Soon after noon, the northern 2/3 of the sand spit was almost completely eroded from the river side, leaving 4 evenly spaced mounds (beach cusps) with vertical scarps facing the river, and low washover troughs between them. The above-tide mounds were less than 5 m wide by 1:30, and it’s likely that most of it will be …

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 …

1/21/2006   Chris “An Associated Press article, ‘Environmentalists Fight Vineyards’ Spread,’ published in the Washington Post, LA Times and dozens of other newspapers in January, 2006, focuses attention on the destruction of forestland to plant vineyards in the Gualala River watershed.”

FoGR BLoG Friends of the Gualala River’s web log of river sightings and commentary on the Gualala River watershed. FoGRBLoG is open to everyone in our community. Send your photos and observations to:blog@GualalaRiver.org. Please keep comments and photos focused on the Gualala River watershed and its natural environment . Click on the individual entries below Willows hold their ground 6/13/2006   …

“The South Fork of the Gualala River at the confluence with the Wheatfield Fork, at Valley Crossing, has changed configuration of its channel and bar.” June 2006 March 2006 “The lowered bar was “split” during winter and spring high flood flows, and now the main low-flow channel has stabilized in the middle of the broad gravel bar (above left). It …

“Here also the entire riparian zone was submerged and part of the channel, with rapid currents among alders. The high water level (mud with ripples, debris lines) went up to the edge of the loggingroad parallel with the river on the N side….highest I’ve ever seen. A thick deposit of silt (over 20 cm deep) covered the extensive ground that …