Friends of Gualala River Protecting the Gualala River watershed and the species living within it

Friends of the Gualala River protects the Gualala River watershed in Northern California and the species living within it.

by Genevieve Bookwalter, Santa Cruz Sentinel staff writer, June 30, 2006 [excerpt:] … The 4-3 decision in favor of Santa Cruz County over Davenport-based Big Creek Lumber grants a local government the power to restrict timber operations to certain areas. Historically, logging was under the purview of the state; the court’s ruling validates Santa Cruz County’s 7-year-old law regulating where …

As part of Friends of the Gualala River’s continuing community outreach efforts, several awards are given each year for student art projects. The most recent award was presented to Horicon School (Annapolis), for their stunning mural entitled “Fish and Their Habitat.” Especially impressive is the fact that the work was done by first and second grade students who studied the …

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 …

Quick facts about bottled water versus cleaning up the drinking water supply Members of the United Nations estimate that if the world took half of what it currently spends on bottled water ($100 billion annually) and invested it in water infrastructure and treatment, everyone in the world could have access to clean drinking water. But bottled water is cleaner, right? Actually, …

Friends of the Gualala River protects the Gualala River watershed in Northern California and the species living within it.

Local News Advice puts Eel River diversion plan on shelf March, 2008: A recently revived proposal to divert water from a protected portion of the Eel River near Dos Rios has been quietly shelved following a negative legal opinion. Diverting water from a Wild & Scenic River? October, 2007: Mendocino County studies a plan to divert water from the Wild …

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.” …

Friends of the Gualala River protects the Gualala River watershed in Northern California and the species living within it.

Sonoma County is considering the issue of converting forestland to vineyards and other uses as part of their update to the General Plan. The issue is seen as so urgent that the Supervisors intend to pass an ordinance regulating conversions before they consider the rest of the General Plan. The Planning Commission reviewed the proposed timberland conversion ordinance on January …

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 …

Friends of the Gualala River protects the Gualala River watershed in Northern California and the species living within it.

VIA FACSIMILE AND FIRST CLASS MAIL Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District 828 Seventh Street P.O. Box 95 Eureka, California 95502 Attention: Carol Rische, General Manager Re: Proposal to Export Mad River Water from Humboldt Bay via Bag-and-Tugboat Operation Dear Sirs and Mesdames: We represent a rapidly growing coalition of citizens’ groups that are vehemently opposed to the project proposed to …

Friends of the Gualala River protects the Gualala River watershed in Northern California and the species living within it.

Friends of the Gualala River protects the Gualala River watershed in Northern California and the species living within it.