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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 in the Russian River. But now a request to restart gravel clearing in the southern reach of the Gualala River near Annapolis is pitting residents, activists, miners and businessmen against each other.

Tuesday, county supervisors heard arguments on both sides for more than an hour before concluding that a report from a hydrologist hired by the Friends of the Gualala River group was reason enough to delay further debate until next year.

On Jan. 29, supervisors hope to decide the matter, after giving county planners time to assess the report by Dennis Jackson, a consulting hydrologist who for five years was the hydrologist for the Mendocino County Water Agency…

[Correction: County staff decided to recommend further review even before receiving hydrologist Dennis Jackson’s report. However, his report does effectively highlight the many deficiencies in the County’s proposed gravel mining permit.]
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Gravel Mining in the Gualala River