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News Round-Up
FEDS DISH UP SUPPLY PIE
Club Fed - alias EPA, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, BurRec and the National Marine Fisheries Service - announced November 1 that it thinks it will take 540,000-740,000 acre-feet per year of additional freshwater flows to protect the Bay-Delta ecosystem. Filling in this water supply pie paves the way for joint Club Fed proposals and water quality standards - to be announced December 15 - addressing the state's failure to meet Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act requirements. State water officials took a bleaker view, responding with their own estimates of up to 3.1 million acre-feet per year. Though the feds plan to leave decisions on how to slice up the water supply pie to California, they know the state remains wary of any pie dished up by Washington. A November letter of comment from the State Water Board says EPA's draft standards "substantially exceed the level of protection required by the Clean Water Act." Contact: Virginia Donohue, EPA (415)744-1585
BAY FILL FOR CYPRESS
Caltrans, the Bay Commission and environmentalists may soon butt heads over a pending permit application for the West Grand/Cypress Structure freeway replacement along I-880. The proposed project would require new Bay fill, both for demolition of the existing West Grand structure and for construction of a new HOV lane. It would also impact public access and views along the shoreline. These were two factors BCDC considered in its recent denial of an earlier Caltrans permit for an elevated carpool lane along I-80 north of the Bay Bridge (an appeal may still be forthcoming). But the agency's action will not impact the Cypress segment of the I-880 project, according to Caltrans' Frank Niess. The Cypress application may go before the full commission at a public hearing on December 16. Contact: Nick Salcedo (415)557-3686
COMMUNITY CREEK MANAGEMENT
Marin's Corte Madera Creek sustains steelhead, salt marsh harvest mice and clapper rails despite the homes, businesses and roads lining its banks. But urbanization and water quality problems threaten this fragile habitat, according to a report from the S.F. Regional Board. For solutions, the agency will ask local residents, businesses and officials for their ideas on a watershed management plan at a series of public meetings. "Instead of imposing regulations from the top down, we're asking the people who live and work in the watershed to help come up with an effective way to manage it," says the Board's Dale Hopkins. Contact: Dale Hopkins (510)286-4398
DISPOSAL TO A TEE
The Oakland City Council has approved its port's plan to place one million cubic yards of contaminated dredging sediments on the Galbraith golf course. The 170-acre site is owned by the Port of Oakland but leased by the city for use as a golf course. The council voted to suspend the lease for a 5-7 year period. During that time, the Port will cover the site with a layer of harbor-bottom sediment up to ten feet thick. After the sludge dries, it will be landscaped into a newly designed "championship" golf course and returned to the city. If the port can get the necessary environmental approval, it plans to begin using the site in May 1994. Contact: Jim McGrath (510)272-1100
CLUB MUST GET THE LEAD OUT
Members of the Richmond Rod and Gun Club have been shooting skeet over the mudflats of San Pablo Bay for more than 30 years - adding an estimated 300 tons of lead shot to the mud. Members didn't believe they were doing any harm until BayKeeper filed a lawsuit last year. As a result, the State Board ordered the club to stop using lead shot, so it switched to steel. If tests now underway show that lead is polluting the water, the club could be held liable for cleaning up the 16-acre mudflat. Cleanup costs, however, could easily run into the millions of dollars, a financial burden that the 800-member organization may not be able to handle. Contact: Gun Club (510)620-9519
SPOTTED OWL IN SNAKESKIN?
Federal authorities recently granted the giant garter snake, a denizen of muddy-bottomed streams and sloughs in the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys, protection as a threatened species. The reptile ranges from 18 inches to more than four feet long and sports a brown skin with black spots. One of its habitats lies in the Natomas Basin outside of Sacramento where thousands of new homes are planned, leading a worried developer to call the garter "the spotted owl of the Central Valley." But Cal Fish & Game says it will work with developers and government officials to develop a "multi-species" approach protecting both the snake and local interest in development. Contact: John Brode (916)355-7112
GOVERNOR GIVES CCMP GO-AHEAD
Governor Pete Wilson conditionally concurred on the San Francisco Estuary Project's Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan in a ten-page letter issued November 17. Although Wilson indicated general support for the CCMP's goals and actions, he also made it clear that the state still has reservations. In particular, Wilson cautioned against interpreting his concurrence as a commitment to a specific state funding level and asked the Executive Council, which has primary responsibility for CCMP implementation, to "determine a priority sequencing among CCMP actions based upon cost-effectiveness and available funding from the state, federal and private sectors." Wilson also stated that his concurrence is specific to the Executive Council composition laid out in the CCMP (two federal and two state representatives, plus one local elected official). The governor detailed concerns about the plan's aquatic resources and wetlands sections, saying they should be made consistent with his own policies and programs. EPA Administrator Carol Browner is expected to approve the CCMP soon. Contact: Marcia Brockbank (510)286-0780
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