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Bulletin Board
Ship Ballast Regulations
The citizen watchdog group BayKeeper recently released a formal petition asking the S.F. Bay and Central Valley Regional Boards to ban the discharge of ship ballast water in the Bay and Delta - citing the need to slow down the invasion of exotic species. At least 212 of these aquatic aliens have successfully transplanted themselves to the Estuary, many arriving via ship ballast water taken on in foreign harbors and discharged here. The petition, presented to S.F. Board at its May 21 meeting, highlights the huge economic impacts some such exotics can have on native species and on levees and water supply infrastructure. BayKeeper is asking the Boards to issue a general permit applicable to all refineries, ports and other docking facilities that receive foreign ships. In the short term, the proposed permit would require monitoring and reporting of the disposal of ballast water by the facilities. By January 2000, it would completely prohibit the discharge of untreated ballast. "We don't have to wait for Washington on this critical issue," says BayKeeper's Mike Lozeau. "Our Boards have the authority to take decisive action." Contact: (415)567-4401
Nuke Shipments Opposed
The S.F. Bay Commission is opposing Department of Energy plans to ship spent fuel nuclear fuel rods from Asian reactors through the Bay on the way to a national laboratory in Idaho. In March the Commission voted to block shipment-related pier improvements at the Concord Naval Weapons Station and asked Attorney General Dan Lungren to seek an injunction against the federal government to prevent the shipments. At the time, several commissioners complained that the government was not providing enough information about the possible risks of the shipments. The rods would be transported on private foreign flag ships, not Navy vessels, and shipped in metal casks that the Department contends have been safety tested to a depth of 200 feet. The narrow, fog-bound, and shipwreck-littered entrance to the Bay through the Golden Gate is more than 300 feet deep. Following briefings by the Navy and the Department in early May, the Commission voted to continue opposing both the shipments and the pier improvements. Contact: (415)557-3686
Web Water Quality
Three decades worth of water quality data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey is now on the World Wide Web. The data set includes measures of salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and chlorophyll concentrations along a 45-mile transect of the Estuary system reaching from the South Bay up into the Sacramento River. http://sfbay.wr.usgs.gov/access/wqdata/index.html
Bayshore Chunk Protected
More than 1,400 acres of East Bay shoreline was added to the protected rolls this spring under an agreement between the East Bay Regional Park District Board and Catellus Corporation whereby the Board, acting as land agent for the state, will purchase the property for $27.5 million. Together with 387 acres purchased in 1994, the land will form the 1,817 acre Eastshore State Park, stretching along the Bay from Oakland to Richmond. The park has been in the works for more than 18 years. Next steps include environmental clean-up, planning and construction of park facilities, and an agreement between the state and the Park District regarding operational responsibilities. Contact: (510) 635-0138
Species Act Waiver
Legislation amending the Endangered Species Act to exempt levee maintenance and repair from environmental review passed the Resources Committee of U.S. House of Representatives on April 16 by a vote of 23 to 9. The legislation, HR 478, applies only to existing structures, not to new construction. An earlier version of the bill had been criticized as too broad, potentially opening the door to massive new dams and construction projects. The House is expected to vote on the bill this summer. Contact: (202) 225-1947
Sacramento Forum Finish
Forty stakeholder groups recently released a set of draft solutions to water quality and supply problems in the American River watershed. These draft recommendations from the Sacramento Area Water Forum - a cooperative effort of business, environmental, public, government and water interests created in 1993 - contain seven critical elements: increased surface water diversions from the American River in average and wet years; alternative water supplies such as transfers, conjunctive use, reclamation and conservation to reduce impacts on the lower American River during drier years; improved fishery flow release patterns from Folsom Reservoir; habitat mitigation on the Lower American River; water conservation, including metering and conservation pricing; groundwater management; and a successor to the Water Forum to provide oversight and coordination for a Final Agreement. Comments from all stakeholders were due in by the end of May. Working groups will now attempt to fashion them into a Final Agreement to go before the boards of participating organizations early next year. Contact: (916)433-6287
Wetland Goals Workshop
This July scientists and planners will hold two workshops to update the public on progress on the Bay Area Wetlands Ecosystem Goals Project (see calendar, p. 7). Federal and state agencies launched the project two years ago to provide a scientific foundation for deciding what kind and size of wetlands are needed, and where, to maintain a healthy Bay ecosystem. Workshop attendees will hear a general overview of the project, and presentations from technical teams working to develop goals reflecting the wetland needs of fish, plants, birds, mammals, amphibians and other life. "It's time to have a general dialogue with the public about what format of goals would be most useful to the most people," says the project's Mike Monroe. With this feedback and further technical research, Monroe says the project should be ready to present specific draft goals in another workshop series this October. Contact: (510)286-1221
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