Santa Monica Baykeeper

Heschel Weintraub of Boy Scout Troop 246 in West Hills completed his Eagle Scout community service project in Malibu Creek State Park by removing an old abandoned road. The road is contributing to erosion of the stream banks and depositing sediments into Las Virgenes Creek, Malibu Creek and Malibu Lagoon. Additionally, pollution is entering the waters from the compounds found in asphalt. Removal of this abandoned road will greatly improve the stability of Las Virgenes Creek in this area. Herschel rallied about 50 people from his troop as well as some members of troop 642 to come out over the span of two days to remove the asphalt by hand. Volunteers used jackhammers, large rocker bars and wheel barrows to remove the road manually. Herschel was able to secure donations for tools and equipment from Ahern Pools and Spas, Woodland Rentals and others. Dumpsters were provided at a discount price from Waste Management and GI Industries. Tools were also donated by the California Department of State Parks to assist with the demolition. Santa Monica Baykeeper donated money towards the project and worked with State Parks on the environmental assessment report. Over the course of the two days, Herschel and his volunteers were able to remove 120 feet of the road filling two 10 yard dumpsters with approximatly 36,000 pounds of asphalt to be recycled. About 75 feet of the road is left and will be removed at a later date.

Before

On Saturday, August 9^th, 15 volunteers came out to help remove invasive vegetation at UCLA’s Stone Canyon Creek. This is one of the only remaining sections of unburied creek on the UCLA campus. Restoring the native plant species in this riparian area will benefit native birds and other wildlife that live here. 1400 square feet of invasive plants including bougainvillea, annual grasses and woolly nightshade were removed from the banks of the creek. Santa Monica Baykeeper’s next restoration will be held on Saturday, September 27^th. We need your to help with this project so come out and join us anytime between 10am and 1pm! We will meet behind the Andersen school of business at Charles Young Drive and Westwood Plaza(off Sunset Blvd. Parking lot 4).

After

Volunteers Wanted to Help Save and Restore UCLA’s Stone Canyon Creek.

Please join the Santa Monica Baykeeper and UCLA’s Institute of the Environment to help restore the only remaining section of unburied creek on the UCLA campus. The once mighty Stone Canyon Creek was a dominant feature of the UCLA campus in the past. Over the years, as the campus expanded, the creek was forced underground and now only this small segment behind the Anderson School of Business remains. The vegetation that persists at the creek site is dominated by invasive vegetation which is choking out the few remaining native plant species.

Help us eliminate this infestation of invasive vegetation and replant the area with native vegetation. This is real work that will really benefit the environment. The newly established vegetation will serve as habitat to birds and other wildlife on campus. Santa Monica Baykeeper will provide all the tools and training but we need your muscle! Join us any time between 10am and 1pm.

We will meet behind the Andersen school of business at Charles Young Drive and Westwood Plaza (off Sunset Blvd. Parking lot 4). For directions and/or a map visit www.smabaykeeper.org

Creek restorations are scheduled for the following dates:

Saturday August 9,2008 10am - 1pm
Saturday September 27, 2008 10am - 1pm
Saturday October 18, 2008 10am - 1pm
Saturday November 15, 200 10am - 1pm

Santa Monica Baykeeper is excited to support Grunion.org.

Carlos Carreon, Beachkeeper Program Coordinator, recently went out on a grunion patrol in Manhattan Beach to greet these mystical fish as they came ashore just after the evening high tide. Pepperdine University researchers are conducting this volunteer-driven project to study the spawning activity and habitat of grunion. Volunteer Grunion Greeters experience a grunion run as they witness the remarkable behavior of these silvery little fish coming ashore to spawn on sandy beaches at night.

Further, Grunion Greeters observe small stretches of beach on nights of grunion runs during peak spawning season from April through early June. Grunion runs occur at night, twice a month, after the highest tides associated with a full or new moon. Greeters submit their observations via an interactive web site at www.Grunion.Org.

For Santa Monica Baykeeper, the observation of Grunion highlights the importance of our work to protect marine life and ensure that our fragile coastal ecosystem is protected from the effects of pollution caused by trash left on beaches and from storm drains that release polluted water and trash into the ocean.

Storm drains throughout Santa Monica Bay are continually being monitored and recorded by the Santa Monica Baykeeper to generate data used to educate regulatory agencies and local municipalities about contaminated content. Future program activities, building upon this effort, include the observation of storm drains at smaller beaches not currently monitored by public agencies, filling in critical data gaps necessary to effectively regulate pollution sources.

On April 15, 2008, the State Water Resources Control Board unanimously approved the Trash Total Maximum Daily Load,TMDL, for the Los Angeles River. This is the second time the State Water Resources Control Board approves the Los Angeles River Trash TMDL and is an important step towards cleaning up the rivers in Los Angeles County from thousands of gallons of trash discharged from storm drains each year. This TMDL will also help significantly reduce and potentially eliminate the trash in San Pedro Bay.

The original Los Angeles River Trash TMDL was adopted by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2001 and approved by the State Water Resources Control Board in 2002. Soon after the Trash TMDL was adopted, 21 cities subject to the Los Angeles County municipal stormwater permit and the Coalition for Practical Regulations started a legal challenge of the TMDL both in state and federal court. The Santa Monica Baykeeper participated in this litigation by submitting an amicus brief in support of the Trash TMDL. As a result of the litigation, the Trash TMDL was upheld in every aspect with the exception of the required CEQA analysis. Per the court’s order, the TMDL was set aside in 2006 pending the completion of a proper CEQA analysis. The Regional Water Quality Control Board staff conducted the CEQA analysis as required and in August 2007 the Trash TMDL was re-adopted by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.

At the April 15, 2008 State Water Resources Control Board hearing, the representative of Santa Monica Baykeeper strongly advocated for the approval of the Trash TMDL and pointed that the established point source wasteload allocation of zero trash is the only fair interpretation of the water quality standards in the Los Angeles Region Basin Plan. All cities subject to the Los Angeles County municipal stormwater permit were in fact already required to work towards achieving the goal of no trash in the Los Angeles River by the terms of the permit which state that cities are prohibited from causing or contributing to storm drain discharges that violate the water quality standards of the Los Angeles Basin Plan. Santa Monica Baykeeper’s representative also stated that the goal of clean water cannot be achieved without trash-free rivers and ocean and expressed strong support for the efforts of cities to achieve this goal in the Los Angeles River wishing them the most success in cleaning up the river.

In addition to the zero trash wasteload allocation, the Los Angeles River Trash TMDL imposes on dischargers a schedule by which they have to achieve a certain percent of trash reduction based on data from a specific baseline year. Stormwater dischargers have to achieve full compliance with the zero trash wasteload allocation by 2009.

At the same State Water Resources Control Board hearing on April 15, 2008, Santa Monica Baykeeper also commented on the proposed resolution to support the development of a statewide policy to protect wetlands and riparian areas in California. The policy when developed will be “watershed-based and will extend to all perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral watercourses, including wetlands, from headwater regions to lowland river mouths.” Currently, following the federal courts decisions in Rapanos and SWANCC, the federal authority over many wetlands and all ephemeral and intermittent streams is limited. However, under the California Water Code (Porter-Cologne) the State Water Resources Control Board and the Regional Boards still retain authority to protect the waters of the state.

The policy will be developed in three phases and will include a wetland definition that will be applied by all Regional Boards in their regulatory and enforcement efforts.
At the hearing, Santa Monica Baykeeper’s representative argued for a broader definition of wetlands to provide protection to as many water resources as possible given the many benefits that these resources provide for water quality, habitat and fire protection. In addition, Santa Monica Baykeeper advocated for an accelerated development of the policy and an earlier completion of the phase 3 which is focused on protection of riparian areas. We stressed the importance of riparian areas and their buffers and the need for their protection. In conclusion, Santa Monica Baykeeper cautioned against using wetland mitigation as a viable alternative of natural wetlands. Instead of trying to recreate wetlands we should protect them from destruction and restore them to the maximum we can now.