|
|
Tidal Wetland Project Newsletter
January 2010
The Tidal Wetland Project (TWP) is an initiative of the
Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
and is also supported by the Elkhorn Slough Foundation. |
|
Parsons Slough Public Meeting Update
In our last newsletter we spoke of a Public Information Meeting, which was to be held on December 3, 2009. The December meeting was held to discuss the implications of constructing a sill at the mouth of Parsons Slough. TWP Director Bryan Largay opened the meeting with a presentation on the past, current, and expected future condition of the slough, and also presented the Parsons Slough Sill as the best option for TWP to enhance slough conditions.
 ( Above: An excerpt from the presentation at the meeting illustarting the scouring in Elkhorn Slough if no project takes place; the graph illustrates past, current, and projected future scouring scenarios.)
The meeting had a small turn-out of roughly a dozen people, and included some great discussions as well as a Question & Answer session with the public that attended. The public brought up a wide range of topics at the meeting, including:
- Restoration for habitat versus restoration for species
- Importance of specific species to the slough and the impact of the proposed project on those species
- Comparing the benefits of different habitat types to overall slough health
- Expected changes to water velocities, salinity and temperature under different sill settings
- How the sill would work with hinged gates versus flashboards
- Possible impacts of the project on archeologically significant areas
|
New Parsons Slough Project Webpage
The TWP website has a new webpage to make it easier to find the most recent and most important information about the proposed Parsons Sill Project. You can find the Parsons Slough webpage via the main elkhornslough.org website, through the main TWP website, and by clicking the link in this newsletter's sidebar to check it out!
The Parsons Slough webpage will be updated on a regular basis, and the most current news and new documents will always be the first thing you see! We hope that this new webpage will make it simple to stay informed as we begin to ramp up our activity on the proposed project this year. |
What is an Environmental Impact Report?
The upcoming meeting is being held to ensure that the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed Parsons Slough Project captures the interests voiced by the public. The public will be able to provide feedback on the project through written comments, which would be included in the report. But what is an EIR?
Simply put, an EIR is a report on the possible impacts a project might have on the environment. Experts consider potential positive and negative effects the project could have on a variety of environmental components.
The purpose of the report is to make sure environmental impacts are taken into consideration before committing to a project and to make the project transparent to the public. By writing an EIR, TWP will be able to identify any potential positive or negative impacts of the project in a way that keeps the community informed and involved.
The EIR for the proposed Parsons Slough Project is being headed by the Vinnedge Environmental Consulting team. The EIR is expected to be ready for public review by the end of May, 2010. |
|
Parsons Slough Regulatory Compliance Team
The Elkhorn Slough Foundation has awarded the regulatory compliance contract for the Parsons Slough Project to a team of consultants led by Vinnedge Environmental Consulting. The Vinnedge team was uniquely designed to meet the needs of the proposed Parsons Slough Project. Read on to find out more about the compliance team members.
Project manager and regulatory compliance specialist April Zohn is an environmental regulatory specialist with over 10 years of experience developing permitting strategies and implementation plans for multi-disciplinary projects that require integrated consideration of state and federal environmental laws. Ms. Zohn is a co-author of the book Wetlands, Streams and Other Waters: Regulation, Conservation, and Mitigation Planning, and has taught several coastal permitting and wetland regulation classes through the University of California extension program.
CEQA specialist Richard Grassetti has over 25 years of experience preparing and reviewing environmental documents throughout California. He has substantial expertise reviewing Environmental Assessments for highly controversial projects and has testified in court as an expert witness regarding CEQA adequacy issues. He also teaches professional workshops on CEQA and NEPA compliance as well as college-level classes on environmental impact assessment at Cal State University, Hayward.
Aquatic biologist Mike Podlech is a Santa Cruz-based independent aquatic ecologist and a member of the American Fisheries Society and the North American Benthological Society. He has over 15 years of experience in the investigation and management of biological, physical, and chemical conditions of streams, rivers, lakes, and lagoons throughout California.
Wildlife biologist Brook Vinnedge is an environmental scientist and wildlife biologist with over 15 years of experience conducting habitat assessments and focused surveys for special status wildlife. Her background combines field experience with a comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the regulatory laws and policies relating to natural resource management. She is a member of the Wildlife Society, Western Chapter and the Association of Environmental Professionals.
Cultural resource specialist Miley Holman has worked as a professional archaeologist in California since 1965 performing hundreds of archaeological field reconnaissance surveys throughout Southern, Central and Northern California. He has completed numerous historical and prehistoric archaeological field studies, historical archival studies, evaluative testing of cultural resources and mitigation projects for cultural resources under both CEQA and NEPA guidelines.
Hydrologist and wetland scientist Christina Toms is an ecological engineer with over seven years of experience in the assessment, management, enhancement, and restoration of wetland systems of Northern California, especially tidal wetlands and coastal lagoons. She is member of the American Ecological Engineering Society and the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Hydrologist and wetland scientist Dan Gillenwater is an environmental scientist with over 7 years of experience in aquatic ecosystem science and restoration. He has worked extensively in a variety of systems in the San Francisco Bay area including fresh and saltwater tidal marshes, freshwater wetlands, rivers, and coastal lagoons. He is also a Geographic Information Systems analyst with extensive experience in topographic surface modeling, remote sensing, model development, and cartography.
Hydrologist and wetland scientist Stuart Siegel began working as a restoration ecologist in estuarine tidal marshes in 1984, received his Professional Wetland Scientist certification in 1994 and his Ph.D. in tidal wetland geomorphic processes in 2002. Dr. Siegel has developed his restoration science career through combining his expertise as a physical scientist focusing on estuarine wetland hydrology and geomorphology.
The Vinnedge Team has done a great job of keeping the project on track with regulatory milestones and is working hard to draft a comprehensive, thoughtful EIR. They are also working on other reports that will be available on the public website in the upcoming months, including a project description and initial study.
More information to come on these reports and more in the next newsletter. |
| Parsons Slough Engineering Team
TWP has hired a team of accomplished engineers to develop designs for the project to assist the Elkhorn Slough Foundation (ESF) in developing a 30% level design for the proposed sill at the entrance to the Parsons Slough complex.
The team is lead by Ducks Unlimited (DU), a private, nonprofit organization that conserves, restores, and manages wetlands and associated habitats for the benefit of North American waterfowl, other wildlife and people. Ducks Unlimited is the world leader in wetland conservation having conserved over 12 million acres of habitat since its incorporation in 1937, with more than 250,000 acres conserved last year alone.
URS Corporation (URS) is an organization of top engineers and environmental specialists. They bring experience in hydrodynamic modeling, structural engineering, geotechnical investigation and design expertise to our team, along with their experience in tidal design projects.
Dixon Marine Services (DMS) is an oceanographic and wetland restoration firm that brings practical construction experience in marine and tidal water environments to the proposed project; theyspecialize in field investigations and monitoring.
In addition, Philip Williams and Associates (PWA) will provide further technical analysis, including hydrology and hydrodynamic modeling. PWA previously developed a circulation model for Elkhorn Slough, which will be used for this purpose. In 1991, PWA lead the first investigation of engineering approaches to reduce tidal scour.
Our next newsletter will talk more about the 30% level design. |
| The Tidal Wetland Project Staff Welcomes New Staff
TWP would like to welcome the newest staff member!
Nathan Chaney- Assistant Project Manager
Nathan Chaney has joined our team as Assistant Project Manager for the Tidal Wetland Project. Nathan was born and raised in Monterey County and has a long interest in water resources and environmental management. He graduated from Humboldt State University with a B.S. in Natural Resources Planning and from Thomas Jefferson School of Law with a J.D. Nathan has over seven years experience managing land use and environmental compliance projects for public agencies and private law firms. He also has experience obtaining a wide range of permits from regulatory agencies and has appeared at hearings of various city councils, water districts and planning commissions. When not working, Nathan serves on the Marina Coast Water District Water Conservation Commission. | |
|
|
The Tidal Wetland Project's newsletter is intended to keep community members, local organizations, policy-makers, and other stakeholders up to date about current activities and ways to provide feedback to the Tidal Wetland Project. If you have any questions about items in this email, the project in general, or if you have suggestions for information you would like to see in future updates, please let us know!
If you do not wish to receive these emails in the future, please click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this page.
For general information about the Elkhorn Slough Tidal Wetland Project, go to http://elkhornslough.org/tidalwetlandproject/index.html.
Best Regards,
Bryan Largay - TWP Director
Erin McCarthy - TWP Specialist
Monique Fountain -TWP Project Manager Nathan Chaney - TWP Assistant Project Manager
Nina D'Amore - Adaptive Management Process Lead
Quinn Labadie - TWP Communications Assistant
|
|
|
