New Footbridge Improves Trail System and Protects Creek

Completed bridge over Little Carson Creek. For more pictures, see our Facebook album.

Over a three-week period in February, crews from MMWD’s Watershed Maintenance staff and Conservation Corps North Bay built a beautiful log footbridge over Little Carson Creek on the east side of Kent Lake. The new bridge, located at the foot of Little Carson Trail in an area called Big Trees Grove, was built to keep foot traffic out of the creek. It is part of a larger project designed to improve water quality and fisheries habitat while creating a safer and more sustainable hiking trail. Other future elements of the project include converting a 100-year-old logging road to a trail and removing two culverts to minimize road-related sediment delivery to Little Carson Creek and Kent Lake.

The base and footings of the footbridge were made from a large, 48-inch diameter, 50-foot long redwood tree that had fallen many years ago near the work site. Based on the tree’s rings, MMWD Watershed Maintenance Supervisor Carl Sanders estimated its age at over 300 years old when it fell. Using ropes and cables, the crews were able to drag the tree 200 feet upstream without damaging the stream and its banks.

The handrails, made from a smaller redwood tree, are attached to the log base by mortise and tenon joinery. The completed bridge enhances the natural beauty of the grove and allows hikers to cross the stream safely without damaging the stream and its banks.

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MMWD Begins Environmental Review of Watershed Plan this Fall

This fall MMWD is beginning the environmental review process for the district’s Draft Wildfire Protection and Habitat Improvement Plan (WPHIP). Formerly known as the 2012 Draft Vegetation Management Plan, MMWD has renamed the plan with the launch of the environmental review process to avoid confusion with the district’s 1995 Vegetation Management Plan. The new name also more accurately reflects the plan’s purpose. This new plan addresses fire hazard reduction and biodiversity protection on the 22,000 acres of watershed land managed by MMWD with drinking water protection as the number one priority.

The main goals of the Draft WPHIP, which will replace the 1995 Vegetation Management Plan, are:

• To protect Marin’s communities, water supply and natural resources from catastrophic wildfire;
• To preserve habitats, plants and animals into the future;
• To prepare for and adapt to future changes.

The next step in the environmental review process is the scoping period, during which MMWD will accept comments on what should be included in the environmental review. The 30-day scoping period begins today, November 1, with a scoping meeting at San Rafael City Council Chambers set for Thursday, November 15, 7:00-9:30 p.m. The scoping period ends December 3.

The environmental review process will lead to the release in 2013 of a draft environmental impact report (EIR), which will include an assessment of the potential impacts of implementing various alternative approaches or of continuing the current program without changes. The draft EIR will also recommend the alternative approach that best protects the water supply, Mt. Tamalpais and the communities in MMWD’s service area.

More information on the draft WPHIP is available on MMWD’s website.

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Back to School with Water Wonders

by Robin McKillop

If you’re a busy parent, you already know that it’s back-to-school time! While you’re gearing up for another great school year, don’t forget to encourage your child’s teacher to participate in MMWD’s environmental education programs. They’re fun! They’re free! They’re educational!

Last year, MMWD’s Water Wonders environmental education programs provided outreach to thousands of students at 48 public and private schools in Marin. Though our programs, students sang and danced at musical watershed assemblies, learned about local ecology and water supply by hiking at Lake Lagunitas, pretended to be water drops in a water cycle game, removed French broom from watershed lands, hatched trout eggs and released fish, worked to restore and protect habitats, searched for water leaks at their homes, replaced wasteful showerheads with new water-conserving ones, and created amazing artwork to celebrate MMWD’s centennial. Our fact sheet provides more information about our 2011-12 programs.

During the 2012-13 school year, MMWD is pleased to continue to offer high quality environmental education opportunities to schools in our service area. Our Water Wonders brochure provides detailed information about all of our programs. This year, we are especially pleased to offer free “Historical Highlights” posters in commemoration of MMWD’s 100th anniversary, as well as Water Quality Lab tours for high school science classes. If you’d like your child to participate in any of our programs, encourage your child’s teacher to sign up soon. As always, our programs are offered on a first-come, first-served basis, free of charge. In addition, bilingual (English-Spanish) classroom presentations and assemblies are available.

MMWD’s Watershed, Water Conservation, Public Information, and Laboratory staff are looking forward to another great year teaching your children all about one of our most precious natural resources: water.

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June Watershed Volunteer Wrap-Up

by Jaimie Baxter

The month of June brings us the longest days of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere. The extra hours of day are loved by the flora, fauna, children and adults of the Mt. Tamalpais Watershed. This bountiful time of year provided us with the energy needed to accomplish so much.

On the first Saturday in June, we celebrated National Trails Day with a “trailgating” party on the watershed. Thanks to the efforts of forty volunteers, the Fern Creek Trail and Tavern Pump Road look absolutely stunning. The group replaced countless water bars and cut back excessive vegetation. After a morning of hard work, the group was rewarded with a pleasant lunch at the historic West Point Inn.

June’s habitat restoration event was a scorcher! However, we had a few dedicated restoration volunteers brave the heat and remove Douglas-fir at Lagunitas-Rock Road and Ridgecrest Boulevard. It seemed like Christmas in June with the smell of Douglas-fir perfuming the air.

On June 23, we hosted a centennial celebration on the watershed to mark MMWD’s 100-year anniversary. Close to 400 people took part in naturalist hikes and presentations on the sounds of Lake Lagunitas, tracks and scat, dragonflies and damselflies, beginning birding and much more. Tule basket weaving was taught and many watershed bingo games were played. Along with the fun events around Lake Lagunitas and Sky Oaks Watershed Headquarters, the California Academy of Sciences and MMWD watershed staff led a “bioblitz” on the southern portion of Mt. Tamalpais. The bioblitz brought botanists, citizen citizens, conservation photographers and others together to collect data on the mountain’s plant species. It was a tremendous success and loads of fun. There were beautiful specimens of tiger lily, coyote mint and many others!

Thank you to all of our volunteers for your hard work! We really appreciate all that you do for the Mt. Tamalpais Watershed, and if it could speak, I am sure it would thank you as well. And if you haven’t volunteered before, now’s a great time to start. We have a habitat restoration event on San Geronimo Creek coming up next Saturday, July 21. Did we mention ice cream will be served? And our next Trail Crew event will be Saturday, August  4. This will be Jessica and Jaimie’s (MMWD’s AmeriCorps members) very last event! Come join the fun and say farewell to them. Visit our Volunteer Program webpage to learn more.

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Help Us Celebrate Earth Day This Saturday, April 21

by Suzanne Whelan

This year we honor the Earth by celebrating the 42nd year of Earth Day.

Here at the Marin Municipal Water District, we feel we have a unique opportunity to connect people with the Earth. Your watershed, more than anything else, defines your ecosystem. The Mt. Tamalpais Watershed not only provides drinking water to 185,000 people in Marin every day but also provides people with the incredible chance to explore their relationship with each other, with the land and with water. Through our schools program, volunteer program and conservation program, we try to help each other become better stewards of the land and to build community through sense of place.

This year Marin has a remarkable collection of anniversaries to celebrate: MMWD’s 100th, Tomales Bay State Park’s 60th, Point Reyes National Seashore’s 50th, and Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s and Marin County Park’s 40th. On April 21, these agencies will celebrate their anniversaries—and Earth Day—at the Earth Day Marin Festival at Civic Center Lagoon Park in San Rafael.

First, kick off the day and give back to the land by joining us for a habitat restoration event from 9:00 a.m. to noon on the lakeshore of Bon Tempe. Help remove invasive French broom, learn to identify native plants and birds, and win raffle prizes from REI! We’ll meet at Lake Lagunitas parking lot; volunteers receive a free day parking pass.

Then, join us at the Earth Day Marin Festival at the Civic Center. MMWD and all the land agencies celebrating birthdays will have space at the festival showcasing our connections with nature, educational resources, fun games, and staff on hand to answer your questions. Pull on some boots and a helmet and climb aboard our water district fire engine or ranger truck—guaranteed great smiles for photos!

The Long Haul Relay Race

At noon we will be hosting The Long Haul Relay Race, our popular athletic water challenge. Participants work in teams to compete in a water-hauling game and gain an appreciation of water scarcity and abundance throughout the world in the process.

Without open space, Marin wouldn’t be the absolutely spectacular place it is today. Celebrate our accomplishments in conservation and take part in new acts of stewardship! We hope you to see you on the watershed and at the festival on Saturday.

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MMWD Removing More Unsafe and Environmentally Damaging Trails on Watershed as “Project Restore” Enters Year Four

by Nicholas Salcedo

Project Restore decommissioned trail

The Marin Municipal Water District is starting the fourth phase of “Project Restore,” which was launched in 2009 to remove undesirable and unofficial trails on the Mt. Tamalpais Watershed and to restore those sites to natural habitats. Unofficial trails have a number of adverse impacts on the watershed, including disturbing sensitive plant and animal species, fragmenting habitats, exacerbating erosion and increasing the likelihood of visitors getting lost.

This phase of Project Restore will focus on the area near the top of Lagunitas-Rock Spring Road and the West Peak of Mt. Tamalpais. Unofficial trails in this area have been proliferating over the years and some pass through sensitive habitats. Of particular concern are areas with serpentine soils, where many special-status plants grow. These plants can be easily damaged by people traveling off-trail. We’ll be working to decommission about three miles of unofficial trails in and around sensitive habitats, minimize erosion, and better define official routes through the old air force station on West Peak. During the project’s first three years, we completed work in the areas of Bon Tempe Lake, Temelpa Trail on the East Peak of Mt. Tamalpais, and Kent Trail-High Marsh on the north side of Mt. Tamalpais.

MMWD maintains approximately 150 miles of official roads and trails for visitors to enjoy. The district strives to maintain these routes so they have minimal impact on surrounding habitats while providing a safe outdoor experience for visitors. You can help by staying on designated trails, respecting habitat restoration sites and reporting unauthorized trail building to our ranger staff. If you want to be more involved, consider volunteering with our monthly trail crew.

To learn more about Project Restore, visit our website.

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Leo T. Cronin Fish Viewing Area Open for Spawning Season

Leo T. Cronin Fish Viewing Area

Each year during the rainy season, coho salmon and steelhead trout make the difficult journey from the ocean back to Lagunitas and other local creeks to spawn, or lay their eggs, before they die. The Leo T. Cronin Fish Viewing Area next to Lagunitas Creek is now open to the public so visitors can have a firsthand look at this thrilling event.

Last year MMWD completed a number of grant-funded improvements to the viewing area, including resurfacing the parking lot with environmentally friendly permeable concrete that allows rain to percolate into the ground, improving access for people with disabilities, installing new educational signage and restoring habitat along the creek bank.

The viewing area, located on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard just past Shafter Bridge in West Marin, will be open daily, sunrise to sunset, through February. Parking is limited to one hour. If you go, please remain behind the fence, minimize noise and avoid sudden movements so that the fish may spawn undisturbed. The best time to see spawning fish is within a few days following a rainstorm.

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Thank You September and October Watershed Volunteers!

by Jaimie Baxter

We had a lovely past two months! September and October provided excellent weather to go along with our fun-filled events.

In September we had a small habitat restoration crew do big work at the Sky Oaks nursery, potting up native grasses. For our Annual Volunteer Appreciation BBQ & Trail Crew event, 44 volunteers came out to Phoenix Lake to finish the trail maintenance and bridge work we started on National Trails Day on the Gertrude Ord Trail. To celebrate their accomplishments, MMWD provided a BBQ lunch for all those who volunteered that day.

Our awesome habitat restoration volunteers at Lagunitas Creek

October’s habitat restoration day was also a success with at least 80 native plants planted by Lagunitas Creek. Also in October, Ms. Honda’s “Green Team” from Manor Elementary School helped MMWD collect and plant over 200 acorns. These oak trees will be planted next year for MMWD’s centennial celebration (more details to come later!). Mr. B’s fourth-grade class from Brookside School also joined MMWD this month for a victorious field trip involving the removal of French broom by Phoenix Lake, a water cycle game, a lesson on water conservation and an activity about the 7 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle, rot, refuse, rethink, repair).

We really could not have accomplished all this without the help of our wonderful and dedicated volunteers. Thank you to our volunteers for your hard work, and we hope to see all of you on watershed lands in November! In the meantime, check out some great photos we took at the events.

Thanks again,

The MMWD Watershed Volunteer Program Team
including our four new AmeriCorps interns Mike Horwitz, Ben Scheilfer, Jessica Missaghian and Jaimie Baxter

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Join MMWD at Biketoberfest September 25

by Suzanne Whelan

Come visit MMWD’s booth at Biketoberfest on Sunday, September 25, 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. in Fairfax. We’ll have information on watershed volunteer and recreational opportunities, water conservation and more. Be sure to drop by and say “hello”!

Biketoberfest Marin is a celebration of the bicycle for all ages. This fun day-long event features a bike expo, vintage bike show, kids’ activities, group rides, live music and a brewfest of over 40 beers from 24 West Coast brewers. Proceeds from the brewfest benefit the Marin County Bicycle Coalition and Access4Bikes.

Admission is free. For more information visit www.biketoberfestmarin.com.

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Bay Area Receives $30.9 Million from Prop. 84 for Regional Plan and Water Projects

Funding to Pay for Conservation, Recycling, Habitat Restoration and More

The San Francisco Bay Area has been awarded $30,093,592 in Proposition 84 funds to carry out projects to improve Bay Area water resources. This award complements $842,556 in planning funds from Proposition 84 to update the Bay Area Integrated Regional Water Management Plan.

Proposition 84, passed by voters in 2006, provides $5.4 billion for habitat restoration, water resources improvements and water quality benefits. Of this total, integrated regional water management (IRWM) programs in California will receive $1.0 billion in funding, of which $138 million is dedicated to the San Francisco Bay Area. The $30.9 million in implementation and planning funding announced this past week is the first allocation of the $138 million of Proposition 84 IRWM funds for the Bay Area.

“Proposition 84 funds make possible high-priority water resources management projects in the Bay Area,” noted Paul Helliker, General Manager of the Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) and current Chair of the Bay Area Coordinating Committee. The Committee is the regional oversight group for IRWM programs in the Bay Area, composed of representatives of water supply, wastewater treatment, and flood control agencies and environmental regulatory, resource management and non-governmental organizations. Helliker added, “Over the next 20 years, water resources management agencies are planning tens of billions of dollars of investments in infrastructure and ecosystem improvements, and these state grant funds fill important niches.”

Integrated Management Plans

The Bay Area IRWM Coordinating Committee has received $842,556 to revise the Bay Area Integrated Regional Water Management Plan. The IRWM Plan was adopted in 2006 by Bay Area counties, cities, water and sanitation districts, flood control agencies and non-profit agencies to define priorities for regional water management projects and guide state grant funding decisions. The plan update, expected to be completed in 2013, will incorporate the latest information on climate change impacts, and will include a compilation of best practices to adapt to rising sea levels and changes in precipitation. The Marin Municipal Water District will be managing the plan update, on behalf of the Coordinating Committee.

Implementation Projects

$30,093,592 of the Proposition 84 funding announced last week will be dedicated to various water resources projects that were proposed for funding in January of 2011 by the Coordinating Committee. The Bay Area Clean Water Agencies (BACWA), a joint powers partnership among wastewater management agencies in the Bay Area, and a principal partner in the Bay Area Coordinating Committee, will manage this grant. The funding will be used for the following programs and projects:

Project	Total Cost	Prop. 84 Grant Funding
Water Conservation
Regional Water Conservation Program	15,359,557	8,952,685
Water Recycling
* North Bay
Marin Municipal WD Peacock Gap Recycled Water Extension	10,136,000	500,000
Las Gallinas Valley SD Novato South Service Area Project	11,631,000	500,000
North Marin WD Novato North Service Area Project	11,392,000	500,000
Sonoma Valley CSD Recycled Water Stage 1 Project	5,000,000	500,000
Napa SD State Hospital Pipeline Construction Stage 1 Project	3,057,000	500,000
* East Bay
EBMUD East Bayshore Phase 1A-I-80	2,186,000	741,000
CCCSD Concord Recycled Water Project	4,200,000	1,030,000
DSRSD Central Dublin Recycled Water Distribution and Retrofit Project	4,100,000	1,130,000
* South Bay
South Bay Water Recycling Industrial Expansion and Reliability	5,503,000	2,485,000
* West Bay
San Francisco PUC Harding Park Recycled Water Project	8,436,000	2,114,000
Wetland Ecosystem Restoration Projects
Sears Point Restoration	18,306,981	1,250,000
Bair Island Restoration	3,185,375	1,250,000
Pond A16/17 Restoration	9,300,000	1,250,000
Regional Green Infrastructure Program
San Pablo Avenue Green Infrastructure Spine	4,220,882	2,315,882
Hacienda Avenue Green Street Improvements	4,632,556	1,999,999
Napa Valley Rainwater Harvesting	328,335	250,000
Water Quality Improvement/Flood Management/Ecosystem Restoration in Disadvantaged Communities
Stream Restoration in the North Bay	265,000	200,000
Floodplain Mapping for Disadvantaged Communities	841,550	656,550
Stormwater and Flood Control Improvements Pilot Project in Bay Point	185,000	160,000
Richmond Shoreline and San Pablo Flood Control	315,000	85,000
Pescadero Creek Flood Reduction and Habitat Improvement	103,000	103,000
Pescadero Creek Steelhead Monitoring	154,810	119,310
Floodplain and Watershed Restoration in East Palo Alto	310,800	230,000
Steelhead and Coho Indicator Monitoring	503,166	378,166
Watershed Partnership Technical Assistance	203,289	150,000
Program Administration	843,000	743,000
Total	$124,699,301	$30,093,592

Other Proposition 84 Funding for Bay Area Projects

Also allocated from the Bay Area Proposition 84 funds is $1,775,000 to pay for two other Bay Area projects in eastern Contra Costa County—the Pittsburgh Recycled Water Pipeline and ecosystem restoration projects that are part of the County’s Habitat Conservation Program. These funds, as well as $449,843 to update the East Contra Costa County plan, will be managed by the Contra Costa Water District.

The total amount allocated to date from the $138 million in Proposition 84 IRWM for Bay Area projects is $33,160,991.

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