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lagoon; e) reduce erosion and sediment; f) improve the quality a

quantity of water from the upper watershed; and, g) increase habdiversity. Implementing these goals and objectives needs to invothe entire communityupstream farmers, watershed residents, lo

businesses, and public agencies.

What Has Been DoneSince 1993 many things have occurred that meet the plans ob

tives and goals. In terms of Goal #1, Greenspace and many othadvocated for open space acquisition. Subsequently, the Martproperty was purchased by the CCSD for its water rights in 1994,

East West Ranch and the majority of the MidState Bank propewere acquired through purchase and donation, and the Red Ho

property in the East Village was purchased by Greenspace.

Goal #2 is multi faceted andrequires modification of the State Wter Resource Control Boards (SWRCB) Decision 1624. Goal #3

been partially implemented. CCSD has been doing steelhead tstudies for the past few years. And the California Department of Pa

and Recreation completed a study that suggests the CCSD over pumwater during times of low rain fall and causes damato federal and state protected species. Goal # 4

been an ongoing program of Greenspaceswith its nual Creek Cleanup (scheduled for November 4th - g

us a call to sign up) and with our grant from the Calnia Department of Fish and Game to conduct wa

shed educational work.

State Water Resources Control Board - Decision 1Greenspace petitioned the Water Rights divisio

the SWRCB over three years ago to modify Decision 1624 to ad

the monitoring well levels near the mouth of SRC. These levels currently set at 3 feet above mean high tide and all evidence that

had suggested that the monitoring wells should be reset at 5 fabove mean high tide. Currently, when the monitoring well lev

reach 3 feet, pumping must stop by the CCSD on SRC. The adjment to 5 feet would insure summer flow during normal rainfall yeand, during times of drought, insure that critical habitat pools will

dry up. This would also prevent subsidence (where ground sibecause too much water is

extracted from the aquifer)and salt water intrusion (sea

water contaminating freshwater) and be consistentwith the United States Geo-

logical Societys Reportwritten by Gus Yates. This

was the document that theSWRCB made its findings

on concerning Decision 1624.Tidewater Goby, Santa Rosa Creek/Photo G. Rathbun

The decision on our petition was set aside until the CCSD completheir Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) which they promised to comple

2000. It is now nearing the year 2002 and nothing has been written to d

SANTA ROSA CREEK ENHANCEMENT PLAN - First in a Series

The Greenspace InsiderVolume 1, Number 4 October, 2001

In 1993 Greenspace hired Prunuske Chatham, Inc. to write a planto protect and restore the natural resources of the lower reach of Santa

Rosa Creek (SRC). The natural resources are the native plants andanimals that inhabit or use the stream zone, and the geology and

historic water cycle that support the biotic community. This reach wasdefined as the Pacific Ocean to

the confluence of Perry and SRC.The reason Greenspace involveditself with SRC initially was to es-

tablish a corridor for a trail withinour community. As we learned

more about the creek and its im-portance to our community, it be-

came apparent that the SRC wa-

tershed was showing signs oftrouble. Water quantity and quality were deteriorating as our commu-

nity grew. The groundwater we depend upon to sustain our commu-nity in time of emergency and drought suddenly was not adequate.

Improving the natural resources of SRC would foster ground waterstorage capacity and improve water quality for

our community and for the plants and animalsthat reside in the watershed.

The study collected published and unpublished

material, field data, and personal interviews to de-scribe the current state of knowledge about the

natural resources of SRC. The report concludedthat there has been a significant decline in the

productivity of the aquatic and riparian ecosys-tems inthe creek and its lagoon since 1970.The habitat loss leading to the decline of animal

Red Legged Frog/Photo G. Rathbun

species has resulted from multiple, interrelated causes: increasedhuman population, increased groundwater pumping, increased

nonpoint source pollution, and natural drought cycle. Most notable inlost habitat has been the lack of summer flows and persistent pools in

the study reach. Historically, SRC flowed year round providing a vitalwater source for aquatic and terrestrial animals, and the riparian forestthat supported them. Without the water source, the public trust val-

ues of SRC will continue to decline.

Goals and Objectives

The plan examines planning policies that have contributed to thedecline of natural resources in SRC and suggests strategies to im-prove future decisions by incorporating the goals and objectives of theplan into the decision-making process. These four goals are: 1) open

space acquisition; 2) enhancement of natural resources along thelower reach; 3) development and maintenance of an information base

for the creek; and 4) increased community awareness and enjoymentof the creek.

Goal #2 includes seven objectives that are needed to preserve andrestore the natural resources of the lower reach. These are: a) restore

year-round flow; b) protect and enhance riparian habitat; c) preserveand restore natural flood plain functions; d) preserve and restore SRC

Steelhead Trout, Santa Rosa Creek/Photo R. Hawley:

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Local Land Conservation Since 1988

Post Office Box 1505Cambria, California 93428(805) 927-2866 - Phone(805) 927-7530 - Fax

www.GreenspaceCambria.org

U.S. Bulk Ra

PAID

Permit No. 3

Cambria, CA93428

Non-Profit

Organization

ThepublictrustvaluesoftheCaliforniaDepartmentofParksandRecreationsSantaRosa

Creeklagoonremainunrecognizedandunprotectedforlackofspecificinformationabout

itssalt-freshwatercycle.

PhotocourtesyofBradSeek

Recipient of 2001 National Arbor Day Aw ard

Agreatdealmoreisunderstoodaboutthewater

resourcesofSantaRosaCreeksincecompletionoftheUnitedStatesGeologicalSurveywatersupply

studyofthe1990s.Itsmostsignificantresultwastodemonstratethatagriculturalandmunicipalpumpinghaschangedthecreekfromaperenniallyflowing

streamtoonethatisseasonal.WhentheGreenspacereport*waspublished,summerground-

waterwithdrawalswerenearlythreetimestherateofflowfromupgradientsources,causinglossofflowin

thecreek.Itisthemaintainanceoftheperennialflowofwaterthatiskeytopreservingthepublictrustvaluesofthecreek.Thisbeneficialusecannotbe

maintainedunlessthecreekhasyear-roundflow.

ItisinterestingtonotethatsincetheCCSDhasnotbeenabletopumpwaterfromSantaRosaCreek

becauseofMtBEcontaminationSantaRosaCreekhasmaintaineditshistoricalperennialflow.

*MostoftheinformationinthisInsiderwastakenfrom

SantaRosaCreekEnhancementPlan,byPrunuske,Chatham,Inc.