Santa Barbara Channelkeeper News & Events: Take The Channelkeeper Survey!
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Santa Barbara ChannelkeeperSanta Barbara Channelkeeper News & Events: Take The Channelkeeper Survey!
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Santa Barbara ChannelkeeperJuly 2012
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper News & Events
News and Events
Take the Channelkeeper Survey! New Watchdog Diaries Episode New "Swim Guide" App Provides Beach Water Quality Info Santa Barbara City Council Approves Sewer Rate Increase A New Era for the VR? Subsidies Available for Rain Gardens, Greywater Systems and Cisterns! California Adopts a Full Coast of Ocean Protection! Goleta Adopt-a-Stream Event July 28th Stream Team July 7th & 8th Become a Channelkeeper Member!
Take the Channelkeeper Survey!
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper wants to get to know you better! Please fill out our online survey - it will take you less than ten minutes to complete and will help us serve you better. You'll also be entered into a drawing to win a $200 Patagonia gift card! We will randomly select the winner on August 1, 2012 and notify them via email. Thank you for your time!
New Watchdog Diaries Episode Another Illegal Discharge Eliminated!
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper is pleased to present the fifth episode of The Watchdog Diaries, our video series that chronicles Channelkeeper's strategic watchdog monitoring efforts to identify and document sources of water pollution impacting the Santa Barbara Channel and its watersheds. In this episode, Channelkeeper discovers, tracks and ultimately eliminates illegal discharges of brine waste from an industrial facility in Goleta. Watch to find out how Channelkeeper's monitoring and advocacy helped ensure the elimination of a chronic source of pollution to San Jose Creek and the Goleta Slough.
New "Swim Guide" App Provides Real-Time Beach Water Quality Info
Have you downloaded the Swim Guide App yet? Stay in-the-know about water quality at local beaches and nearly 300 beaches throughout California. The California Swim Guide app is available FREE for smart phones, both Android and iPhones. In addition to providing current beach water quality info, the Swim Guide also helps users get directions to nearby beaches, view photos, learn what beaches are good for children and recreation, and share their beach adventures with friends on social networks. Users can also report pollution immediately to the nearest local Waterkeeper. Download the Swim Guide app today, and swim safely this summer!
Did You Know?
A New Era for the Ventura River?
The City of Ventura has initiated an effort to coordinate governmental agencies, social service groups, and other stakeholders in preparation for a significantly enhanced program to clean up the lower Ventura River. For many years, the City and others who have attempted to organize trash clean-ups have struggled to keep up with the overwhelming amount of dumping and littering caused by the increasing number of permanent homeless encampments in the lower riverbed. In 2011, Channelkeeper began conducting trash and dumpsite surveys to document and shed light upon the tremendous environmental damage that has been resulted. Due in large part to increased public awareness and regulatory pressure, the City has begun planning a longterm strategy to address this problem through a three-pronged approach of reclamation, restoration, and relocation. Channelkeeper is encouraged that local agencies are stepping up to the plate to tackle this massive pollution problem , though plans are still under development and deadlines have yet to be set for full-scale clean-up efforts. Channelkeeper is actively participating in the planning process and will offer our support wherever possible, and will monitor the progress of these efforts to ensure that chronic littering and dumping in the Ventura River is put to a stop.
Urban runoff is the single biggest source of pollution to local beaches and creeks. During storms, rain runs over dirty streets, driveways, parking lots, rooftops and lawns, carrying with it a toxic cocktail of pollutants that gets discharged - untreated - to storm drains that lead to local waterways. Even in dry weather, activities like lawn watering and car washing send polluted water down storm drains. Fortunately, there are simple ways that you can help reduce runoff pollution, including by installing cost-effective "Low Impact Development" features such as rain gardens, cisterns or permeable pavements on your property. Click here to learn more.
Santa Barbara City Council Approves Sewer Rate Increase to Upgrade Sewage System
On June 12th, the Santa Barbara City Council held a public hearing to discuss increases in City utility rates, including a ten percent increase in sewer rates. Six percent of this increase will pay for intensified efforts to improve the City's aging sewer pipes in order to reduce pollution to local creeks and beaches, nearly all of which are chronically polluted with fecal bacteria and often unsafe for human contact. This one-time increase of six percent, which equates to $2.16/month ($25.92/year) for the average household, is related to a settlement agreement that the City signed with Channelkeeper to settle the Clean Water Act lawsuit we filed against the City last year for excessive sewage spills and failure to adequately upgrade sewer pipes to prevent them from leaking and polluting our water. The Council voted unanimously to approve the sewer rate increase at the June 12th hearing. Channelkeeper has now turned our attention to reviewing and commenting on the various plans and other deliverables being produced by the City pursuant to our settlement agreement, including a Sewer System Overflow Response Improvement Plan, a Cleaning and Inspection Improvement Plan, a High Risk Pipe Evaluation, and an Exfiltration Abatement Program Plan.
Subsidies Available for Santa Barbara Residents for Rain Gardens, Greywater Systems and Cisterns!
Interested in installing a rain garden, greywater system or cistern on your property? The Santa Barbara Green Living Co-op will organize and lead a team of volunteers to install these water-saving features at your property. By volunteering their labor, Co-op members reduce the cost of these projects while at the same time earning discounted rates for later workshops at their own residences. Twenty volunteer hours earn Co-op members up to a 40% discount on hiring certified instructors to design site-appropriate projects and then organize and lead a Co-op workshop at members' homes. Workshop hosts pay for materials and the workshop instructor's time, but the Co-op now offers subsidies of $250-$750 to workshop hosts (property must be located in the City of Santa Barbara) to help defray these costs, with priority given to those with greater financial need. Membership in the Co-op is free, as is participation in these fun, hands-on training workshops. This effort is made possible by funding from the City of Santa Barbara as part of the settlement of Channelkeeper's sewage lawsuit. Visit the SB Green Living Co-op website to learn more!
California Adopts a Full Coast of Ocean Protection!
Last month the California Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously to designate 19 more underwater wilderness areas along the north coast of California (from Mendocino County to the Oregon border). Now California has a complete network of 126 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along its entire coast, which will help to safeguard marine life and protect unique underwater resources. Channelkeeper needs your help with monitoring the MPAs off the Santa Barbara County coast. Channelkeeper's MPA Watch volunteer monitoring program records how humans use these special areas, like the Campus Point Marine Protected Area (MPA) off Isla Vista and the Naples Reef MPA. Documenting what people do in and adjacent to these areas will be critical in interpreting how MPAs benefit sea life and in informing MPA management. Becoming an MPA Watch volunteer is easy and fun! Volunteers walk stretches of beach and record all the human activities taking place in and adjacent to the MPAs. We are also looking for stand-up paddleboarders and kayakers to help collect this valuable data at harder to reach areas. So whether you are a beach walker or a paddler, Channelkeeper can use your help! We will be hosting volunteer training workshops on Thursday, July 12th and Thursday, July 26th, both at 5:30pm at the Channelkeeper office (714 Bond Ave., Santa Barbara). If you want to attend or learn more about MPA Watch, please email or call us at 805.563.3377 ext. 2.
Goleta Adopt-a-Stream Event Saturday, July 28
Join Channelkeeper for the summer Adopt-a-Stream event of 2012! We are recruiting volunteers to help clean up each of Channelkeeper's 23 Goleta Stream Team monitoring sites. Volunteers will split up into small teams and travel to sites throughout the Goleta Valley's watersheds to remove garbage before it washes into the Goleta Slough and Pacific Ocean. We will also conduct brief surveys to document the amount and type of garbage found at each site. We will meet at the Goleta Beach west parking area (near the playground) on Saturday, July 28th at 10 am. (Turn right as you enter the beach. We'll be in the first parking area on the right.) Please dress appropriately for field work; we will be walking in the stream beds and feet will get wet. REI Santa Barbara will be providing free t-shirts and other great prizes for volunteers! We hope to see you there. For questions and to RSVP, please email or call us at 805.563.3377 ext. 0.
Stream Team July 7th & 8th
Stream Team is Channelkeeper's volunteerbased water quality monitoring program. Every month, volunteers join Channelkeeper staff to test for common water quality parameters at numerous sites in the Ventura River and Goleta Slough watersheds. Note: Special Ventura Stream Team predawn sampling times! Ventura Stream Team - July 7th - This month Ventura Stream Team volunteers will collect samples in two shifts. The first shift will meet before dawn at 4:30 AM. The second shift will meet at 12:30 PM. We are conducting diurnal (twice daily) monitoring in order to measure the chemical impacts of algae growth in the Ventura River. Volunteers must RSVP to [email protected] as morning and afternoon slots are limited. Volunteers for the morning shift must have received training at a prior event. Goleta Stream Team - July 8th - Goleta Stream Team will meet as usual at 10 AM. Visit www.stream-team.org for more information.
Become a Channelkeeper Member!
Become a Channelkeeper Member! Your support for Channelkeeper's efforts is needed now more than ever. Become a member of the Channelkeeper crew today with your taxdeductible donation. You'll be investing in clean water and healthy communities along the Santa Barbara Channel today and for future generations. With your membership, you will receive our regular newsletters, news updates and action alerts, invitations to special Channelkeeper events and fun volunteer opportunities, and a free Channelkeeper sticker. All new donors contributing $50 or more can also receive a Channelkeeper t-shirt, and for donations of $250 or more, bi-annual issues of Waterkeeper magazine. Sign up today by calling 805.563.3377 ext. 4 or emailing us.
