California Water

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational October 13, 2009

It was raining full throttle this morning when I let out the very reluctant puppy. She stared at me in unhappy recognition of the old days when water used to come from the sky. Jon spied two happy beavers at the secondary dam yesterday, so while we’re waiting to see what the rain might bring them, I thought it would be a good time to talk about our own little water-dramas.

Being one of those awkwardly-long states, California stretches all the way from places that have water to places that don’t. A long time ago we decided to play robin hood with our H20 and steal it from the wet places to give it to the dry ones. We cleverly decided to spread it around and invest some of our most important farming in some of our driest land. Now that the state is (nearly?) broken, the governor wants to readdress the water issue by investing in bonds for new dams and reservoirs. In fact he wanted it done so much that he threatened to hold his breath until the legislature did what he wanted.

Turns out the gubernatorial equivalent of “holding your breath” is to threaten to veto all legislation until he gets what he wants. This was the big threat last week, signaling another possible crisis in our currently failed state. Yesterday, the child responsible for the tantrum got an inkling that this wasn’t playing too well in the cheap seats, so he settled for a special session and signed legislation anyway.

Now state politics are vastly complicated, and I would be loathe to try and pick apart the threads of that particular noose, but I have a solution that won’t require a bond OR a bill. Just so you know, that driest part of the state is the part with the fewest beavers, and has a history of pretty poor welcome for them when they arrive. (Bakersfield & Riverside to name a few). What if you let them make your dams for you and keep engineers on site 24/7?

Someone in Sacramento needs to see this video and give me five minutes of their time.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=wI5AjJd00cM]

Hard Rain A-Gonna’ Fall…

heidi08 Uncategorized October 12, 2009

Beaver supporters have been reading the weather with worry these last days. By tonight we should get some rain, and by tomorrow there’s a urban creek advisory for flooding dangers and a high wind warning tonight. NOAA tells me that

THE ORIGINS OF THIS STORM STEM FROM A WESTERN PACIFIC TYPHOON NAMED MELOR THAT AFFECTED JAPAN LAST WEEK.

(So our NZ friend was kind of right, that trouble did roll across the Pacific!)

If we don’t get a tree (or telephone pole) blown over somewhere, we can expect some dam washouts and a mess of horrible polluted runoff whooshing past the beavers front door. The first big rain is always the worst, and the slurry seal the city laid on Saturday will not have had enough time to dry and will most likely wash off and sludge down the gutters and into the creek.

Jon was cleaning our gutters yesterday but he’ll be hovering around to keep watch on Tuesday. In addition to natural and unnatural traumas, we’re worried about a sudden bright idea from public works to take out one of the dams to allow better flow or let a tree pass. The best defense against that is a video camera, so if you happen to have rain gear you might snatch a photo or two with your cell phone.

As for the beavers, well, they’re like new landlords: with acquired wealth comes increased responsibility for repairs! Now they will have four dams to fix. We’ll see how they manage that responsibility and how they arrange their priorities. Any bets on what gets fixed first? Last season they emphasized the second one, but maybe this year it will be the fourth? I’ll keep you posted.

Beavers on the Oregon Trail

heidi08 Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental October 11, 2009

Just got word this morning from Leonard Houston from SURCP who is organizing the 2010 State of the Beaver Conference, that we are invited to come talk about the impact of beavers in neglected urban creek. I can’t wait to show off our photos and stories, and I’m hoping I can contaminate lots more cities to take our particular brand of action. Thanks Leonard for the chance to make friends and tell tales, while we’re learning so much from everyone else. Remember our heroic Skip Lisle, HSUS John Hadidian, and Michael Pollack of NOAA will be there as well so it will be a meeting of very like minds.

Speaking of Oregon, you just have to read this story. Seems there was a conference in Salem about the value of beavers to the watershed, and the suggestion of using reintroduction to increase salmon. A poster was there as a visual aid with two photos. One of an actual beaver from the Illinois Department of National Resources. And I bet you can JUST GUESS what the other one was.

Our old friend the imposter-nutria. Someone with eyes and a brain raised their hand and pointed this out, the presenter defended himself bravely.

“I’m not a wildlife biologist, so I’m not really qualified to make that distinction,” Gilbert said Friday. “I’m not an expert, by any means.” Gilbert said he snagged the photo off the Illinois Web site while searching the Internet for a beaver photo.

There you have it. He’s not a biologist so we can’t expect him to tell the difference between say, a dog and a cat, a bird and a bat, or a beaver and a nutria. The article emphasizes the whiskers of the nutria, which are indeed very different from the beaver, but to me the obvious clue is the nostrils which are nothing like our beaver’s noses. I cannot tell you how often this lazy mistake is made, even by news media which should at least be more cautious if they don’t know better, I realize the internet allows us to snag photos for free, but try and snag them from the right places, will you?

On a final note, think about joining JMA for the conservation awards this year held November 7th at the Willows Theater. Lee Stetson (the voice of Muir for the Ken Burns documentary) will be the host, and everyone whose anyone in conservation will be there. For a measly 20 dollars you can have appetizers, wine and some amazing conversations with folk who are making a difference all around the state. This event always sells out, so why not get your tickets now?

Worth A Dam at Native Here Nursery today in Tilden Park! Stop by and say Hi!

Jugband Jamboree

heidi08 Uncategorized October 10, 2009

Come by and say hi to support your beavers and your community!

Generosity

heidi08 Friends of Martinez Beavers, In the News October 9, 2009

I got an email yesterday morning from Jennifer Brennan of Allied Waste. She’s the beaver supporter that has helped us for two years with trash cans at the festivals. Seems she was watching the weather get cooler and thinking compassionately about what it would be like to be homeless as the days get more unpleasant. She went rummaging through her house and found some blankets she would like to donate for the homeless, and she wants to get her coworkers to contribute.

Why did she email me? Because she wants to give these supplies specifically as a thank you for “keeping an eye on the beavers.”And she hoped I could connect her with our creek regulars to make sure that the most beaver benevolent get the bulk of her donation.

It is true that some of our most regular faces at the dam site are people without a home to go to. I am always surprised how much beaver information they have picked up over the years, and how, by and large, they have been protective. (Maybe they can relate because Martinez hasn’t exactly been thrilled about their presence either!) I think Jennifer’s idea is a great way to encourage further protection, and a truly compassionate act that makes a lot of sense.

She will work on her employees and get back to me. If you’d like to add anything to the contribution (like sleeping bags or jackets) let me know and we’ll coordinate.

My second story of generosity came at the end of the day, when I was attending the John Muir Association Board Meeting. Turns out one of our local NPS rangers, Ralph Bell, is in Samoa doing crisis work through the National Park site there. The park had several rangers go missing after the tsunami last week, and has been involved in the rescue and grief work efforts as well.

As a grad student I was peripherally involved with supporting the CalTrans workers who were doing the horrific front-lines work of dealing with our own earthquake disaster nearly 20 years ago. Often Caltrans was the first on the scene, and these were some grisly scenes. I know its tough, draining and exhausting work, and part of what makes it bearable is the comfort and support of the people who are doing it with you.

So thanks Ralph and NPS for helping samoan victims recover and restart their lives. Our beaver friend from New Zealand, William Huges-Games, just wrote that it feels like a war zone in that part of the world right now. New Zealand has gotten part of that weird orange dust from Australia, a lot of random earthquakes, and a tsunami warning after nearby Samoa’s troubles. They are kind of holding their breath to see what might happen next. As we creep closer to October 17th, we can completely relate to a terrifying and dislocating earth-rumbling event, and we are grateful there are people like Ralph and Jennifer to help out.