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May 2006 Issue
Environmental News
Heal the Ocean
By Hillary Hauser
The septic-to-sewer project at Rincon, Sandyland, Sand Point, and Padaro Lane is moving forward. On Tuesday, April 4, 2006, the Carpinteria Sanitary District (CSD) voted unanimously to circulate to the public the Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) that had been prepared for the Rincon portion of the proposed sewer project. After a 45-day circulation, CSD can approve the project.
The additional work on the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for Rincon (approved April 4 by CSD) was undertaken due to lawsuits filed by oppositionists who cited the EIR as inadequate. Meanwhile, updated engineering, assessment, and annexation studies and reports are being prepared with funds received by Santa Barbara County Environmental Health Services as part of a $2 million grant brought into SB County by former assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson for septic pollution work. Funds have also come to Heal the Ocean from generous homeowners within the project areas, HTO board members, singer Jack Johnson, and participants of the Rincon Clean Water Classic.
The next step is the CSD approval of the sewer project after the 45-day circulation of SEIR (late May or early June). Opposition then has 30 days to file a lawsuit. If they sue, Heal the Ocean is ready!
Gaviota Coast Conservancy
The Gaviota Coast Conservancy (GCC) is a private, non-profit organization that promotes the permanent protection of the Gaviota Coast's unique natural, scenic, agricultural, recreational, and cultural resources. Working through partnerships with other land conservation organizations, local landowners, resource agencies, and government entities, the GCC is promoting long-term strategies to protect the Gaviota Coast from the rapid urban expansion that threatens this region.
Since its inception, the GCC has spearheaded the effort to bring the various and diverse interests of the coast together to form a coastal preservation strategy. We supported the feasibility study by the National Park Service (NPS) to determine if the Gaviota Coast was suitable for inclusion in the National Park System. The NPS determined that the Gaviota Coast’s resources are nationally significant and suitable for inclusion in the National Park System, but that it is not feasible to add the area to the Park System.
Volunteer members of the GCC's Outreach Committee are available to speak to your civic organization, church, school, or neighborhood association through formal presentations or informal discussions to any size group. To schedule, leave a message at the GCC office at 563-7976, or email gavcoast@silcom.com. For more information about the GCC, visit www.gaviotacoastconservancy.org.
Groundswell Society
By Glenn Hening
As you may know, the Groundswell Society is about sharing the stoke of surfing, given that some of the worst pollution affecting surfers today has nothing to do with chemicals in the ocean – and everything to do with attitudes in the lineup. These days surfers aren’t getting sick from the water anywhere near as much as they are getting sick of each other. And the problem is not going away.
The rapidly expanding emphasis on competition for younger surfers is putting a whole new kind ofpressure on the surfing community, and in response the Society is proud to announce “The Rincon Invitational,” a surfing event planned by directors of the Society and members of the Santa Barbara Surf Club. The event will use the team surfing format we invented for the Clean Water Classic and will consist of eighteen slots, one hour each, for the two-day event.
If you are interested in learning more about what promises to be one of the most unique surfing events on the planet, we’ll be announcing details early next month on the Groundswell Society website and of course here, in Blue Edge. www.groundswellsociety.org.
Santa Barbara Surfrider
By Ben Preston
The Santa Barbara Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is a critical force in environmental activism. Its members fight for coastal access and tackle development issues that affect surfers and the environment.
Currently, Santa Barbara Surfrider is protecting open space in Naples, a semi-remote and currently pristine habitat. The Santa Barbara Ranch development project will allow construction of seventy-three 8,000-13,000 square foot homes, some to be built on the environmentally sensitive coastal bluff. Santa Barbara Surfrider teamed up with the Sierra Club, League of Women Voters, and other organizations to create the Naples Coalition, which is dedicated to preserving the rural character of the Gaviota Coast. The Naples Coalition presents positive solutions, including transferring development rights to a higher-density urban zone, or allowing a land conservation group to purchase land and move development away from the coast. Naples Coalition and Surfrider members are lobbying the California Coastal Commission to oppose the developer’s plans and implement one of the solutions offered by the Naples Coalition.
Santa Barbara Surfrider meets the second Thursday of every month at the Watershed Resource Center at Arroyo Burro County Park. Glen Hening, co-founder of the Surfrider Foundation, will speak at the next meeting in June. www.rain.org/~srfrdrsb.
Community Environmental Council
By Sigrid Wright
The Community Environmental Council's David Brower Green Teens are a group of high school students who are concerned with the condition of our creeks and ocean. Students empower themselves and others to create change by restoring habitat and teaching the public about protecting natural resources. Recent Green Teens projects have focused on Devereaux Slough at Coal Oil Point Reserve, and Santa Cruz Island. They also help with beach cleanups and talk with visitors to CEC's South Coast Watershed Resource Center at Arroyo Burro Beach. For more information visit www.watershedresourcecenter.org or email Katie at kdeleuw@cecmail.org. For more information about CEC, visit www.communityenvironmentalcouncil.org.
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
By Penny Owens
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper is a local, non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the Santa Barbara Channel and its watersheds through citizen action, education, and enforcement. Channelkeeper works on the water and in the community to monitor local waterways, restore aquatic ecosystems, advocate clean water, enforce environmental laws, and educate citizens in identifying and devising solutions to pollution problems. Channelkeeper’s clean water advocacy and enforcement efforts are currently striving to compel the SB Polo Club to cease the polluting of Padaro Beach, Halaco Engineering Co. to clean up its toxic waste on the Ormond Beach Wetland, the City of SB to enact a strong ordinance to address leaking sewer laterals, and local municipalities to implement programs to reduce storm water pollution.
Channelkeeper is also conducting monthly water quality monitoring in the Ventura River and Goleta Slough watersheds; restoring kelp and eelgrass in the Channel; and teaching youth about the importance of eelgrass beds, kelp forests, and water quality in twelve middle schools. Upcoming volunteer opportunities include water quality monitoring with Goleta Stream Team on the first Sunday of the month. For volunteer opportunities, please contact Ben Pitterle at ben@sbck.org. For more information www.sbck.org.
Posted May 2006 Blue Edge Magazine. All rights reserved.
