Permit program could make restoration easier
In 2006 the Pajaro River was designated America’s most
endangered river by American Rivers.
In September permit coordination efforts were set up in 15
counties by the nonprofit organization Sustainable Conservation.
The San Benito ResourceConservation District will be working
together to set up a permanent program to help landowners obtain
permits for the restoration of the upper watershed.
Permit program could make restoration easier
By MARK LEMMERMAN
Special to The Pinnacle
In 2006 the Pajaro River was designated America’s most endangered river by American Rivers.
In September permit coordination efforts were set up in 15 counties by the nonprofit organization Sustainable Conservation. The San Benito ResourceConservation District will be working together to set up a permanent program to help landowners obtain permits for the restoration of the upper watershed.
“Erosion control and bank stabilization is needed,” said Carolyn Remick Program Director, Restoration on Private Lands for Sustainable Conservation. “Our job is setting up a system for private land owners to obtain permits for agricultural restoration.”
“We are not trying to insert ourselves into the process of restoring the whole river,” Remick said.
The permit program is at its early stages and Sustainable Conservation is still in the hiring process for a project manager. The permits can take close to 18 months to obtain so Remick says that the restoration program will be up in 2008. The river, which is 30 miles long and runs through four counties, has long been a flood threat to local communities.
“The river is endangered and very imperiled, but could still be saved,” according to Lois Robin of the Pajaro River Watershed Committee. Robin is responsible for submitting the Pajaro to the American Rivers in 2006.
The American Rivers Organization teamed with the Pajaro River Watershed Committee and the Sierra Club to highlight the threats to the river and come up with workable solutions to the flooding. A watershed is all the land around the river that contributes water to the river including rainfall.
The Pajaro (bird in Spanish) River has flooded numerous times throughout history the most severe in 1995 and 1998. After the 1995 floods the trees along the rivers lower levees were removed in a vain attempt to reduce flooding.
The removal of the trees actually left the side of the river bare and contributed to rising flood waters, more erosion and millions of dollars which were spent on flood damage.
“The Army Corps Of Engineers proposed plans that were not environmentally friendly to the Sierra Club,” said Robin. “We are trying to come up with a plan that would require less of a levee.”
The Army Corp Of Engineers wants to rebuild the levees, which would cost more than $200 million dollars to taxpayers.
“The original plan is not sufficiently environmental. The Army Corp Of Engineers has set the levees back in certain places and removed the sediment so the river meets it own floodplain and then it can meander and do what a river needs to do.”
Levees are embankments designed to prevent the flooding of rivers. “The problem with the levees on the Pajaro River is that they are so narrow and close the river going through doesn’t have a chance to be a river,” said Robin.
In 1949 the Army Corp Of Engineers completed more than 22 miles of levees along the Pajaro River designed to prevent flooding for a 50-year timeline. Another problem is that the river flows through four different counties, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Monterey and San Benito County.
The river empties into Monterey bay near the city of Watsonville (pop 49,601) in Santa Cruz County. Downtown Watsonville is most threatened by potential flooding of the Pajaro River.
“There are 24 agencies that have a say and no real management,” according to Robin. “The San Benito River also needs to be looked at. What happens to the San Benito River decides what happens to the Pajaro River.”
The San Benito River runs northwest from the Diablo Range to the Gabilan Range and travels for 65 miles before meeting up with the Pajaro River. The river is mostly dry during the summer and gets all of its water from the winter rain.
“The San Benito River has been degraded by sand and gravel operations, but you can’t make a plan until you see how much water flows into the Pajaro River,” Said Robin.
The mining of gravel, gypsum, sand and benitoite has degraded the San Benito River. According to Robin the San Benito River contributes a huge sediment problem for the Pajaro River.
“The Pajaro River is the most polluted river that flows into Monterey Bay,” said Robin.
Other rivers on the America’s Most Endangered Rivers report are the Shenandoah River (Va. & W. Va.), Upper Yellowstone River (Mont.), Bristol Bay (Alaska), and the Willamette River in Oregon.
