California: Big Sur River baseline monitoring project

Big Sur River baseline?monitoring project is completed and available.
We have full sets of  reliable data from eight points from the lagoon to the gorge, and
geologic and topographic picture of the whole watershed. This is the
first comprehensive picture of the river. It gets us onto a working
platform with a grasp of the whole watershed, from the Ventanas to the
beach. We can now detect and quantify change in the river that will be
caused by fire.

You funded the monitoring report with your support of
the Big Sur Chanterelle Cook Off. The Cook Off benefited Stewards of
the Big Sur River, a community project of Pelican Network. We needed
this to begin measuring impacts on the habitats of the Big Sur River.
A focus interest is Steelhead habitat. As you know, fish populations
in the river have dramatically plummeted. Now we will be able to
measure changes in the river configuration and water quality and
effects of20fish population. We had the cooperation of private
landowners and California State Parks. Everybody’s interest in the
well being of our river is a strong motivation for our efforts. This
will help us document in?stream conditions concerning fish spawning,
and restore stream banks fish rearing habitat. The relationship of the
lagoon with the health of the rest of the lower seven miles of the
river is critical.

Now we will be able to measure effects of impacts
on the whole lower stem. (Steelhead don’t migrate to the upper reaches
of the river as they can’t get past the gorge.) This is the beginning
of reliable data about water quality, too. This study is nicely
augmented by the continuing monitoring we are doing with the Marine
Sanctuary. We’ve begun work with the California Department of Fish and
Game, also. This study by the Watershed Institute at California State
University Monterey Bay was provoked by the Basin Complex wildfire.
Dr. Douglas Smith wanted to get an accurate picture of the river
conditions before the expected run off from the burned areas. With
this study we can now measure changes to the river from the fire. It
describes the watershed geology, and “estimate the extent and severity
of the burn in the Big Sur Watershed.”

The study measures baseline
conditions in the lagoon, the mouth of the river, so changes to the
habitat caused by post?fire conditions can be assessed. For
environmental management, these data will be provided to State Parks.
Sincerely, Jack Ellwanger 831 667 2025

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