September 1997, Volume 31, Number 1

Sonoma County Water Wishes September General Meeting Thank You Pee Wee Audubon Goes Hawk Watching Audubon Adventures Message From Our President Annual Meeting Wrap-Up Feeder Watch Pee Wee Reports Observations Midweek Walkabout Results Field Trip Report Pepperwood Field Trip Results Return of the Swifts The Fate of the Developmental CenterOpen Space Volunteers Survey Finds Zero Owl Nests Welcome New Members

Sonoma County Water Wishes by Joan Dranginis, Madrone Delegate to SCCC SANTA ROSA'S WASTE WATER disposal drama is playing out as summer windsdown and our September newsletter goes to press. The various alternativedisposal options have been vigorously debated at a series of public meetingsduring July and August. The summary session will be one on Economics ofthe Possible Solutions, at the Finley Center in Santa Rosa at 1:30 PM onSeptember 4. Some City officials support continued and increased dumping of the wastewater into the Russian River because that seems to them to be the simplestand cheapest method. Their experts contend that it is safe to raise therate of waste water disposal from the current level of one to five percentof flow, to 20 percent and even 50 percent under certain conditions. Advocatesfor good conservation practices, agriculture, a healthy Russian River, andsafe drinking water have testified that the river discharge could be hazardousand is a waste of a precious natural resource. Madrone Audubon has joined with most of the 18 environmental organizationsthat make up the Sonoma County Conservation Council (SCCC) to urge thatoptions be limited to those which would implement reuse of waste water tobenefit the environment, agriculture, and the urban setting. This wouldremove the "dumping" alternative entirely from the debate. Wehope the City Council will take notice of the united front behind SCCC andstart leading the way toward preserving and protecting our natural resources. At the time of this writing, the Geysers Alternative is being toutedas the best and cheapest approach among reuse alternatives. This is a proposaljust recently set forth by a coalition of government agencies, steam transmittersand energy companies, to pump 11 million gallons per day of treated wastewater through an underground pipe to the Geysers, to revitalize the steamfields as an energy source. As currently proposed, the Geysers Alternative would require the constructionof 34 miles of pipeline, leading from Delta Pond in west Santa Rosa to theGeysers, with storage tanks and pumping apparatus along the way. Part ofthe proposed route would run along Pine Flat Road, invading National Audubon'snewly-acquired 4,000-acre Mayacamas Mountains Sanctuary. Both Madrone andCalifornia Audubon will be watching this proposal carefully. One solutioncould be a different route for the pipeline. Meanwhile, the Sonoma County Water Agency has stepped into the wastewater debate with a $75 million CALFED grant application. The grant wouldfund five projects, among them the restoration of the Fish and Game Napa-SonomaMarsh Wildlife Area Wetlands. This project too would involve building pipelineand pumping stations to send recycled waste water from the county's majortreatment plants to the marsh, where it would reduce salinity in the formerCargill Salt Ponds, making them more hospitable to wildlife. This projectwould improve water quality in San Pablo Bay because of decreased directrecycled water discharge into the Bay. When the marsh has returned to ahealthy state, the Water Agency proposes that the pipeline then be usedto bring the treated waste water to farmers in the south county, one ofthe alternatives that is already being studied. Madrone Audubon's Board of Directors has registered its support for theSCWA proposal in a letter that will accompany the CALFED grant application.Our support is premised on the understanding that there will be a significantand direct environmental benefit from the project and that the system willcontinue to benefit the environment in the future. If the grant applicationis successful, it would help fund the South County Alternative, which hasbeen virtually discounted by the City because of its cost. According torespected environmentalist Bill Kortum, writing in a recent letter in theSanta Rosa Press Democrat, the costs have been greatly exaggeratedby opponents of the proposal. If you're interested in helping Madrone Audubon on waste water issues,please call Joan Dranginis at 523-4373.

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