Dec. 5, 2002
Dear Editor:
Has anyone read the "Recommendations" portion of the Napa River Basin, Limiting Factors Analysis, Final Technical Report, published June 14, 2002. It is my hope that local newspapers will print the report's "Recommendations" before County Supervisors vote on the Stream Setback Ordinance.
The two-year long, 80+ page technical report is prepared by the University of California Berkeley and Stillwater Sciences. The study was requested by and prepared for San Francisco Bay Water Quality Control Board and California State Coastal Conservancy. The study recommends waiting until June 2003 when "high-resolution topographic maps and watershed analysis modeling products" will be available. The study says "These tools should be tremendously useful to land owners, managers, and the Napa County Planning Department for site-specific to watershed-scale evaluation of the ecological benefits of stream setbacks."
Please, re-read the above paragraph. It is pretty important.
Isn't that what we want? High-resolution topographic maps and watershed analysis modeling products will be ".tremendously useful to land owners, managers, and the Napa County Planning Department for site-specific to watershed-scale evaluation of the ecological benefits of stream setbacks." Great! Let's get those things.
San Francisco Bay Water Quality Control Board and California State Coastal Conservancy study recommends waiting until June of 2003. So, why are some Supervisors, Mark Luce excluded, in such a hurry to pass an interim ordinance?
I work for a vineyard management company. Jack Neal & Son. The company has been farming Napa Valley since 1968. So, don't be surprised if your neighbors says "Well, don't believe what he says, he's biased."
Heck, we all have our own viewpoints. That is why I strongly urge you to read the study for yourself. You can read the full report or you can just read pages 39 and 62 of the document. You may download the study at this Internet address:
www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov/Programs/TECHNICAL%20REPORT.pdf Sorry, it's kind of long.
I sure hope people will read the Napa River Basin Final Technical Report. Nearly everyone says they will support Napa watershed protection and conservation measures if they are based on science. I know I will. So, here it is folks. The study recommends that we wait until June for the tools we need to make sound, science-based decisions.
After four years of political upheaval, you know, Spring just doesn't seem that far away to me.
Mark van Gorder
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