Title:Napa River Restoration and Bioassessment Project 2013
The Institute for Conservation Advocacy, Research and Education is actively seeking funding to embark on a Napa River watershed ecological restoration and biological monitoring project that will improve the health of the Napa River while restoring fishing, swimming and recreation for future generations.
This project will restore and preserve riparian areas within the sub-watersheds of the Napa River basin for the protection and conservation of native plants, animals and fish. Comprehensive stream monitoring along with bringing into the watershed recycled water will help protect and improve stream flows, surface and groundwater quality. Establish a healthy aquatic ecosystem, provide data for adaptive management. Establish healthy baseline stream flows and other water quality information.
Accordingly, ICARE and our collaborative partners will use low impact improvements to eradicate non native plants, install stream gauges, collect water samples, plant native plants, and use adaptive management techniques to adjust for new information that will improve stream health. Additionally, this project will benefit disadvantaged communities whose members will be central to the work being done to achieve the goals and objectives. Public education is central to this project to inform communities about stream health now and in the future.
--Improve flood
protection --Establish sustainable
floodplain and water management systems --Use recycled water --Enhance floodplain
ecosystems --Provide adequate
monitoring for adaptive management --Reduce erosion and
improve water quality --Hire disadvantaged
farm workers whose families live in the area --Educate students and local community members
The 426 square miles of the Napa River watershed finds its origin or headwaters at the base of Mt. St. Helena in Napa County. Most of the River runs through Napa County. The river widens into vast wetlands through Solano County and its confluence empties into the bay estuary, known also as San Pablo Bay
The river system provides a diverse food source for the San Francisco Bay, one of the most important estuaries in the world. The health of the Napa River is vital to the estuary where fishing, commerce and recreation play an important nexus to humans. The EPA listed the Napa River as an impaired water-body in the late 1980’s. The reason for impairment is pollution from sediment, nutrients (fertilizer) and pathogens (harmful bacteria). The Benthicmacro-invertebrate five-year study began scientific basis for the recovery of this vital watershed. The health of the Napa River directly relates to the health of the San Francisco Bay estuary.
In 1999, the current ICARE project team began the Napa River Benthic Macro-Invertebrate(BMI) study. Under the scientific supervision of Dr. Charley Dewberry,biologists and volunteers collected the first ever-biological specimens from the Napa River Watershed. ICARE has just completed 2006 benthic macro invertebrate surveys. Results will be posted when ready.
The health of the bay-delta is dependent on the tributaries that flow into it. The Napa River watershed provides the second largest supply of fresh water flow to the San Francisco Bay estuary and has a direct impacton bay navigation, fisheries, and overall water quality. Its importance to the bay-delta cannot be overstated. The EPA, the Nature Conservancy, Nature Serve and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board have all identified the Napa River as a regionally significant and rich biological repository that is a crucial resource to the Bay-Delta.
The purpose of the BMI study is beneficial to both science and education in the classrooms of Napa County.The study is adding a baseline of information regarding water quality along with showing land use comparisons to water quality. Scientists, biologists and interested citizens have all joined together to work on the collection of these tiny insects that inhabit the aquatic world of our natural waterways.
BMI’s are an important chain in the cycle of life, providing the food for endangered Steelhead, salmon & other aquatic fish. The Napa River is also the home for several other species of fish. Some of these are: Riffle Sculpin, Thule perch, Hitch, Sacramento Blackfish, Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, Green and White Sturgeon, Delta Smelt, Hardhead, Pacific Lamprey, and Stream Lamprey. This estuary is the breeding and rearing ground for fisheries that sustain a viable economic resource for the region. The rich biodiversity of the Napa River is a major nutrient load to the San Francisco Bay estuary.
Napa County is a prime wine grape growing region in California and vineyards are rapidly expanding to the ridge tops of the forested regions of the county. This practice is exacerbating the already considerable pressures placed on the river by causing severe erosion and depleting groundwater.
As a result, sedimentation has increased while fresh water flows have decreased. This has further imperiled the health of the Napa River and the Bay-Delta, into which it runs, causing bay fill, loss of estuary fishery habitats and poor water quality. All these factors jeopardize navigation and ecosystem vitality throughout the estuary. With efforts by ICARE, the BMI monitoring is allowing the community to help preserve and restore the Napa River so that the estuary can flourish for future generations BMI sites 1999-2004
Label GMOs Napa County is a local branch of the state-level group, Label GMOs.org, and is coordinated by Napa resident, Amy Martenson, and comprised of local volunteers.
Label GMOs.org is the original grassroots group that Pamm Larry of Chico organized in 2011 to start a ballot initiative to label genetically engineered foods (GE) in California, which led to Proposition 37 that was defeated by a small margin in the Fall election of 2013.
Label GMOs.org and local branches, such as Label GMOs Napa County, continue to work at all levels (local, state, and federal) to inform others about the risks of GE foods and the importance of GE food labeling, and to advocate for mandatory labeling of GE food at both the state and federal levels. Our motto is “Educate, legislate, and off my plate.”
Currently, Label GMOs Napa County has been working to inform the local community about the risks of GE food and the need for labeling through presentations to local groups, local film showings, letters to the editor, rallies and marches, and tabling at local events. In addition, we have been lobbying local officials within the Napa City Council and the Napa County Board of Supervisors to pass a non-binding resolution calling on the state and federal governments to mandate the labeling of GE foods.
The Institute for Conservation Advocacy, Research and Education is actively seeking funding to embark on a Napa River watershed ecological restoration and biological monitoring project that will improve the health of the Napa River while restoring fishing, swimming and recreation for future generations.
