Program Managers Report TRNERR Advisory Council Meeting Thursday, December 1, 2011

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1 A Wetland of International Importance International Ramsar Convention, Caspian Way Imperial Beach, CA Office (619) Fax (619) Program Managers Report TRNERR Advisory Council Meeting Thursday, December 1, 2011 This report contains a summary of recent TRNERR/TSNWR activities by the eight core program managers: Reserve and Refuge Managers and the Education, Research, Stewardship, Watershed, Coastal Training Program and Community Outreach Coordinators. Reserve Manager - Clay Phillips State Fiscal Issues Our District s 2011/2012 Fiscal year allocations have been received from Sacramento this week. They are better than we expected. Much of this has to do with San Diego Coast Districts key role in bringing in revenue on behalf of the entire department, so that will need to be a focus. At least through June 30, 2012, the Visitor Center will remain open Wednesday through Sunday. Federal Fiscal Issues Amazingly, it is looking likely that the NERRS system will remain level-funded for next year. The 28 managers are breathing a huge sigh of relief after the initial house proposal was so low that we were fearing as bad as a 20% reduction. Site Improvement Projects The construction process on the new picnic facilities atop Monument Mesa has finally become unstuck. Completion of the project is expected to occur by March Dignitaries State Assemblymember Toni Atkins was delighted by her first visit to the Reserve and Border Field State Park and looks forward to another visit. Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team The Reserve Manager and other TRNERR and TSNWR staff remains actively involved in this innovative collaborative effort. A full meeting with public participation is scheduled for December 7 at the Visitor Center. It will be an important opportunity to get a first look at the Team s Road Map strategy for the river valley and to weigh in on it.

2 Page 2 Refuge Manager Brian Collins Refuge Manager s Report (Quarterly Highlights) Brian Collins Restoration Projects in San Diego Bay NWR The major construction phase on the Western Salt Ponds tidal restoration project has been completed. Cordgrass planting is ongoing within the former Pond 10 just north of the bike path north and west of 7 th Street. Reserve staff are taking central a central role in the implementation of the environmental monitoring program associated with this major restoration of the salt ponds. Monitoring work will continue for at least three years and includes avian surveys, fish sampling, benthic faunal sampling, water chemistry monitoring, and geophysical monitoring. We will be having a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on December 8 th to officially declare the project to be successfully completed and to thank all of our partners who helped make this project a success. The ceremony will occur at 1:30 pm on the 8 th. Invitations have been sent to interested persons. If anyone at the Advisory Council meeting is interested in attending who did not receive an invitation, please mention it to Brian Collins and we will make sure you are invited as well. On a personal note, I am thrilled and proud to see this huge, complicated and difficult restoration project actually come to fruition. How often does one get to see a marsh re-born in southern California? One could not have asked for a better group of people to work with on this project and kudos go out to all the members of Team Salt. We have a remarkable group of people to work with here at the Reserve, and our restoration team benefited from the efforts of several members of the Reserve s staff including Kurt Roblek, Jeff Crooks, Michelle Cordrey, Jade Matrone and Holly Bellringer. San Diego Bay NWR continues to work in partnership with River Partners on a 50 acre riparian restoration at the base of the Otay River floodplain just east of the salt ponds in San Diego Bay. The site has been mowed and disked repeatedly and will soon have irrigation installed and planting initiated. An important milestone on the project was the identification of an adequate water source that we can use for irrigation. We will be sharing water from a well with a nursery complex on the east side of I-5. This is hugely important to the project as the cost of purchasing municipal water was incredibly high and would have severely constrained field work that could be done given our existing budget (~$700K) for the entire project. Refuge staff along with River Partners, WildCoast and High Tech High will be working together to develop a volunteer stewardship and monitoring program for the project. The Otay River Estuary Restoration Project : We continue to work with Poseidon Resources on the development of an Environmental Impact Report for a proposed approximately 70 acre intertidal restoration project in the Otay River floodplain, west of the River Partners site and east of the salt ponds. We are having the first public scoping meeting for the proposed project next week on December 6 th at Swiss Park. Two meeting will be conducted. One starts at 1:30 pm. The other starts at 6 pm. A field trip to the project site is scheduled for 3:30 pm. If anyone is interested in attending who did not receive a notice, please mention it to Brian Collins and we will make sure you receive a flyer about the upcoming meeting. Copies of the Federal Register Notice of Intent and the Scoping Meeting announcement are at the back table. Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team The Refuge Manager and other FWS staff from the Ecological Services office in Carlsbad remain actively involved as members of the recovery team. An important public meeting of the team 2

3 Page 3 is scheduled for next Thursday December 7 th (8:30am to 12:30 pm) here at the Visitor Center. This meeting will be to present the draft Recovery Strategy for the Tijuana River Valley. Coastal Habitat Conservation in a Changing Climate The Refuge Manager as well as other FWS and Reserve staff attended a two day workshop on climate change impacts and strategies and tools for addressing potential changes over time in southern California coastal wetland habitats. The meeting was held at the Costa Mesa office of the Southern California Coastal Water Research Program. It was very well attended by representatives of academia and municipal, state and federal agencies. A short list of useful web sites for investigating the ongoing research work and current state of the art in climate science follows; Wetland Basin Elevational Gradient Measurement and Basin Modeling work continues within Tijuana Estuary. Reserve staff are working with USFWS and USGS personnel in gathering data within the Tijuana Estuary for later specific basin modeling and climate change related projections of likely habitat conditions over time as sea level rises and riverine and coastal habitats are impacted by expected changes in the local climatic environment. Elevational gradient surveys within the marsh and adjacent habitats within the estuary should be completed by mid-december. These measurements combined with data from recently installed water elevation monitors will be combined with future LiDAR data that will then be calibrated to new permanent geodetic benchmarks (to be installed in early 2012) within the river valley. These efforts will give us the capability of conducting modeling using state of the art capabilities so we may better understand the current and future conditions of our natural as well as the built resources in the Tijuana River Valley. Wetland Permit Processing and Development Reserve staff continue to work with State Coastal Conservancy representatives as well as Scripps Institute, USGS, and others to develop a report and presentation based on data collected in previous seasons during the Goat Canyon Fate and Transport studies. We hope to use these data and reports to help influence regulatory agencies (US Army Corps of Engineers, California State Water Resources Control Board and California Coastal Conservancy) to work with us to develop and acquire a new programmatic permit to allow for regular deposition of sediment taken from the Goat Canyon sediment basins to be used for beneficial re-use on our coastal dunes and beaches. This coordinated work is ongoing. Wildlife and Human and Environmental Health The Refuge Manager in coordination with members of the One Border One Health cooperative initiative is working towards helping to develop some demonstration projects within the Tijuana River watershed to create new monitoring and surveillance capacity for agencies and institutions on both sides of the border. Collaborators in this effort include: California Department of Public Health EWIDS California, Institute for Public Health at San Diego State University, San Diego County Department of Environmental Health, COBBH (California Office of Binational Border Health), CDLHN California Distance Learning Health Network, UABC (Autonomous University of Baja California. Institute for Research in Veterinary Science and School of Medicine - Campus 3

4 Page 4 Tijuana), ISESALUD (Institute of Public Health Services in Baja California. Epidemiology Department), COEPRIS (State Commission for Protection from Sanitary Risks Baja California), SAGARPA (Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food), and SEMARNAT (Environmental Protection Wild Animal Baja California Delegation) The Refuge Manager and Watershed Coordinator have proposed that three agenda items that address this emerging effort be presented at the 2012 meeting of the Canada/ Mexico/ United States Committed on Wildlife Conservation and Management that will take place in May 2012 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We are seeking the support of the federal governments of the US and Mexico to develop a one health model demonstration project on both sides of the border within the Tijuana River watershed. Wildlife Research and Monitoring Programs Refuge staff are currently coordinating with several non-nesting season survey efforts. These include coverage within San Diego Bay of a range wide shorebird survey being organized by the Point Reyes Bird Observatory. This survey will take place on Friday December 2 nd. Refuge staff are coordinating with CDF&G staff on a recent die off of waterbirds that seemed to have taken place across a number of habitats within Southern California. Lab results are pending. Refuge staff are working to support incipient and ongoing research work (by assisting with field work, permitting and grant acquisition for several graduate students from San Diego State University) into the diet and contaminants loads of a number of seabirds in the area including Gullbilled terns, Black Skimmers and Double-crested Cormorants. Nursery and Storage Building Refuge staff continue to coordinate with State Parks staff (special thanks go to Dave Schmoyer) in continuing to make progress towards the completion of this building and nursery facility. Job Corps has assisted this effort in running utilities lines to the building. Next steps are to complete the utilities installation, finish the perimeter wall and design and construct the nursery area. Education Anne Marie Tipton We conducted 3 elementary, 1 middle, 4 high school programs, and 1 community college program between September 1- Nov 30 th. Several teacher orientations were conducted for teachers who have never brought students to the Reserve on field trip. FWS staff have been helping out more with school groups at the Reserve, and in general there has been more collaboration between Refuge and Reserve education staff. Junior Ranger attendance continues to vary; we ve had 2-11 children each week. In September, the Reserve hosted a field trip for 28 people from the national conference of the Children & Nature Network. Participants seemed very impressed with our programs and youth speakers. We highlighted our partnership with the Ocean Discovery Institute (students led this rotation), our CSP Junior Ranger Program (co-led by Shade West, our youth Junior Ranger Assistant), Tijuana Estuary Explorer elementary school program and its connection to the FWS Habitat Heroes program (presented by Chantel Jimenez, FWS), and ended with our High School Program and how that ties into research conducted nationwide through the NERRS. Ruth 4

5 Page 5 Coleman, CSP Director, later gave a keynote address to the group at the main conference off-site. FWS officials also attended the conference. The Education and Community Outreach sectors are working together to develop a new Stewardship Docent program, training will likely take place for 6 weeks in February and March. Marya Ahmad attended the NERRS Annual Meeting. The Education sector spent some time reviewing and testing some of the lesson plans for the Estuaries 101 middle school curriculum which should be released soon. Fiesta del Rio was held on Sunday 9/11/11 at the Imperial Beach Pier Plaza. Approximately 1500 people were in attendance. The bus tours of the Reserve were very popular; we are considering offering more during the year. This year s the theme was Border Field State Park: Then and Now in celebration of the 40th birthday of the State Park and the 160th anniversary of the border monument. Entertainment included a Border Field Timeline of History Fashion Show; Californio period, mariachi, and live 1970s rock featuring Jason Ott from Dazed and Confused; tours of Border Field provided by Tijuana Estuary s educators; lifeguard themed activities and games for families and children; and booths featuring retired Border Field State Park Rangers, a 1850s Border Survey historical interpreter, I Love a Clean San Diego, Chula Vista Nature Center, and native Kumeyaay arts and crafts. Saturday Speaker Series were conducted in October (Water Infrastructure in Tijuana and its Impacts on the Tijuana Estuary) and November (Restoring South San Diego Bay s Salt Ponds), none in September due to Coastal Cleanup Day. The November presentation had a record attendance of 49 people! After furnace and cabinetry repairs, and the remodel, the education posters and other items are now in the classroom storage area. The first Estuary Ambassadors training of the school year was scheduled for November. However it s been mandated by the school district that teachers will not be excused from the classroom for outside training (even if substitutes are paid for) so we scheduled the training for 2 hours after school. Only 4 teachers signed up, others had family commitments, but on the day of the training only 1 teacher showed up, 2 were sick, and 1 had a school commitment. We will work with teachers to arrange something that will work. Research Jeff Crooks Reserve staff, led by Holly Bellringer, continue to collect high-quality weather, water, and nutrient data at sites, including the long-established ones in the TRNERR. We continue to develop the physical and biological monitoring of the restoration sites in San Diego Bay, being spearheaded Jade Matrone. This includes re-establishing a long-term datalogger site (as well as maintaining the Otay River site), as well as working with USFWS 5

6 Page 6 and Chris Nordby on a variety of biological and physical indicators. The site conditions, which are very muddy, are requiring a re-consideration of some of the proposed sampling. We also continue a variety of work in Los Peñasquitos Lagoon, including our long-term datalogger monitoring. Jeff is participating in the analysis of the Bight 08 data, which was looking at eutrophication across many southern California systems. Michelle Cordrey (our GIS specialist) continues to lead efforts to work with the USFWS to obtain tools and products, such as LIDAR and new benchmarks) that will allow high resolution topographic data, improved habitat maps, and the ability to better detect sea level rise. Jeff continues to participate in a number of advisory panels and committees, such as the City of San Diego s Wetlands Advisory Board, the Ormond Beach Science Advisory Committee, and the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team. Jeff continues to co-chair the Ecosystem Management Workgroup of the TRV Recovery Team. There will be another public meeting on December 7. The Reserve recently submitted a proposal to NOAA to conduct a climate change vulnerability assessment / adaptation plan for the River Valley, leveraging the ongoing work of the Recovery Team. Jeff also participated in the recent NOAA climate change workshop, presenting a general picture of climate change-related issues for salt marshes. We will soon be preparing a proposal to the NERR Science Collaborative, using research to address management needs at the Reserve and in the region. The scope of the proposed work is still being defined. Jeff and Michelle attended the National Meeting in Jacksonville, FL, discussing a variety of reserve-based and national issues. Stewardship Chris Peregrin The main stewardship projects at the are concerned with habitat restoration, enhancement and protection, and endangered species management. General IBWC Treatment Plant Upgrade Mitigation agreement: Stewardship staff worked with IBWC, USFWS, and SWIA to define and site a project to fulfill the mitigation requirement for take of habitat during the IBWC treatment plant upgrade. The agreement includes two tasks: clean-out of the Goat Canyon sediment basins; 5-acres of restoration. o Goat Canyon sediment basin: IBWC contracted URS Group to clean the Goat Canyon sediment basins. The project included excavation of sediment and transport to the adjacent processing pad, as well as consolidation of accessible waste tires and removal of solid waste captured by the trash boom system. 6

7 Page 7 o Restoration site: IBWC contracted URS Group to complete 5-acres of restoration within Border Field State Park. URS Group sub-contracted this project to SWIA. The project site is just west of Bunker Hill and connects the mulefat scrub site funded through US EPA West Coast Estuaries Initiative with the coastal sage scrub habitat of Bunker Hill. Border Infrastructure: o BIS Stewardship Plan. DHS Work continues on the Border Infrastructure System stewardship effort. The project as initially scoped included treatment of cut and fill slopes across the entire stretch of BIS from ocean to IBWC treatment plant however the implementation scope has been reduced in size due to funding limitations. The focus of the work will include Smugglers Gulch and closely adjacent slopes. Implementation began in the fall o Border Infrastructure construction: Through contract with Granite Construction, US ACOE and DHS have implemented construction of the Surf Fence, which includes additional work on the primary fence in the Monument Mesa and also work on Friendship Park. Through invitation from DHS, Chris Peregrin and Therese Muranaka attended a Partnering Workshop with the design and construction team for this project. Cultural Resource Note: Archaeological contractors, ASM Affiliates, are assigned to the Granite Construction work teams, monitoring primarily where the surf line begins to climb up Monument Mesa, and at the historic monument itself. o Construction of an all-weather road for Bunker Hill has been postponed. Stewardship staff have attended scoping meetings and commented on concept plans. Nursery and Storage o The utility line to the Nursery-Storage unit was installed through efforts of CA State Park Maintenance staff and USFWS with agreement with Job Corps. District archaeological staff monitored the excavation for a utilities line for the new nursery area just off the TJ Estuary parking lot, finding a prehistoric archaeological site just under the utilities trench at about 28 below surface, and will be processing the site s paperwork for federal registration. Restoration EPA West Coast Estuaries Initiative Gant to SWIA o 5-acre mulefat scrub: project site lies west of Bunker Hill in freshwater habitat of Goat Canyon. Project site encompasses transition to sage scrub habitat on the east and is in a region of potential salt-marsh transition to the west. Roughly 4 acres have been planted to date. Planting continues with the most recent effort on National Public Lands Day (Sept 2011) as a follow-up to the Digging In workshop conducted with Community Outreach and CTP. 7

8 Page 8 Roughly 2-acres have been seeded- areas for this season s seeding efforts are currently being prepared. Weed control efforts continue. Coast dwarf nettle representing the significant dominant in winter months and mustards and chrysanthemum becoming dominant as spring progresses. Castor bean becomes dominant as summer arrives. Nearly all of site is irrigated Site includes several stretches of road closures- restoration that could not be possible without the coordinated efforts of Border Patrol- thank you Border Patrol agents! o 3 acres Coastal Sage Scrub restoration: project is on Bunker Hill and include roadway that was closed in coordination with Border Patrol. Weeding and seeding primary focus. Ground preparation complete for transplant of roughly 30 mature cholla plants salvaged from the Border fence construction. The cholla will be planted in a dense aggregation in a region of Bunker Hill previously de-vegetated by Border Patrol activity. Nearly 70 1-gallon sized buckwheat were planted in the CSS/MSS restoration site (November 2011) o Road treatment and slope stabilization: Project is intended to reduce erosive damage that results from storm flows conducted by road infrastructure. Stewardship staff worked with CA State Park Engineer Robert Robinson to conduct topographic surveys of the Bunker Hill southwestern road system and closely associated land. The survey is being used to guide final road treatment and slope restoration plans. Stewardship staff partnered with DHS to re-grade and slope nearly 1000 linear feet of roadway on Bunker Hill. DHS provided equipment and operator staff, TRNERR provided material, design and monitoring staff. The road sections treated were critical lengths of road which previously conducted concentrated storm-water flows to the damaged bluff edges of Bunker Hill- the water now sheets off the road into vegetated areas or is diverted into vegetation via water bars. Monitoring and adjustments will continue for an additional year under USEPA funding. CA State Parks Archaeological staff and California Indian monitors were contracted to evaluate potential cultural resource impacts associated Bunker Hill road treatment and for re-vegetation efforts. Native vegetation material/brush piles staged on Bunker Hill for installation at bluff erosion scars. Cobble was installed at critical points in bluff erosion to reduce force of water. Native vegetation soft structures planned for installation in December Cobble bar infrastructure along the BIS tertiary fence has been successful at capturing sediment form Border Patrol roads and reducing erosive effects of storm-water flows. Area is re-vegetating nicely- photo monitoring continues. o BFSP Native Plant Nursery: The nursery is currently supporting over gallon plants of nearly 10 different species. These plants will be installed in the various 8

9 Page 9 restoration projects and native plant gardens throughout the Reserve. Progress to-date in this nursery success is largely due to the efforts of the Community Outreach program and volunteer labor. This winter we will increase our efforts toward germination capacity and early-stage native plant production, especially coastal sage scrub species. o Trash clean-up: Trash clean-up efforts are primarily focused on the outflows of goat canyon. Stewardship Staff worked with Urban Corps San Diego to clean trash from the Goat Canyon basin outflows/willow riparian habitat. Nearly 4 40-cubic yard dumpsters were filled with trash hand-picked form this habitat. Contract cost totaled $13, Stewardship staff worked with CA State Parks maintenance staff and Engineering staff to design improvements to the Goat Canyon trash boom system. The parts have been fabricated and will be installed after this rain season. The design increases the trash capture potential of the system by raising the trash net height and increasing stability the boom line. o Stewardship Staff partnered with Community Outreach and CTP staff to hold Digging In - a workshop that provides training for community-based restoration efforts. The 5- acre mulefat scrub restoration was used as the field site. Volunteer Program Danielle Litke TRNERR One Day Volunteer Events A total of 212 volunteers, contributed 636 hours, during 4 group volunteer projects from Sept 2011 Nov Organization Affiliates: I Love A Clean San Diego, San Diego Coastkeeper, Pt Loma Nazarene Univ, Surfrider, Northrup Gruman and Webster Univ. Achievements: Planted 1,170 natives, improving over ½ acre of habitat; and removed 1,294 lbs of trash from the Reserve beaches and dunes. TRNERR Long-Term Volunteer Activities A total of 15 new long-term volunteers were recruited from Sept 2011 Nov There are currently 93 active, long-term volunteers. Tijuana River Action Month (held during Sept and Oct): The Tijuana River Action Network is a cross-border collaborative group working to conserve and restore the Tijuana River watershed by engaging in outreach, education, and being advocates for natural resources. 9

10 Page 10 Education, Research, Community Outreach and Stewardship activities included: Fiesta del Rio Cleanups on both sides of the border, including International Coastal Cleanup Day and Salvemos La Playa Trash Assessment Study Community Based Habitat Restoration Workshop 2 Planting Events South Bay Water Quality Workshop When is it safe to surf? Swim? Presentation on Tijuana Water Infrastructure and its Impacts on the Tijuana Estuary Bird and Nature walks Bi-national Tours Volunteer Appreciation Party at Suzie s Farm Results: 2, 663 volunteers 63,822 lbs of trash and 351 waste tires removed o Of those, 2,147 volunteers in Mexico collected 43,870 lbs from the Tijuana River Watershed 8,152 volunteer hours 1,230 plants and a total of 8.25 of acres improved A total of 4,229 Participants and 64 hours of events Upcoming Events Jan. 14 Feb. 3 2 nd Saturday Stewardship Event at Tijuana Estuary Visitor Center *NEW* Stewardship Docent Training Course Begins Coastal Training Program Kristen Goodrich The Coastal Training Program (CTP) aims to improve natural resource management and coastal decision-making at local and regional levels. Below are some highlights of recent CTP related activities: Momentum and progress in Planning for Climate Change training workshop series o Delivered November th 2011 Coastal Habitat Conservation in a Changing Climate: Strategies and Tools for Southern California Workshop in partnership with NOAA s Habitat Conservation Division, SCCWRP, Coastal Conservancy, and USC Sea Grant Delivered September 21 st 2011 Digging In: A Workshop on Community Based Restoration in partnership with CA Coastal Commission & TRNERR s Community Outreach and Stewardship Programs as part of Tijuana River Action Month; 97% of post-workshop survey respondents reported intent to apply information learned 10

11 Page 11 Delivered October 12 th 2011 South San Diego Water Quality Workshop: When is it safe to surf or swim? in partnership with Coastkeeper, WiLDCOAST, Surfrider, and SCCOOS as part of Tijuana River Action Month Submitted full proposal to COCA and the NERRS Partnership on Coastal Adaptation with Research Coordinator Dr. Jeff Crooks for consideration of funding for place-based adaptation planning for the Tijuana River Valley Invited to attend the Annual West Coast EBM Network meeting where efforts highlighting linkages between coastal communities and EBM approaches where discussed alongside potential benefits of working regionally with Network members and other partners Hosted the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation s grant recipients Ecotrust and Island Institute s Community Fisheries Network to discuss role of EBM in resource management including monitoring of imminent Marine Protected Area implementation in southern California Attended NERRS Annual GTMNERR o Presented How are Reserves engaging with local communities on climate adaptation? to national system o Presented Climate messaging what s working for CTP? to CTP sector o Presented Developing a partnership with NOAA and the Society for Ecological Restoration to CTP and Stewardship sectors o Collected input from CTP sector on the direction of the NERRS Climate Change Initiative and presented results to Reserve Managers Continued delivery of field-based tours, training, and technical assistance Upcoming Training Workshops and Technical Assistance December 7 th, 2011: Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team Workshop #3 and Roadmap roll-out December 23 rd -24 th, 2011 & January 20 th -21 st, 2012: CA King Tide Initiative January 21 st, 2012: South Coast MPA Implementation Workshop Working in partnership with Border Patrol Public Lands Liaison and Strategic Planning Branch, USFWS, Navy, and NOAA to develop a natural resources training module for agents Working with USGS and Coastal Conservancy to deliver results of Fate and Transport Study and increase outreach to regional decision-makers including regulators and practitioners Watershed Program - Oscar Romo The goals of the watershed coordination include the identification of challenges affecting the greater Tijuana River Watershed, the exploration of opportunities to address them and the implementation of possible solutions with emphasis on the conservation of the TRNERR. Within this context, the coordinator and his staff work collaboratively with government agencies, academia, land owners, non-profits and the general public on both sides of the United States and Mexico border. 11

12 Page 12 Highlights from the quarter; US EPA Grant: The temporarily employment program founded by the Mexican Environmental Protection Agency, that provided salaries for 35 canyon residents was successfully completed on October 30th. As a result, 5,000 tires were recovered from the environment and utilized as construction material to build a new retainer wall at the soccer field; 15,000 eco-bricks manufactured from plastic bottles; 2,000 individual pervious, and 1,000 square feet of pervious concrete slabs and 1,500 linear feet of concrete ribbon were manufactured. This activity is been conducted as part of the EPA grant, component 1. Component One of the US EPA grant funds the activities of the watershed coordination. Among other things activities include the re-vegetation of denuded slopes in Tijuana, the construction and utilization of pervious concrete and other similar surfaces on the dirt roads, and the engineered solutions to build sediment control structures with tires. A detailed list of activities is available from the quarterly report presented to the EPA. Coordination with Mexican Agencies: During the US-EPA/SEMARNAT Border 2012 event held on October 19 th, the City of Tijuana, represented by Esteban Yee, publically reported that 10,000,000 pesos (approximately. $ 950,000 US) were authorized by the Mayor of Tijuana to remove trash and sediment from the canyons and channels that drain into the Tijuana River Valley. This decision was made after Mexican officials participated on a tour organized by the Watershed Coordinator were issues related to adverse consequences of these flows on the natural resources of the valley. This Friday, December 2 nd, the watershed coordinator will guide a tour were US officials will meet with their counterparts in Mexico to visit the area that drains into the Tijuana River Valley on the Tijuana side, and to get acquitted with ongoing and future infrastructural projects. This is the first of two meetings planned to seek collaboration of Mexican agencies to implement the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team road map. Is important to stress that during this quarter the Mexican government has invested $1,500,000 US in clean-ups salaries for temporarily employment, materials, and logistical support specifically addressing the protection and conservation of the TRNERR and the Tijuana River Valley. This unprecedented subsidy is one of the several accomplishments of the TRNERR staff. Trash Tracking Project: Thanks to a small grant from the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board issued to the City of Imperial Beach, the trash tracking project has reached the important goal of putting together a detailed report of the flow of thrash from unmanaged dumpsites in Los Laureles 12

13 Page 13 canyon; the grant also helped with the acquisition of additional technology, imagery and with a small stipend for an intern to continue researching this topic. The report is being reviewed by the California Environmental Protection Agency for final editing and is expected to be released to the public by the first quarter of San Diego Coastal Storms Project: The Coastal Storms Program is a nationwide effort led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to make communities safer by reducing the loss of life and negative impacts caused by coastal storms. This work is accomplished by bringing together organizations from all sectors. Each funded project lasts three to five years and brings additional manpower, focus, and funding to a specific region. This winter season will be the last of three years of researching the impact of coastal storms in Los Laureles canyon. The final report will be delivered to NOAA by the end of the winter quarter. The local weather station, as well as data from the 5 monitoring stations funded by the NOAA Flood Warning System project are still collecting real-time data every 15 minutes and wirelessly transmitting it to the project web site Waste Tires Tracking Project: This quarter the watershed coordinator assisted by interns from UCSD are researching and designing the appropriate technology to track the tires during the winter storms. The UCSD CalIT2 research institute will provide technical support to test the technology, to design specific software and to develop the hardware to initiate the project during the 2012/2013 winter storm. Other Activities: The watershed coordination has been involved in a series of presentations throughout the quarter A detailed list of activities is available upon request from the Watershed Coordination staff. 13