Gypsy Jan
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Mood: Depends on which way the wind is blowing
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Commission Takes Look at Tijuana River (USA)
"It's not the fences that matter, it's the gates," Dave Gibson told attendees at the U.S. International Border and Water Commission collaborative
meeting held here April 19 at the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Gibson, executive director of the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, was not talking about the international border fence that is visible
across the estuary on a clear day. He was speaking metaphorically about the opportunity to communicate between the nations and among the agencies
responsible for the protection and preservation of the adjacent estuary, the Tijuana River and other sources that feed it, and, by extension, a host
of other water resources issues along the nearly 2,000-mile border between the U.S. and Mexico.
"Meetings like this not only help us create synergy with all the agencies doing work," said Col. Mark Toy, commander of the Corps' Los Angeles
District, "but they help us determine how we can contribute to the process. To gain the momentum to put projects into action, they have to resonate
locally. That's a big thing with me, the public/private partnerships. This group may give us entree to those organizations. We need to be viewed as
not merely an organization they come to applying for a permit, but as part of a team with a common cause. This is a lot bigger than the Los Angeles
District."
The meeting assembled nearly two dozen representatives from the Corps, the IBWC, California Water Quality Control Board, the U.S. Geological Survey,
the Environmental Protection Agency, the City of San Diego, the Estuary, and the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission.
"It's important we take the information we have here and try to resolve these issues," said Edward Drusina, IBWC commissioner. "A collaborative effort
is the only way to get things done."
Attendees discussed ways to comply with new guidance from the Office of Management and Budget about interagency Memorandums of Agreement. They also
presented updates on specific local cross-border water resource, all of which may need the Corps' engineering expertise under the new MOA framework of
co-operation.
"I was pleased that the discussion wasn't limited to generalities, but that it addressed specific projects in the watershed," said Kevin Wohlmut, a
planner in the district's Coastal Studies Group.
Bryn Evans, a water resources project manager for URS Corporation and a member of the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team, said the commission needs to
address three main issues regarding the river: bacteria, sediment and trash. The combination of residential, construction and commercial dumping, raw
sewage and loss of water through supply lines, poorly constructed roads that are prone to erosion, and ineffective storm water management practices
have had severe impacts on local resources.
"We should investigate both short term solutions, such as manual trash removal, channel clearing and excavation, and long term solutions, such as
source control, installing capture devices on both sides of the border, and balancing ecosystem restoration and research," Evans said.
Solutions, whether short term or long term, require cooperation among agencies that have a multitude of responsibilities and face significant
limitations on the assets they have available to remedy the situation.
"Now is the time to figure out the strategy to get this going," Toy said."
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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desertcpl
Super Nomad
Posts: 2396
Registered: 10-26-2008
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OH REALLY
they have been talking about doing some with this river for as long as I can remember,
they cant do any thing about it, the Environmental groups will shut them down in a minute
after all its the spawning ground for the TJ brown trout
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sancho
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Location: OC So Cal
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| Quote: | Originally posted by desertcpl
after all its the spawning ground for the TJ brown trout |
In the Sierras, we used to catch Browns on Rainbow
Rapalas. To me that is part of the charm of TJ, nothing changes. There is a river that comes thru Mexicalli
into the Salton Sea, ranks as one of the most polluted
pices of water in the US
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DENNIS
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Location: Punta Banda
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They should put on wet suits and take a real close look.
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rts551
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6699
Registered: 9-5-2003
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| Quote: | Originally posted by sancho
| Quote: | Originally posted by desertcpl
after all its the spawning ground for the TJ brown trout |
In the Sierras, we used to catch Browns on Rainbow
Rapalas. To me that is part of the charm of TJ, nothing changes. There is a river that comes thru Mexicalli
into the Salton Sea, ranks as one of the most polluted
pices of water in the US |
The New River.. whewwwww
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