The mission of the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District is to facilitate conservation and stewardship of the natural resources of our county.

Contra Costa Resource

Conservation District is a non-

regulatory agency. Working with

individuals, growers, ranchers, public agencies, non-

profit organizations and corporations

to accomplish common

conservation goals. Our federal partner, the USDA Natural Resource

Conservation Service (NRCS),

provides technical support for our

programs.

Continued on page 4

July 2015 to June 2016

Serving Contra Costa County for 75 Years

Carrying the Torch, Carrying the WatershedOn the morning of January 21, 2016, a multitude of watershed enthusiasts descended on a nondescript building in Rodeo. The draw was a series of public presentations on creek monitoring: study design, equipment & methods, volunteer recruitment, data evaluation and reporting—the citizen scientists that keep an eye on the nature in our backyard. Although un-remarked at the time, it was the 100th meeting of the Contra Costa Watershed Forum, and coincidentally, CCRCD’s inaugural turn as the organizer.Founded in 1999, Contra Costa Watershed Forum (CCWF) was established to create a partnership between Contra Costa County’s Department of Community Development and Department of Public Works. Under the pioneering leadership of Abby Fateman, Mitch Avalon, and John Kopchik, it quickly became the gathering point for community members interested in creek and watershed stewardship throughout Contra Costa County. Widely admired and frequently copied, CCWF has carried out five quadrennial Watershed Symposia since 1999, each to packed houses. Six bimonthly forum meetings are organized each year, rotating through east, south, central, and west County. In addition to fostering community among watershed stewards,

CCWF became the nexus for county-wide initiatives such as the Contra Costa Watershed Atlas (2003), “Ours to Protect” Watershed Signage Project (2005), and Volunteer Creek Monitoring Program (2001-2011). CCRCD has been an active participant since its inception.

After years led by the Department of Conservation and Development, in 2015 the County Flood Control District took the reins, organizing a highly successful Quadrennial Symposium this past

December. Following the Symposium, Flood Control hired CCRCD to organize and run CCWF through an innovative interagency agreement.

Lisa Anich organized the first CCRCD-led meetings, with assistance from Heidi

Petty, who hosted our inaugural meeting at the Rodeo Senior Center. The January meeting had excellent attendance and lively discussion. The creek monitoring theme prompted formation of a Monitoring Working Group led by Helen Dickson of The Watershed Project, which meets monthly, often in the field, to coordinate local creek monitoring efforts. We are pleased to carry on the tradition of CCWF as an incubator for new watershed initiatives!

Back Row Left to Right: Teresa Hunter, CCRCD Office Administrator;  Ben Wallace, CCRCD Executive Director; Nannette Ober, NRCS Bay Delta Cluster Biologist; Elissa Robinson, CCRCD Watershed Coordinator Alhambra Creek Watershed and Walnut Creek Watershed Council;  Front Row Left to Right: Michael Callahan, NRCS Ag/Civil Engineer;  Allison Rofe, CCRCD Resource Conservationist; Hilary Phillips, NRCS District Conservationist;  Heidi Petty, CCRCD Coordinator Rodeo Creek Watershed and Walnut Creek Watershed Creek Groups; Robyn Griffin, NRCS Farm Bill Assistant; Joe Takai, NRCS Conservation Planner

Message from the President of the BoardOnce again, your CCRCD has had a remarkable year!

This is the year the Pinole Creek Fish Passage actually got built! After many

years of planning, permitting, negotiation, fundraising and all of the other invisible things that go into making a project, critters were protected, the creek was

diverted, dirt was moved, concrete was cut, boulders were placed and

fresh concrete has been poured and the creek restored. This is the biggest and

most expensive project we have ever done and strongly challenged our hard-working staff. Everyone pulled together to make this happen and to make sure that we kept forging ahead on all fronts. Our Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) partners were with us all the way. Through our monitoring program, we’ll be watching and will send out the word when the first Steelhead go through. See more about the project on Page 5. Our watershed work continued with Rodeo, Alhambra, Pinole, Walnut Creek watersheds all hosting cleanups, community involvement events and providing staff support for meetings and planning. This work is a vital part of the basic, ongoing support that keeps conservation work happening in our County. By providing the nucleus around whom the volunteers in the Watershed Councils can build their on-the-ground and community-building efforts, the staff multiply their effects many-fold. We continue to provide staff support to the Watershed Councils in these watersheds and look forward to building on these efforts. My hat is off to our staff for keeping the ship moving

ahead during this challenging time. But wait! There’s more! We also continue to grow and develop the Programmatic Permit Program (PPP) and the Stock Pond Initiative. These are two programs that we have been implementing side-by-side, and are hitting their stride with promise of significance to conservation in our County. Permitting has been a major obstacle for many landowners and managers. The program helps by taking on much of the permitting and other paperwork burden and allowing focus on the actual on-the-ground conservation. The RCD does the work to secure the permits and handle the bulk of the paperwork and acts as a trusted agent coordinating between the landowner and the permitting agencies. This programmatic approach is being applied in our Stock Pond Initiative. Hundreds of Stock Ponds have been created in Contra Costa. As riparian (streamside) habitat has been lost to development, these ponds have become increasing important habitat for endangered species. These ponds are a win-win for both environmental and economic interests and benefit the ranching enterprise. Our partners at the NRCS have been vital to this effort as they provide access to technical and engineering expertise. Together, we have done four ponds last year and are doing one this fall. As you can see, I am very proud of our people and their accomplishments. As a final note: One of our Associate Directors, Mitch Schweickert is moving to Oregon and so is departing from our Board. Our loss is Oregon’s gain – Mitch had long been a force for conservation in our County through his teaching (Chemistry at Los Medanos) and his community work, of which serving on our Board is but one example. Our best to you Mitch!

~Igor Skaredoff-President

CCRCD and NRCS Staff

In the 1960’s, Walter Mischel conducted his now famous “marshmallow experiments” with children at a preschool for Stanford faculty. Children were placed alone in a room with a marshmallow and told they would receive a second one if they could wait 15 minutes without eating the first. Much fidgeting ensued, and eventually, if they could endure… they got to eat both marshmallows! Follow-up studies demonstrated enduring benefits to the children who were able to handle this test of delayed gratification. At times it seems like we’ve been conducting our own version of the marshmallow experiment at CCRCD, marking time as ambitious conservation projects slowly wend their way from vision, to concept, to design, to bidding. Like the kids in Mischel’s experiments, we are beginning to see the rewards. By June 30, our “15 minutes” were finally coming to an end, with the marshmallows just about ready to put on the stick. As of June 30, the Pinole Creek Fish Passage Improvement Project is finally gearing up for construction after more than six years of preparation, and more than 15 years since it was identified as an objective in the Pinole Creek Watershed Vision Plan. All told, CCRCD has raised more than $1 million for the project and managed it from inception to shovel ready. Likewise, our Livestock Pond Initiative, first approved by the Board four years ago, is coming into its own. As described in our Rangeland Report, we are working with our partners at NRCS, Alameda County RCD, US Bureau of Reclamation, and a multitude of regulatory agencies to smooth the way for pond restoration to benefit livestock producers and threatened amphibian species. In the fall of 2016, Save Mount Diablo will

restore three livestock ponds on their Curry Canyon and Mangini Ranch properties with financial, technical, and permitting assistance from the partnership. Our Watershed Program continues to expand its reach. As described in our cover article, CCRCD initiated a new partnership with the Contra Costa County Flood Control District in January to organize the bimonthly Contra Costa Watershed Forum, carrying on a tradition established in 1999. We are continuing our work supporting volunteer stewardship in local watersheds, providing watershed coordination services to the Walnut Creek, Rodeo, Pinole, and Alhambra/Peyton Slough watersheds. Not to be outdone, Teresa Hunter, CCRCD’s Office Administrator, has been working with a certified public accountant to overhaul our financial accounting system, essentially creating a “new company,” to handle the increased volume and complexity of our projects. Teresa’s new system is set to launch on July 1, 2016. Three years ago, we set the following goals: (i) to expand the reach of CCRCD’s watershed services in the County, (ii) to increase our capacity to implement restoration projects, and (iii) to strengthen our partnership with NRCS. These goals are built upon the strong foundation established by my predecessor Carol Arnold, and the steady leadership of President Igor Skaredoff and the Board. I’m proud to report that with the diligent efforts of our staff and partners, we are poised to meet each of these goals as we don our hardhats and get ready for a busy year in FY 2016-17.

Get Ready, Get Set…

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~ Benjamin Wallace, Executive Director

In July 2016, Elissa Robinson will be joining the CCRCD team as our new Resource Conservationist specializing in watersheds. She has a degree in Natural Resource Management from Humboldt State University. She worked with Contra Costa County Public Works Department where she has helped organize projects such as the Contra Costa Watershed Forum’s Quadrennial Symposium, led watershed stewardship activities such as the “Giving the Natives a Chance” restoration events, and led new communication and outreach efforts. With her experience in community outreach, knowledge of local government, and passion for watershed conservation, she will be a tremendous asset to our Resource Conservation District. Welcome aboard, Elissa!

We are glad to have you on our team!

Welcome Aboard Elissa!

2016 is a special year for the Alhambra Watershed

Council (AWC), with major milestones for two partner organizations. The 25th anniversary of the Friends of Alhambra Creek was recognized with a proclamation from Martinez City Council, and John Muir National Historic Site celebrated the National Park Service’s Centennial. AWC is an educational and coordinating forum for community groups and agencies. The group meets monthly and implements collaborative projects with the Friends of Alhambra Creek, the National Park Service, Martinez Unified School District, and other partners. Since 2014, we have strengthened ties with the Peyton Slough Wetlands Advisory Council, a stakeholder group formed during restoration of marshes following a 1988 oil spill. Contra Costa County Watershed Program’s Community Watershed Stewardship Grant funds a CCRCD watershed coordinator to support a wide range of voluntary conservation projects in these watersheds. This year AWC printed a new brochure about Peyton Slough Watershed and contributed a short video for the Contra Costa Watershed Forum’s Quadrennial Symposium in December. We also created a new lesson plan for elementary school students tailored to Alhambra Creek and Peyton Slough Watersheds. The lesson features hands-on activities for both classrooms and outreach events. The watershed lesson was a popular activity at John Swett Elementary School’s annual clean-up day in March. On Coastal Cleanup Day in September, volunteers from the Mt View Sanitary District (MVSD) and the Friends of Alhambra Creek joined forces to protect Contra Costa’s shoreline. East Bay Regional Parks District, MVSD, Plains Products Terminals LLC, Republic Services, Tesoro, and The Wildlife Project also contributed to the event. Volunteers collected more than 28 bags of trash and recyclables from a public access trail and McNabney Marsh.

Pinole Creek Fish Passage Project Update:

After many years,our efforts to restore steelhead passage to the Pinole Creek watershed are ready for implementation. As of June 30, CCRCD’s project team was gearing up to construct the project. In December, 2015 CCRCD was awarded a $245,000 grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, bringing the total amount raised more than $1 million, and providing full funding for the project. In January, 2016 Mike Love and Associates finalized the 100% designs for construction. CCRCD worked with Contra Costa County Counsel to finalize the bid manual. Nute Engineers supervised the bid process, opening bids on April 19. In May, CCRCD’s Board of Directors awarded a public works construction contract to Bridgeway Civil Constructors, the low bidder. CCRCD negotiated maintenance agreements with Caltrans and the Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, which own the underlying culvert and flood control channel. In June, Nute Engineers organized preconstruction meetings, Pacific Biology initiated preconstruction surveys, and Bridgeway Civil Constructors submitted their construction plans for agency review. Project construction began on July and by September much of the project was completed! A full account of project construction will be provided in next year’s Annual Report.

Contra Costa Resource Conservation District... Leading the Way in Watershed Stewardship

Pinole Creek Watershed

Alhambra Creek Watershed & Peyton Slough

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For More Information on any of these wonderful watersheds and the CCRCD programs and projects within them, please Visit our Website at: www.ccrcd.org

CCRCD’s leadership role in the Contra Costa Watershed Forum provides a unique opportunity to revitalize voluntary stewardship in watersheds across the county. One of our goals is to highlight core issues that drive the decision-making of local agencies, to help community members understand how they can best contribute to excellent stewardship of their watershed. County and local municipalities are increasingly struggling to upgrade aging infrastructure or meet ambitious new water quality goals set forth by regulatory agencies such as the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. For example, one regulatory goal is “100% trash reduction by 2022.” Directives such as these are pushing the envelope on what’s possible, however, they also pressure local governments to turn to expensive, engineered solutions (such as “full trash capture devices”) over voluntary, community-based solutions, such as creek clean-up and monitoring, that raise awareness simultaneously with fostering stewardship. Under these circumstances, a forum such as CCWF is particularly vital to connect people with their watershed and create opportunities for community involvement in effective watershed stewardship. At CCRCD, we are honored to carry the torch and look forward to identifying new opportunities to serve the watershed community through the Contra Costa Watershed Forum.

CCWF Article Continued from the Cover Page

This fiscal year, the Partners for the Rodeo Creek Watershed (PRCW) continued to act as a liaison between the community

and the agencies that oversee the watershed. By recognizing the needs of this diverse watershed, from its upper watershed rangeland, through its urban areas to its industrial shoreline, this watershed needs a community that is involved in its stewardship. By organizing creek cleanups, distributing information and conducting watershed tours, the PRCW does just that, cleans it up! The focus of the Partners for the Rodeo Creek Watershed in this area has been preventive education, maintenance and trash removal. This year the PRCW removed nearly a thousand pounds of trash and large debris from the creeks. The area of primary concern is a small stretch of the Lower Rodeo Creek that has been designated as a Contra Costa County “hotspot”, or a location with one of the largest amounts of trash in the waterways of Contra Costa County. So far, we have hosted our annual mid-summer cleanup, a cleanup at the Hercules shoreline and California Coastal Cleanup Day. Over 100 volunteers have taken part in our efforts this year and we hope to host another cleanup in late winter/early spring. Our campaign to work with local, youth programs to instill a sense of ownership in their local watershed has been met head on by the PRCW, and we will continue to assist this small community in creating change toward a healthier watershed.

Contra Costa Resource Conservation District... Leading the Way in Watershed Stewardship

Walnut Creek Watershed

Rodeo Creek Watershed

It’s been exciting year for the Walnut Creek watershed! Its creek groups have

been planning, and its Council has been working to provide the support needed to get things done!

Since 2012, the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District (CCRCD), the Walnut Creek Watershed Council (WCWC) and Contra Costa County Flood Control and Conservation District (CCCFCD) have been partnering and bringing together

communities from San Ramon to Concord to develop a common vision for healthy creeks. Together, we have fostered a council that provides support to local creek groups, including Friends of the Creeks, Friends of San Ramon Creek, the City of Lafayette Creeks Committee, and Friends of Pleasant Hill Creeks. Through outreach, the CCRCD and its partners have created a group of citizens, agencies, and businesses whose primary concern is the health and well-being of the Walnut Creek watershed, the largest watershed in Contra Costa County with over 309 creeks and tributaries. The Walnut Creek Watershed Council has been very active this year. The Council and the CCRCD were able to assist the local creek groups in creating a list of potential projects, hosting local community events, and creating a Vision Statement for the future of the Council. Friends of Creeks and the Friends of San Ramon Creek continue to connect the community with the needs of the creeks, including creek cleanups and educational lectures. And finally, the City of Lafayette Creeks Committee was able two draft a Downtown Creek Plan for their downtown district. Things are looking bright for the watershed in 2016-

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For More Information on any of these wonderful watersheds and the CCRCD programs and projects within them, please Visit our Website at: www.ccrcd.org

CCRCD’s leadership role in the Contra Costa Watershed Forum provides a unique opportunity to revitalize voluntary stewardship in watersheds across the county. One of our goals is to highlight core issues that drive the decision-making of local agencies, to help community members understand how they can best contribute to excellent stewardship of their watershed. County and local municipalities are increasingly struggling to upgrade aging infrastructure or meet ambitious new water quality goals set forth by regulatory agencies such as the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. For example, one regulatory goal is “100% trash reduction by 2022.” Directives such as these are pushing the envelope on what’s possible, however, they also pressure local governments to turn to expensive, engineered solutions (such as “full trash capture devices”) over voluntary, community-based solutions, such as creek clean-up and monitoring, that raise awareness simultaneously with fostering stewardship. Under these circumstances, a forum such as CCWF is particularly vital to connect people with their watershed and create opportunities for community involvement in effective watershed stewardship. At CCRCD, we are honored to carry the torch and look forward to identifying new opportunities to serve the watershed community through the Contra Costa Watershed Forum.

CCWF Article Continued from the Cover Page

This year’s drought conditions have had considerable negative effects on the NRCS continue to work with the local agricultural community to help increase conservation practices implemented on the land. We

have been busy getting livestock watering systems installed, in response to the drought conditions we saw a large spike in Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) contracts. EQIP provides financial assistance to local ranchers to develop new watering systems that either replaced older sites that went dry due to the drought, or installed new systems that brought water to areas of large rangeland tracts that were not grazed uniformly in the past. The overall benefits of a well-managed rangeland grazing operation extend from improving cattle vigor to increasing rangeland health by improving water run-off and watershed health as well as improving habitat for other plant and animal species. NRCS has

been working with a few cropland producers in the Brentwood area to increase the amount of pollinator species on their property. As with many projects we are involved with, the secondary benefits of increasing pollinator species involve beneficial insects. Beneficial insects have been proven to be effective at pest control in cropland. We look forward to our continued partnership with Dr. Gordon Frankie and his Urban Bee Lab from UC Berkeley as we explore ways to increase the amount of pollinators that visit farms in Brentwood. We have also been focusing on ways to improve soil health on cropland. Working with a few producers, we are looking at ways to increase the use of cover crops both on annually tilled and perennial orchard crops. The secondary benefits of cover crops have shown that soil has an increased water holding capacity and decreases the amount of run-off during storm events. We hope to work with more farmers that are interested in adopting this practice. We are committed to bring conservation and innovation to the agricultural community in Contra Costa County. Working with the RCD and other conservation and land preservation organizations assists us with our goals and those of the agricultural community.

News from Our Partners at NRCS

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~Nannette Ober, NRCS Bay Delta Team

Wildlife, more or less noticeably, co-exist in and around our surroundings. We can attract these animals to our farms and houses. We can

attract species that are more helpful and we can attract species that are less helpful in achieving the environments we decide to establish. Two taxa of wildlife that we have been focused on developing ways in which to attract to our environs and foster self-perpetuating populations are birds and insects. Whether these animals are present for our viewing enjoyment or they are present to provide a beneficial service to farm and ranch operations, creating habitat for desirable wildlife occupants is worthwhile for many folks. Take raptors for example. Raptor is the term for carnivorous birds with hooked bills and talons that hunt and/or scavenge. Owls and hawks are raptors. Raptors need the usual basics—food, water, space, shelter, roosting and nesting habitat. Often, nesting and/or roosting habitat is in short supply and can be increased with placing structures in places that mimic a natural setting. Depending on the species, they nest anywhere from burrows in the ground to nests in trees and buildings. They can be perennial or seasonal residents. Encouraging raptors to live among us can be mutually beneficial to both us and them when structures are located in safe areas that have access to other necessary habitat. A structure may be placed where it is out of the way of folk’s daily activities yet in the proximity to watch and observe. In settings such as organic farms, raptors can help reduce the rodent population but they won’t eradicate it. Predators typically leave enough of each prey species to maintain that food source. Additionally, they have favorite prey species they will predominately hunt when possible.

Integrating Wildlife

~Hilary Phillips, NRCS District Conservationist

Financial Summary for Fiscal Year 2015-2016

Budget versus Actuals. CCRCD’s fiscal year runs from July through June. The fiscal year 2015-16 budget was approved by the Board of Directors on June 18, 2015. The original budget projected expenditures of $414,972 and revenue of $361,887, amounting to a projected deficit of $53,085. CCRCD’s total fund equity (net position) on June 30, 2015 was $456,010. The net position excludes deferred revenue and other year-end liabilities. As of June 30, 2016, ac-tual expenditures for the fiscal year amounted to $409,156 and actual revenue to $384,359, yielding a net loss of $24,797. CCRCD’s total fund equity (net position) amounted to $431,213 at year’s end.

Adjustments. The Governmental Accounting Stan-dards Board (GASB) requires a modified accrual basis of accounting for government funds. On ac-count of this, CCRCD’s liability for vacation accrual (-$14,056) and open receivables that did not arrive within 60 days after the close of the fiscal year (+ $125,455) are excluded from the total governmental fund balance. If the figures above are adjusted to include these, CCRCD’s total fund equity (net position) becomes $542,612 at year’s end, yielding a net gain of $86,602 for the fiscal year. Since these figures bet-ter reflect CCRCD’s equity position going forward, the data reported below is based on GASB-adjusted figures.

Expenditures. CCRCD’s three largest expenditures in FY 2015-16 include staff, project consulting fees, and general operating expenses. Staffing levels are reported as “full-time equivalents” (FTE). CCRCD’s staffing level amounted to 3.70 FTE during the fiscal year, including 1.65 FTE for general operations, 2.05 FTE for program implementa-tion.

Revenue. CCRCD’s primary source of revenue in FY 2015-16 came from the Contra Costa County property taxes in the amount of $247,873 and intergovernmental grant

revenue amounting to $260,101. The remaining $1,840 came from donations, interest income, and other miscellaneous sourc-es.

Working Capital. In general, CCRCD aims to maintain a suf-ficient fund balance to provide working capital for new project development, investment spending to meet strategic goals, and to provide cash reserves in the event of unforeseen expenses. Since 2013, CCRCD has been gradually building its fund balance in order to have sufficient funds to cover cash flow needs when it implements the Pinole Creek Fish Passage Improve-ment project in the summer of 2016.

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AnnuAl ExpEnsEs vs REvEnuE FiscAl YEAR 2015-2016

Source: Audit, 09/2016

Table 1. CCRCD Expenditures and Revenues (GASB Adjusted)

Ben Wallace Executive Director

Teresa Hunter Office Administrator

Heidi Petty Watershed Coordinator

Elissa Robinson Watershed Coordinator

Allison Rofe Resource Conservationist

Hilary Phillips District Conservationist

Nannette Ober Bay Delta Cluster Biologist

Contra Costa Resource Conservation DistrictSTAFF

USDA Natural Resources Conservation ServicesTECHNICAL STAFF

Igor SkaredoffPresident,

Process Chemist (retired)

Tom BloomfieldVice President, Bloomfield Vineyards

Bethallyn BlackDiablo Valley College, Biological Science Instructor

Thomas D. BrumleveDiablo Ranch, Owner/Operator

Bob CaseContra Costa Agriculture Department (retired)

Contra Costa Resource Conservation DistrictBOARD OF DIRECTORS

Contra Costa Resource Conservation District5552 Clayton RoadConcord, CA 94521

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Currents is a Publication of the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District5552 Clayton Road . Concord, California Phone: (925) 672-4577 extention 4149, www.ccrcd.org

Graphic Design by Heidi Petty