Truckee River Yacht Club Founded 1988
Truckee River Yacht Club
Table of Contents
- CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN VISITS OUR RIVER
- FLOOD PLANNING GENERATES EXCITING POSSIBILITIES FOR DOWNTOWN
- RIVER CLEANUPS BY WORK CREWS
- LOWER RIVER RESTORATION PROGRESSES
- NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY TESTS RIVER IQ
- IMPACTS OF FIRE ON OUR WATERSHED
- SOCKS ADORN THE CARVED FISH TREE
- WORKDAY SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 20
CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN VISITS
OUR RIVER
EPA Administrator, Christine Todd Whitman and US Army Corps General Robert Flowers were in town to see first hand what a community can do when it pulls together to get a flood plan. Both Whitman and Flowers added encouragement to the Flood Coalition process and said this was the way to go. Federal money is more accessible when partnerships are formed to solve multi-purpose problems. In our case, it's flooding, water quality, fish recovery, habitat restoration and recreation amenities. Whitman acknowledged that coalitions are not easy to maintain but urged us to stay with it.
In an hour ceremony, presentations were made to the visitors by Neil Krutz of Sparks, Paul Urban of Washoe County, Rob Ryan of Reno Redevelopment and Susan Lynn of the Coalition who thanked Senator Reid and Ensign for their respective roles in bringing focus to our flood project, the Board of County Commissioners for approving the sales tax increase, and Elisa Maser of MIG who is facilitating the 300-400 community participants towards an approved plan.
Mary Conelly from Senator Reid's office gave a brief history of the Senator's involvement with the flood project and Senator Ensign also gave the coalition recognition.
Truckee River Flood Management Coalition listens for support for
the Truckee River Flood Project from the EPA and US Army Corps of Engineers
Susan Lynn, former Commodore of the Truckee River Yacht Club, speaks
about the process and the community desire to restore the function of the
river while providing parks and access to the river.
Christine Todd Whitman, EPA Administrator, and former New Jersey Governor.
U.S.
Senator John Ensign
Many thanks to Tom Stille for the above photos.
FLOOD PLANNING GENERATES EXCITING POSSIBILITIES FOR DOWNTOWN
Two Community Flood Coalition meetings have generated some exciting possibilities--especially from artists living at the Riverside. The "Grand Plaza" concept at the Mapes site (now referred to as #10 S. Virginia) had been rendered by MIG, our consultants. People generally didn't want higher flood walls. Quite a few wanted the Virginia Street Bridge rehabilitated instead of torn down even though it backs up water and floods other historic structures. Another solution proposed by Councilwoman Toni Harsh was to add another arch to the bridge while terracing banks back to First Street on both sides. Councilman Dave Aiazzi also suggested pulling banks back to First Street where possible.
The group weighed economic development opportunity costs and benefits, additions and losses of buildable land and amenities, open space and public access issues, the whitewater park and much more. It's amazing to watch the creativity of a large group of people. Creativity begets more.
MIG had taped ribbon to the meeting room walls to indicate floodwall heights above their current levels--some as high at 4 feet.
Participants threw out ideas and discussed options. As a reminder to all of you, this is a work in progress and your participation and suggestions are more than welcome. Remember, the world is run by those who show up. Watch the Gazette-Journal for meeting notices or call Paul Urban, Project Manager at Washoe County Water Resources (954-4639) for meeting times.
Future meetings, similar to the Downtown Reno meetings, may be scheduled
for Sparks and the Hidden Valley area.
Local law enforcement and work crews cleaned up vagrant sites along the river. Inhabitants of the river environment are given opportunities for other shelter, trips home to family, health care and medication, moving on or jail. Those who want help are given it. Those who violate public health, safety and decency laws are cited. A cleanup has not occurred for 2 years but demands of people who recreate along the river had requested action because of sanitation, accosting walkers, and environmental problems with potential fire hazards.
These crews follow the rabbit trails through the dense willows to
cardboard box homes, outhouses (nice term), caches of belongings and more.
Since the Truckee is our drinking water, washing, whizzing and more are unacceptable
sources of possible contamination and disease.
LOWER RIVER RESTORATION PROGRESSES
Michael Cameron and Greg Dennis have been working actively to develop
an acceptable "white paper" that establishes the goals for lower Truckee
River restoration. With contributions from the Regional Water Planning Commission
and TMWRF (the sewage treatment plant), the group wants to develop a Memorandum
of Understanding between local governments (including Storey County) and the
Tribe that outlines the responsibilities of each to work towards an integrated
plan that includes water quality improvements, habitat restoration and flood
attenuation. The group will hire a consultant to help reach consensus over
direction and responsibilities. That consultant should begin work around November.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY TESTS RIVER IQ
As part of its river education program the National Geographic Society
commissioned a poll that questioned the public's understanding of and commitment
to our nation's rivers. It found that a whopping 98% of respondents favored
protecting and conserving rivers, but only one-third of the people realized
that the greatest source of river pollution comes from non-point sources.
Here's an opportunity to test your own knowledge of rivers in America.
Q: What is the longest
river in the U.S.?
Q: What percentage of our drinking water comes from rivers and river-fed lakes?
Q: True or False? Water is a renewable resource.
Q: A quart of motor oil dumped into a storm drain creates how big a slick?
Q: Most pollution comes from industrial resources. True or False?
Q: What percentage of America's wetlands have been lost or destroyed in the past 100 years?
Q: How many gallons of water a day does the average American use?
Q: How many gallons of water does it take to produce one 8 oz. glass of milk:
Q: How many gallons of water does it take to grow a single head of lettuce?
Q: How many gallons of water does it take to produce a single serving of steak?
Check out other river information at
National Geographic.
IMPACTS OF FIRE ON OUR WATERSHED
The Martis Creek fire burned a portion of the Truckee River watershed including the steep canyons of Gray and Bronco Creeks notorious for their contributions of sediment to our drinking water. Thunderstorms that followed the fire caused a 6-hour shutdown at Chalk Bluff and Glendale while the ashy, sedimented water passed by. Those rainstorms also caused the vegetation to begin resprouting and if you'll look at the burned hillsides, you'll see some greenery in spite of our long hot summer. Fires can have good and bad points, but the issue I want to address here is all the private land in the Mt. Rose section of the Sierra that can be built upon and further disturb our watershed.
The Reno Sparks area is extremely fortunate to currently have a watershed that is about 55% public land. The remaining 45% of private land is largely along the south side of the Truckee River. Should we as a community encourage the Forest Service to acquire some of those private lands when they come on the market in order to protect our drinking water supply?
Let's look at what development does. We build roads, chop down trees, add to the runoff (related to flooding), create erosion problems, increase the number of bridges we need to build across the river, increase our susceptibility to fire and flood, reduce the pollution problems brought on probable septic systems, add to urban sprawl and urban service costs--after all we want fire and police protection.
If the lands on the south side of the river could be acquired, we could keep some of these costs down and keep our drinking water safe--well mostly safe--from carelessness and erosion.
Several years back, the American Land Conservancy and the Forest Service worked together to acquire the Fiberboard lands, nearly 13,000 acres which are no longer logged. Roads are beginning to heal. Vegetation is returning even where it burned. Vegetation is key to preventing erosion and capturing runoff.
Shouldn't we as a community begin to press the Forest Service to
acquire those Nevada lands with funds coming from the Southern Nevada Public
Lands Act sales? And shouldn't we also be looking at other funds that we
can help the forest leverage the purchase of California lands in order to
assure clean and safe drinking water? It's time to start talking to our forest
managers and to our Congressional delegation.
SOCKS ADORN THE CARVED FISH TREE -- or Thanks and No Thanks
No one has given thanks to Bill Thornton for contributing the services of a wood carver who turned one of our old cottonwood stumps on Riverside Drive into Truckee River trout leaping and dancing out of the water. The fish are a welcome addition to the spirit of the river, and one of our trees is recycled into a piece of art. Thank you, Bill!
However, this wondrous piece of art became a political statement
during Gay Pride weekend. Someone, presumably with a sense of humor,
covered each fish with a colorful sock. The socks were said to be promoting
safe sex--but for fish?
WORKDAY SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 20
Champions of the Truckee and the Yacht Club will sponsor a river
cleanup day on Saturday, October 20 from 9 AM to noon. We need section leaders
to coordinate each section. Call Don Vetter at 323-4500 or email him at don@innerwestadv.com
if you would be a section team leader. It's only three little tiny hours of
painting, staining, raking, picking up trash, planting, etc.--whatever each
section needs. Give a little time to your river! More information will
be available on our website: www.truckeeriver.org.
National Geographic Question
and Answer Section
Q: What is the longest river in the U.S.?
A: Missouri River
79% said the Mississippi River
Q: What percentage of our drinking water comes from rivers and river-fed
lakes?
A: 60%
Most people believe that less than 20% of our drinking water comes from rivers.
Q: True or False? Water is a renewable resource.
A: False
2/3 of Americans did not understand that the Earth's water cycle is a closed system. No new water is ever created.
Q: A quart of motor oil dumped into a storm drain creates how big a slick?
A: 2 acres or more than 87,000 square feet
Most common answer was an area of 10 feet by 10 feet (100 square feet) or less.
Q: Most pollution comes from industrial resources. True or False?
A: False
Nonpoint source pollution--from cars, animals, lawn fertilizers, left-over household liquids--is the largest source of river pollution. Message: Pollution starts at home.
Q: What percentage of America's wetlands have been lost or destroyed in
the past 100 years?
A: 50%
Average response was 19%
Q: How many gallons of water a day does the average American use?
A: 100 gallons
Average answer was 52 gallons.
Q: How many gallons of water does it take to produce
one 8 oz. glass of milk:
A: 49 gallons
Average answer was 29 gallons.
Q: How many gallons of water does it take to grow a single head of lettuce?
A: 6 gallons
Average answer was 3 gallons
Q: How many gallons of water does it take to produce a single serving of
steak?
A: 2,600 gallons
Average response was 99 gallons.
Check out other National Geographic River Information at: