Mount Diablo Creek Watershed Plan

Consensus Items

Developed by the Mount Diablo Creek Watershed Planning Group

Coordinated by the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District

January 10, 2007

Mount Diablo Creek Watershed Planning Group

Mission Statement

We are an inclusive planning group of people who care about the watershed and are working to develop a plan that identifies voluntary ways to steward the watershed.

1. Recommendations on Watershed Education

Goal: Increase watershed awareness, stewardship and responsibility.

Objectives

1. Develop materials that communicate an understanding of the Mount Diablo Creek Watershed ecosystem.

2. Organize local events to promote watershed awareness and restore habitat.

3. Encourage place-based learning and service projects through the use of existing partnership between local schools, community organizations and public agencies.

4. Avoid promoting a political agenda and produce fact-based, balanced materials.

Actions	Lead Organization, Agency or Individual
1.1. Work with local representatives and a designer to develop an interpretive watershed map showing natural features, infrastructure, and public features (e.g., parks, schools, etc.). The map may be based on an aerial photo and/or a topographical map.	CCRCD
1.2. Adapt the Caring for Our Creeks guide to the Mount Diablo Creek Watershed. Include contact information for local groups and agencies. Cite references and strive to minimize bias.	CCRCD
1.3. Develop a Mount Diablo Creek Watershed website with links to and from websites of local groups and agencies. Ensure accuracy and cite sources. Find a sustainable host.	MDC Watershed Planning Group
1.4. Create outreach materials for the general public that could include a presentation, brochure, display or poster that could be in presented in person or distributed via a website, cable access, or DVD. Explore developing multilingual versions. Develop materials for different age groups that reflect different ways of learning.	Local schools and libraries working with professional consultant;   UC Cooperative Extension??
2.1. Organize volunteer creek cleanups on public lands and where requested on private property.	Friends of Mount Diablo Creek, Rotary Club (contact to ask permission to include), Conservation Corps, neighborhood groups
2.2. Organize watershed festivals. Invite all groups to participate.	Clayton Community Library Foundation (ask permission to include)
2.3. Coordinate with local entities to organize work days to remove invasive plants and plant natives on public lands and where requested on private property.	Friends of Mount Diablo Creek, Mount Diablo State Park
3.1. Explore various models for watershed education, e.g., the Adopt-a-Watershed model.	??
3.2. Share watershed education experiences with other schools in the watershed.	Diablo View Middle School, Clayton Library Foundation, Kids in Creeks training program alumni

2. Recommendations on Creek Bank and Flood Management

Goal: Encourage voluntary adoption of flood management and bank stabilization strategies that integrate the enhancement of wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities and the protection of private property rights.

Objectives	Recommendations for Local Public Agencies	Suggestions for Private Land Owners/Managers
1. Use a watershed approach[1] to analyzing flooding issues.	X
2. Maintain creek channels and riparian areas to provide flood management, bank stability and wildlife habitat.	X	X
3. Reestablish connections between creeks and their floodplains on public land where feasible and where voluntarily chosen by the private property owner.	X	X
4. Develop and use existing natural features, e.g., swales, ponds and wetlands, for flood storage and water infiltration.	X	X
5. Encourage land uses that do not increase the amount of impervious surfaces.	X
6. Encourage the use of best management practices (BMPs) to reduce erosion from creek banks and upland areas and ensure that BMPs are maintained and up to date.	X

Recommended Actions

Actions	Lead Organization, Agency or Individual
A. Seek opportunities to create detention basins in existing parkland or vacant public land.	Public agencies (e.g., city or regional parks dept. or other responsible agency)
Restore stock ponds and encourage new ponds in Mount Diablo State Park.	Mount Diablo State Park
B. Investigate the Port Chicago Highway flooding problem that affects Clyde and determine the cause and possible solutions.	County Flood Control District
C. Distribute information on whom to call when a culvert or storm drain is plugged.

3. Recommendations on the Future of the Concord Naval Weapons Station

Goals: The Planning Group recommends the following for the Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS) site:

· A safe and healthy creek

· A natural, self-maintaining creek and watershed system

· Access to local recreation

· Harmonization of economic, social and environmental values

· Preservation of cultural and historic resources.

Creek Objectives

1. Protect water quality.

2. Protect and enhance creek and creekside habitat.

3. Reduce the risk of flood damage to property.

4. Promote public safety.

5. Provide recreational and educational opportunities along the creek, e.g., a creekside trail.

6. Allow for natural connectivity between creek and floodplain as part of a flood management plan.

7. Minimize channelization[2] and/or culverting of the creek.

8. Remove culverts where feasible.

Watershed Objectives

1. Design development to provide for variable natural flows to support and enhance the creek.

2. Clean up toxic contamination to meet public health and ecological standards.

3. Restore native vegetation and remove invasive plants.

Recommended Actions

Actions	Lead Organization, Agency or Individual
Use best management practices to maintain or improve habitat, reduce fire hazard and protect sensitive areas in public rangeland areas.	Rangeland managers
Design recreational facilities, such as parks, ball fields and golf courses, with buffers to intercept water and filter pollutants, such as pesticides and fertilizers, and landscape with native plants wherever possible.	Park designers, managers and landscapers
Model a range of development and conservation scenarios[3] to assess the impacts on flood flows, creek habitat and water quality during Local Reuse Planning.	City of Concord/Local Reuse Authority (LRA)
If the ongoing fish barriers study supports it, remove fish barriers on the CNWS.	Natural Heritage Institute, City of Concord/LRA, Dept. of Fish and Game
Check feasibility of removing culverts and replacing them with bridges where creek crossings are needed and ensure that access is not limited.	City of Concord/LRA
Keep the creek and floodplain as public property with the objective of minimizing impact to private property.[4]	City of Concord/LRA
Consider ways to ensure that funding is set aside for maintenance of parks and trails and find funds to support recommended watershed stewardship activities.	City of Concord/LRA

 4. Recommendations on Landscaping and Gardening

Goal: Adopt and promote private and public landscaping and gardening practices that contribute to the health of the watershed. All recommended actions are voluntary.

Objectives:

Integrate the following objectives into a comprehensive landscaping or gardening plan:

1. Enhance soil quality
2. Control erosion
3. Stabilize creek banks if appropriate, as determined by landowner
4. Conserve water
5. Protect and restore wildlife habitat
6. Protect and improve creek water quality 
7. Reduce pesticide impacts on people and the environment
8. Reduce the risk of wildfire damage
9. Reduce the threat of West Nile Virus and other diseases

Recommended Actions

Actions	Lead Organization, Agency or Individual
Consider using native plants that benefit wildlife and beneficial insects	Private homeowner or public land manager
Choose plants that are drought-tolerant, fire safe, non-invasive, wildlife-friendly, and appropriate to local conditions	Private homeowner or public land manager
Remove and avoid planting invasive plants	Private homeowner or public land manager
Compost appropriate home and yard waste and apply to soil	Private homeowner or public land manager
Promote composting by providing information and discounts on equipment	Municipalities
Stabilize soil using current best management practices (see appendix)	Private homeowner or public land manager
Prevent erosion related to roof drainage by dissipating energy or using other best management practices	Private homeowner or public land manager
Encourage water infiltration where appropriate by using alternatives to impervious pavement and spreading water in grassy areas or a series of terraces	Private homeowner or public land manager
Use ecologically-based, least-toxic integrated pest management approaches when reasonable	Private homeowner or public land manager
Avoid excessive use of fertilizer (often none is needed if native plants are used)	Private homeowner or public land manager
Educate on appropriate gardening techniques	UC Master Gardeners
Use “fire safe” landscaping measures	Private homeowner or public land manager
Eliminate or treat mosquito breeding habitat and/or introduce mosquito fish to ponds	Private homeowner or public land manager
Provide a list of resources related to eco-friendly gardening and distribute brochures	City and County Clean Water Programs, CCRCD, Friends of Mount Diablo Creek
Hold workshops on fire safe landscaping	Diablo FireSafe Council, CCRCD
Create a brochure and/or web-based document listing recommended plants for the local area. Include a matrix showing whether they have the following desirable characteristics: native, non-invasive, drought-tolerant, fire-resistant, beneficial to wildlife, pest-resistant, soil-stabilizing.	CCRCD in collaboration with local agencies and groups
Provide educational materials about environmentally friendly gardening to new homeowners	Developers, realtors, nurseries, and city clean water program managers

5. Recommendations on Pollution Prevention

Goal: Prevent or reduce polluting activities in the watershed.

Objectives: Provide incentives and education regarding voluntary means to prevent or reduce pollution from the following sources:

• Fertilizers and pesticides
• Automotive waste
• Household hazardous waste
• Septics
• Vehicle and equipment washing
• Human and animal waste
• Excessive (non-natural occurrences of) soil erosion
• Illegal dumping
• Non-natural occurrences of metals and other chemicals of concern for San Francisco Bay health.

Recommended Strategies to Improve Homeowner Outreach

• Approach homeowners with information, not instructions. Describe the tradeoffs of different approaches.
• Agencies need to learn from homeowners about the issues they face, e.g., during events such as the Home and Garden show, Earth Day, etc.
• When making a recommendation, explain what’s in it for the homeowner as well as how it benefits society/the watershed.
• Improve agency coordination to better serve homeowners.

Recommended Actions

Actions	Lead Organization, Agency or Individual
Educate on appropriate gardening techniques (See recommendations on Landscaping and Gardening)	UC Master Gardeners
Encourage the use of best management practices (BMPs) to reduce erosion from creek banks and upland areas and ensure that BMPs are maintained and up to date. (See recommendations on Creek Bank and Flood Management)	Clean Water Programs and Public Works Depts.
Encourage law enforcement agencies to prosecute illegal dumpers	Law enforcement agencies
Make waste transfer stations less expensive or have more convenient hours, e.g., longer hours on weekends and a weekday evening
Add flash cameras with motion sensors to catch illegal dumpers	Law enforcement
Remove and discourage illegal encampments in riparian areas	Law enforcement in collaboration with homeless outreach groups
Provide disposable bags for pet manure disposal	Public agencies, e.g., parks, or community service groups
Provide a list of agencies to contact for different pollution prevention and reuse issues.	City and County Clean Water Programs, CCRCD
Bring in celebrities to improve attendance at outreach events.	All event organizers
Do outreach at car shows about automotive waste management. Distribute flyers and ask race car drivers to make announcements about recycling motor oil, etc.	City and County Clean Water Programs
Reduce illegal dumping and trash in the creek through: Free dumpster days/more curbside pickup of big trash items Shopping cart abatement hotline Adopt-a-Creek program	City and County Clean Water Programs, city and county waste management programs

6. Recommendations on Rangeland Management

Goal: It is our goal to collaboratively work together to protect and enhance the rangeland landscape and adjacent grasslands and oak woodlands in the watershed on a voluntary basis.

Objectives:

1. Maintain populations of common native species on public and private lands.
2. Work to recover sensitive species[5] and enhance habitat on rangelands without increasing regulations and while minimizing economic impact on private lands.
3. Support the long-term viability of the ranching industry and its culture by providing economic, social and other incentives and by reducing burdens on proactive stewardship on private ranchlands.
4. Encourage increased private, state and federal funding, technical expertise and other assistance to continue and expand the ranching community’s beneficial land stewardship practices that benefit sensitive species and are fully compatible with currently viable ranching practices.
5. Encourage voluntary, collaborative and locally-led conservation that has proven to be very effective in maintaining and enhancing rangelands. 
6. Educate the public about beneficial grazing and ranching practices in rangelands. 

Recommended Actions

Actions	Lead Organization, Agency or Individual
Educate the public about beneficial grazing and ranching practices.	East Bay Regional Park District,  Contra Costa Resource Conservation District, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Contra Costa Farm Bureau, Cattlemen’s Association
Link local landowners and land managers to conservation planning assistance.	Contra Costa Resource Conservation District, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

7. Recommendations on Water Conservation

Goal: Promote water use efficiency and conservation.

Objectives:

1. Promote water efficient landscapes, including water efficient irrigation systems.
2. Promote residential indoor water conservation.
3. Expand participation in existing water conservation programs.
4. Promote water recycling and the use of cisterns.

Recommended Actions

Actions	Lead Organization, Agency or Individual
Promote the use of water conserving equipment, such as high-efficiency toilets, high-efficiency clothes washers and low flow showerheads.	Contra Costa Water District
Educate people about what garden landscaping plants are drought resistant and habitat friendly.	Contra Costa Water District, Master Gardeners
Provide water conservation education in the schools.	Contra Costa Water District
Encourage more people to become Master Gardeners.
Add a water conservation education component to the Clayton Community Library garden.	Clayton Community Library Foundation, Friends of Mount Diablo Creek
Develop list of education resources and make available through a website, library.	CCRCD, Friends of Mount Diablo Creek
Encourage tours of water efficient and wildlife habitat gardens.	Local garden clubs
Encourage water users to make use of programs that help them evaluate ways to conserve water.	Contra Costa Water District

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[1] “Watershed approach” refers to looking at the whole system rather than a single property and, among other things, looking at the issue of impervious surfaces in upland areas as well as flow in the creek channel.

[2] Channelization is the creation of an earthen or concrete channel with no vegetation. This approach to flood management, which was popular in the 1950s and 1960s, removes the habitat value of the creek and creekside area and moves water faster. It can result in more flooding downstream and often has significant maintenance costs associated with it because the channel tends to fill in with sediment. 

[3] Scenario modeling would use engineering standards to estimate impacts of impervious surfaces.

[4] Keeping the creek and floodplain as public property would avoid the kinds of damage to private property (e.g., flood damage, damage caused by bank collapse) that can occur when structures are built too close to the banks of a creek or in the floodplain.

[5] “Sensitive species” refers to threatened, endangered and species of concern at the state or national level.