Elkhorn Slough Tidal Wetland Project

TWP Email Bulletin
Sent 1/07

Elkhorn Slough Tidal Wetland Project (TWP) – January 2007 Update

1) Did you know…
Hundreds of acres of Elkhorn Slough’s wetlands were diked, drained, and converted to farmland by the mid-1950s. The wetland soils dried out and compacted, subsiding by several feet. Although tidal waters have been restored to some of these areas, the elevation remains too low for marsh plants to grow. One such area where this has occurred is Parson’s Slough and the South Marsh Complex of Elkhorn Slough, where railroads, levees, dairy farms and duck hunting ponds have come and gone throughout the last century. As a result, this area has witnessed severe subsidence in elevation as well as tidal marsh loss and degradation. Learn more about Parsons Slough and the South Marsh Complex on the Tidal Wetland Project website. Go to http://www..elkhornslough.org/tidalwetland/twmap06.htm for a description of the area’s acreage/location, past human activities (including modifications, restoration and management), the current management/ownership, and recent and historical photos.

2) Restoration Alternatives for Parsons Slough, Request for Services
The State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), working closely with the Elkhorn Slough Reserve and Elkhorn Slough Foundation, is seeking a consulting firm or team to provide engineering and environmental consulting services to develop a Parsons Slough Wetland Restoration Plan. The Plan, which is part of the Tidal Wetland Project, will evaluate tidal marsh restoration alternatives for Parsons Slough including actions to reduce the tidal prism in the area and/or add sediment to rebuild marsh elevations. To download the Request for Services, go to http://www.elkhornslough.org/tidalwetlandproject. Proposals are due by 4:00 p.m. on February 13, 2007. Please pass this announcement along to qualified applicants.

3) Tidal Wetland Project Website URL Has Changed
We’ve made a slight change to the URL for the TWP website. Our new address is http://www.elkhornslough.org/tidalwetlandproject (the URL used to end in “plan.htm”). But have no fear, all old links to TWP web pages still work.

4) Draft Tidal Wetland Project Strategic Plan
The Draft Tidal Wetland Project Strategic Plan will be released for technical review later this week and will hopefully be released to the public next month. In the meantime, if you know of a great graphic designer that can help us with the layout of the final document, please let us know by contacting Kimberly Merin at (831) 728-5939 x 242.

5) California Estuarine Research Society Annual Meeting
The 2007 Meeting of the California Estuarine Research Society will be held from March 18-20th at the Bodega Marine Laboratory (UC Davis) in Bodega Bay. For more information, go to http://online.sfsu.edu/~caers/.

The Tidal Wetland Project’s monthly email is sent out during the middle of each month and is intended to keep community members, local organizations, policy-makers, and other stakeholders up-to-date about current activities and ways to get involved with the Tidal Wetland Project. If you have any questions about items in this email or if you have suggestions of items you would like to see in future emails, please let us know! If you do not wish to receive these emails in the future, or if you only want to receive e-mail updates about upcoming Forums and events, please reply to this email to notify us.

Kind Regards,
The Tidal Wetland Project Team

Barb Peichel, Tidal Wetland Project Coordinator
(831) 728-2822 x308

Kimberly Merin, Tidal Wetlands Program Specialist
(831) 728-5939 x242

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