Elkhorn Slough Tidal Wetland Project

TWP Email Bulletin
Sent 6/07

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

1) Did you know…Tide Stations at Elkhorn Slough
This past month NOAA worked with us to install two tide stations in Elkhorn Slough, one at Yampah Marsh and one at Kirby Park. The purpose of these stations is to provide measurements of tide levels that could help explain changes we’ve seen in the Slough, most notably marsh dieback. These tide stations will also help us predict wetland conditions that could result from the proposed restoration options currently being evaluated. You can view the data from these tide stations by going to http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/station_retrieve.shtml?type=Tide+Data. To find data from Yampah Marsh, go to 9413631 Elkhorn Slough At Elkhorn, CA. To find data from Kirby Park, go to 9413651 Kirby Park, Elkhorn Slough, CA.

2) TWP’s Restoration Planning: Socioeconomic, Legal and Political Analysis
A restoration of Elkhorn Slough’s wetlands may not only change conditions for the plants and animals that rely on the Slough, but also for the humans that use the Slough as a source of livelihood and recreation. To understand how restoration alternatives will affect human uses of the Slough, Judith Kildow, a MBARI Social Scientist with the National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP), is leading a team that will: 1) provide estimates of the economic values of consumptive and non-consumptive uses that could result from suggested restoration options; 2) explore possible links between changes in the Slough and changes in the local economy; 3) research the legal and regulatory framework that will affect the implementation of restoration options for the Slough; and 4) summarize the politics of implementing restoration options based on case studies of comparable efforts with "lessons learned". For more information about this and other NOEP projects, please explore the NOEP website at http://noep.mbari.org/ .

3) Please Participate in the Elkhorn Slough Visitor Survey!
What do you do when you visit the Slough? What kinds of changes have you perceived over time? Judith Kildow’s team at the National Ocean Economics Program is partnering with TWP to conduct a survey of visitors and coastal users in Moss Landing and Elkhorn Slough to find the answers to these questions. Your responses will help to determine how visitors are supporting the local economy and how TWP’s proposed restoration alternatives in the Slough will change human recreation in the area. The survey only takes a few minutes and can be accessed online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=jgE3ErRJvfJlHajxudSYTA_3d_3d.

4) Learning from Others…The Disappearing Coastal Wetlands of Louisiana
Elkhorn Slough is not the only estuary trying to figure out how to restore its disappearing wetlands. In Louisiana, a piece of land the size of a football field falls into the Gulf of Mexico approximately every half hour. The primary cause of this extreme wetland loss is attributed to human-built levees that have restricted Mississippi River sediments from flowing into coastal wetlands. To tackle the problem of wetland loss, Louisiana’s legislature recently voted unanimously in favor of a plan to change the course of the Mississippi River. We at TWP hope to learn from their efforts as we continue to move forward with our restoration planning. For more information about the plans to protect Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10785780.

5) TWP in search of a new Tidal Wetlands Program Specialist
Kim Merin, TWP’s part-time Program Specialist, has moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and therefore will be leaving TWP in a couple weeks. We will be looking to re-hire for her position, which primarily focuses on TWP community outreach and education. If you know someone who might be right for this position, have them send an email to .

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. For general information about the Elkhorn Slough Tidal Wetland Project, go to http://www.elkhornslough.org/tidalwetlandproject.

Kind Regards,
The Elkhorn Slough 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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