Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 22, 2007
3. Watersheds -
Sale protects Truckee corridor
State, Nature Conservancy pay $2 million for river canyon land that links two national forests. -
Sacramento
Spat with neighbors over wetlands dampens Loomis couple's spirits -
Sacramento
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Sale protects Truckee corridor
State, Nature Conservancy pay $2 million for river canyon land that links two national forests.
Sacramento
By Barbara Barte Osborn - Bee Correspondent
Public acquisition of 3,344 scenic acres in the
The $2 million purchase links hundreds of thousands of acres of the
The land, which includes seven miles along the river, is on the
"The concept of protecting contiguous pieces of property is essential for wildlife corridors and habitat conservation," said state Resources Agency Secretary Mike Chrisman.
The agency, through the 2002 River Parkways Grant Program, provided $1.5 million toward the purchase of the Sierra Pacific Power Co. land.
The conservancy, which brokered the deal, used private funds for the remainder.
"It's exactly the kind of project for which these general obligation bond dollars were designed," Chrisman said.
"What you have here is a classic private-public partnership -- a broad collaboration to protect a very valuable watershed."
The purchase includes many miles of tributary streams with large stands of cottonwoods and willows that provide habitat for yellow warblers and other birds. The upland areas are movement corridors for wildlife, including the Loyalton-Truckee mule-deer herd.
"This gateway to
Most of the property is upland in the canyon, west of the river and Interstate 80, between Floriston and Verdi.
The state Department of Fish and Game will own and manage the 3,252-acre upland portion, and the Truckee Meadows Water Authority will own 92 acres in the riparian corridor, Herrin said.
Public access will be allowed on the water authority's riverside acres for "passive recreation," such as rafting, fishing and birdwatching, she said.
The Truckee Donner Land Trust, which played a role in securing the funding, will hold a public access and conservation easement to the 92 acres and intends to open them to the general public, she said.
The water authority will retain the option to use that stretch of the river for the generation of hydroelectricity in the future, but has no specific plans in place at this time, Herrin said.#
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/235750.html
Spat with neighbors over wetlands dampens Loomis couple's spirits
Sacramento
By Blair Anthony Robertson - Bee Staff Writer
When Mark and Janet Thew bought their lot in Loomis in 1999 and built their Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired house the following year, they thought they were putting down roots in a rural paradise.
The 1.3-acre property is in a woodsy, wetlands setting, with natural grasses, plentiful wildlife and lots of shade. The show-stopper was the family of beavers that made its home in the creek that runs through the lot.
"I've always wanted a little piece of nature to protect and stopped looking for other lots as soon as I saw this one," she said. "We assumed everybody else felt the same way, which was stupid."
Little did she realize she would have a fight on her hands practically from the day she and her husband moved in -- and the enemy would be her homeowners association.
Turns out, not everyone who built a $1 million home in the gated community of St. Francis Woods is so enamored with the natural world -- especially wetlands and beavers.
The Thews have filed a lawsuit against the homeowners association, arguing it failed to monitor the wetlands as required in the covenants, conditions and restrictions, or CC&Rs, and did not take action against those who violated state and federal wetlands regulations.
The couple's legal action has made for icy, sometimes hostile relations with neighbors and has prompted Janet Thew to wonder what she was thinking when she moved into a gated community.
She now feels trapped, in love with her property but miserable with the politics of her neighborhood.
The Thews, along with residents at the other 50 properties in St. Francis Woods, recently received an assessment to raise $125,000 for legal fees to battle the Thews' lawsuit. That means they have to pay increased dues to help defend against the lawsuit they have brought against the association.
Janet Thew says she was willing to have a mediated settlement but that the homeowners association backed out, forcing the lawsuit. Homeowners at St. Francis Woods indicated they were forbidden to talk about the case. A lawyer for the homeowners association did not return calls requesting an interview.
According to Janet Thew, the tension began not long after she and her husband, a senior software engineer with SureWest, moved into their 3,100-square-foot home in 2001.
When they built the house, they were mindful of not disrupting the natural environment and received an exemption not to install a front lawn and circular driveway stipulated in the CC&Rs. They wanted to protect the stand of oaks and blend in with the wetlands vegetation.
The beavers soon became a regular source of entertainment for the couple. The industrious animals maintained a dam in the creek and foraged for meals in thick vegetation nearby.
But not everyone was amused.
"Some people wanted the beavers killed. We fought that for a number of years," said Janet Thew, who does volunteer work and is a member of the Loomis Planning Commission. "We didn't see a problem at all. We were absolutely thrilled to be living with a family of beavers."
Under pressure, the Thews agreed to limit the height of the dam, prompting Mark Thew to monitor the site daily and occasionally knock off a portion of the dam to keep the water flowing. Janet Thew did research on humane ways to live with beavers and found a company to install a reliever pipe to keep the stream from backing up.
They say they have never had a flooding issue.
"We tried to work with the system for five years," said Janet Thew. Over the years, she said she observed property owners violating federal wetlands regulations, everything from scraping off surface layers in protected areas and building in protected areas to routinely using pesticides within 25 feet of designated wetlands. When Thew complained to the homeowners association, she said she was ignored. She said she was chastised when she reported the violations to the Army Corps of Engineers.
Then one day she spotted a backhoe on her property -- there to take out the beaver dam.
The Thews hired a lawyer.
These days, the beavers are nowhere to be found. The Thews wonder if they moved on because of this year's dry spring or if they were harmed in some way.
"I like to say that people move in here and they don't like the birds, the bugs and the beavers," said Janet Thew.
"Maybe we were a little bit naive when we first moved in," said Mark Thew. "We saw the neighborhood and the natural areas and we thought, 'Wow, this is great."
The Thews said they were encouraged by wording in the CC&Rs that prevented activity in wetlands areas. There was also supposed to be annual monitoring of environmentally sensitive areas by a consultant, complete with recommendations to resolve violations. The Thews allege in their lawsuit that that hasn't always happened.
Janet Thew says some neighbors feel more strongly about private property rights than adhering to federal wetlands guidelines. Such sentiments are a long-simmering point of contention throughout the nation.
Janet Thew said many of her neighbors see the wetlands in St. Francis Woods as "nothing more than a drainage ditch." She never thought it would take a lawsuit to teach them otherwise.
"It's part of a riparian corridor, which means it's a wildlife highway," she said. "Knocking out a piece dramatically affects the whole."#
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/236076.html
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