Spring 2025 Quarterly Gathering

The Atascadero / Green Valley Watershed Council held its Quarterly Gathering with Lynda Hopkins last Saturday, with great success. We met up in the Lions Grove at Ragle Park, beneath the large, majestic oaks there.   We had a PA system, which meant we could all hear a lot more of the conversation. It's was good to see so many familiar faces at the gathering, and brand new people as well.

Lynda Hopkins
Lynda spoke briefly about the increased use in the county of artificial turf which sheds plastic micro-fibers and reduces groundwater recharge. She asked us to look for County efforts to regulate artificial turf use in the future. She also mentioned two voluntary groundwater monitoring programs  - Level Up! and Flow Smart - and spoke about the County's efforts to manage the flooding on Green Valley Road in a manner which is beneficial both to wildlife and to humans trying to drive through there.

Lynda quickly moved to Q&A, so we had a chance to ask plenty of questions and share our concerns about wildlife-friendly fencing, groundwater recharge, negative impacts to Green Valley Creek, and the planned asphalt plant in Forestville, to name a few.

Watershed Display at Ragle
Another highlight of the day, was a brand new display about our watershed which will soon be displayed permanently in Ragle Park on the main path near the gazebo that leads down toward the creek. Brian Michelsen of Sonoma County Regional Parks has been working with the County and the watershed council to create this display over many months and we are very pleased with the result.  Brian, who lives in our watershed, surprised us by bringing the full-sized (39" x 31") display to our meeting.

Working Groups
At the end of our gathering, we broke into working groups for focused discussion.  We formed these working groups at our last gathering, and we're just beginning to develop ideas:

• Salmon Restoration Working Group: This group is looking for ways to improve habitat for salmon in our watershed.  We discussed focusing restoration efforts on smaller, upland parcels, and on how to start reaching out to land owners.
  
• Fire/Water Land Management Working Group: We discussed the Firewise Neighborhood program where neighbors work together to do landscaping and home hardening to reduce the chance of fire and to help retain home insurance. We discussed a work party idea for helping a member put in a rain garden to sink more water in her yard.  Sinking & slowing water on our properties will also help retain moisture for fire safety and for the water cycle. We have an email group for communications.
  
• Asphalt Plant Working Group: Since the Environmental Impact Report for this project won't be published till sometime in 2026, we have time to raise awareness and educate the public. We talked about tabling at farmer markets, speaking at org events, writing letters to the editors, etc. We plan to stay in touch via email.
  
• Walking Our Watershed Working Group: We hope to create a days-long community walk through the watershed, similar Walking Water, from the high headlands of Atascadero Creek in south Sebastopol, through west Sebastopol, Graton, and Forestville, all the way to the mouth of Green Valley Creek (or perhaps to the mouth of the Russian River). We talked about how to start reaching out to landowners about this walk, and who might offer us inspiration, insight and support.
  

Thanks to all of our community members for showing up. Something's happening here!

- Jean Redus, AGVWC Board of Directors