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    Santa Barbara Channelkeeper News & Events: Day Without A Bag - December 18th

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    Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
    Channelkeeper is promoting a "Day Without A Bag" on December 18th to raise awareness about the environmental impacts of single-use plastic and paper bags. They are lobbying the city council to ban plastic bags and charge a fee for paper bags. Channelkeeper is also continuing their weekly beach water quality monitoring and notifying the public about bacteria levels at local beaches. The Marine Protected Areas initiative to establish underwater wilderness areas in Southern California is ongoing, with the next important meeting of the Regional Stakeholder Group on January 13-14.

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    Santa Barbara Channelkeeper News & Events: Day Without A Bag - December 18th

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    Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
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    Channelkeeper is promoting a "Day Without A Bag" on December 18th to raise awareness about the environmental impacts of single-use plastic and paper bags. They are lobbying the city council to ban plastic bags and charge a fee for paper bags. Channelkeeper is also continuing their weekly beach water quality monitoring and notifying the public about bacteria levels at local beaches. The Marine Protected Areas initiative to establish underwater wilderness areas in Southern California is ongoing, with the next important meeting of the Regional Stakeholder Group on January 13-14.

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    December 2008 Santa Barbara Channelkeeper Newsletter

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    Channelkeeper is promoting a "Day Without A Bag" on December 18th to raise awareness about the environmental impacts of single-use plastic and paper bags. They are lobbying the city council to ban plastic bags and charge a fee for paper bags. Channelkeeper is also continuing their weekly beach water quality monitoring and notifying the public about bacteria levels at local beaches. The Marine Protected Areas initiative to establish underwater wilderness areas in Southern California is ongoing, with the next important meeting of the Regional Stakeholder Group on January 13-14.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    60 views3 pages

    Santa Barbara Channelkeeper News & Events: Day Without A Bag - December 18th

    Uploaded by

    Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
    Channelkeeper is promoting a "Day Without A Bag" on December 18th to raise awareness about the environmental impacts of single-use plastic and paper bags. They are lobbying the city council to ban plastic bags and charge a fee for paper bags. Channelkeeper is also continuing their weekly beach water quality monitoring and notifying the public about bacteria levels at local beaches. The Marine Protected Areas initiative to establish underwater wilderness areas in Southern California is ongoing, with the next important meeting of the Regional Stakeholder Group on January 13-14.

    Copyright:

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    of 3

    December 2008

     
    Santa Barbara Channelkeeper News & Events
     

    News & Events Day Without A Bag - December 18th


    Day Without a Bag Channelkeeper is partnering with the Ocean Futures
    Society and other groups to promote a "Day Without a
    Bag" on Thursday, December 18th. Channelkeeper will
    Beach Status Reports - Sign-up!
    be manning tables at City Hall and on State Street to
    give away free reusable bags and information about
    Marine Protected Areas Update the negative environmental impacts of single-use
    disposable bags, both plastic and paper. Stop by our
    tables to get a free reusable bag, or just participate by
    Become a Channelkeeper
    saying NO to paper AND plastic and using only
    Member!
    reusable bags all day (and every day!).

    This effort is part of a larger Channelkeeper campaign


    to drastically reduce the consumption of single-use
    plastic (and paper) carryout bags in the City of Santa Barbara. We are lobbying
    City Council to pass an ordinance to ban plastic and place a fee on paper bags,
    Did You Know? and are cooperating with the City on a public outreach campaign to educate the
    community and local retailers about the environmental impacts of disposable bags
    and to help facilitate a shift to reusable bags. Contact us at [email protected] or at
    563-3377 ext.1 to learn more and get involved.

    Beach Status Reports - Sign-up Today!


    As reported in our last enewsletter, Channelkeeper
    has preserved a critical public health service by
    taking over Santa Barbara County's beach safety
    monitoring program when its funding was cut this
    summer. Beginning on November 3rd,
    Channelkeeper began conducting weekly bacteria
    Where do your sampling at 12 beaches across the County and
    pesticides notifying the public when State health standards
    and fertilizers go when are exceeded so people know if it's safe to swim or
    surf in our coastal waters. Our results are available
    it rains?
    on our website every Tuesday afternoon, and are published in the Wednesday
    editions of the Santa Barbara News Press and Daily Sound. Or you can sign up to
    When it rains, pesticides receive our weekly beach status reports in your email inbox by emailing us today.
    and fertilizers wash Funding for this effort has been generously provided by the Coastal Fund, Santa
    Barbara County's Second Supervisorial District, the Wood Claeyssens Foundation,
    directly into storm drains
    and several individual donors (with in-kind contributions from the News Press and
    and local creeks, harming Daily Sound).
    plants, wildlife, and water
    quality.
    Please help by reducing
    your use of these products
    on your lawn and garden
    or use nontoxic
    alternatives.

       
    New Mooring System Prevents
    Eelgrass Destruction
    In November, the National Park Service took a
    major step toward protecting the eelgrass bed at
    Scorpion anchorage, Santa Cruz Island, by
    modifying their mooring can setup. Scorpion has
    suffered chronic damage from vessel anchoring as
    the cove is adjacent to the Park's island
      headquarters and a popular campground and day-
    use area. This eelgrass bed is one of only four
    around Santa Cruz Island. Surveys have found that
    the eelgrass here is more fragmented and patchy
    than within other beds, presumably from the heavy
    use. As eelgrass beds become more patchy, they
    are increasingly vulnerable to scour from currents,
    wave action and disturbance from foraging animals.

    Channelkeeper expanded our survey efforts five


    years ago when this area became part of the
    Scorpion State Marine Reserve, and we have documented ongoing damage from
    anchors and the large chains comprising the Park's mooring can system.
    Traditional moorings use a heavy block or anchor and a large amount of chain
    that is held up at one end by a large float at the surface. The problem with this
    system is that as vessels, wind and currents move the surface float, the chain
    scours the seafloor, effectively ripping out any plants within its radius. Thus, over
    the years, the moorings likely contributed to the large barren areas found within
    the eelgrass bed at Scorpion.

    In September 2007, Channelkeeper brought this problem to the attention of the


    Channel Islands National Park Service and National Marine Sanctuary, who then
    set about devising a solution. We are pleased to report that the two moorings at
    Scorpion have recently been fitted with a sub-surface float which holds the chain
    off of the seafloor. Similar set-ups are in the works for the Park's mooring cans at
    Prisoners Harbor and Smugglers Cove.

    Marine Protected Areas Update


    While 2008 is winding down, California's initiative to
    establish underwater wilderness areas, or Marine
    Protected Areas (MPAs), along the coast and offshore
    islands of Southern California is ramping up. The

    Regional Stakeholder Group (RSG), the

    group of appointed stakeholders who will make


    recommendations on the size, spacing, location and
    level of protection of the MPAs in Southern California,
    met in November and was briefed on the scientific
    guidelines and important marine habitats to consider
    when designing MPAs. The next meeting of the RSG
    on January 13th-14th will be a very important one as
    they will begin the critical task of creating the first
    round of maps and proposals for MPAs in Southern
    California.

    Public attendance and participation at these meetings have a major influence on


    the process and are strongly encouraged. Channelkeeper will maintain an active
    presence at these meetings and continue to represent our constituency's interest
    in the process. Please join us at any and all MLPA Initiative meetings or contact
    us and share your interests and/or concerns in the process.

    Channelkeeper's Marine Conservation Coordinator, Michael Sheehy, will be


    offering another informative presentation about the MLPA Initiative and MPAs at
    the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History on December 11th from 5:30-
    7:00pm. Please RSVP to Leeza Charleboix at 805-962-2526 ext. 104 if you would
    like to attend this event to learn more about this important process and how you
    can get involved. To learn more about the MLPA Initiative and view meeting
    agendas, please visit www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa or contact Michael Sheehy at
    Channelkeeper at (805) 637-8730.
    Stream Team - December 6th & 7th

    Stream Team is Channelkeeper's volunteer-based


    water quality monitoring program. Every month,
    volunteers join Channelkeeper staff to test for
    common water quality parameters at numerous
    different sites in the Ventura River and Goleta Slough
    watersheds. Come join us to help protect our local
    waterways; we will be testing in Ventura on Saturday,
    December 6th and in Goleta on Sunday, December
    7th. For more information, visit our website, or contact Penny Owens at
    [email protected] or 805.563.3377 ext.0.

    Become a Channelkeeper Member!


    Your support for Channelkeeper's efforts is needed
    now more than ever. Become a member of the
    Channelkeeper crew today with your tax-deductible
    donation. You'll be investing in clean water and
    healthy communities along the Santa Barbara
    Channel today and for future generations. With your
    membership, you will receive our regular newsletters,
    news updates and action alerts, and invitations to
    special Channelkeeper events and fun volunteer
    opportunities. All new members also receive a free
    Channelkeeper sticker, identifying you as a steward of
    the Santa Barbara Channel. And now, all new donors
    contributing $50 or more can receive a Channelkeeper t-shirt, and for donations
    of $250 or more, quarterly issues of the Waterkeeper magazine.

    Please join Santa Barbara Channelkeeper's Sustaining Stewards Circle, our


    monthly membership program. You can join any time during the year and by
    doing so, you authorize monthly donations from your credit card every 30 days.

    $10, $20, or $50 a month is all it takes to make sure that Channelkeeper
    has the resources needed to preserve, protect and restore the Santa
    Barbara Channel and its watersheds. For less than the cost of a weekly latte,
    you can help champion clean water along the South Coast.

    Sign up today by calling Member Services at 805-563-3377 x4 or emailing us at


    [email protected]

     
      

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