February 2012

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper News & Events

News and Events

Channelkeeper Calls for Enforcement of Ventura River Trash Reduction Law Take Photos and Help Document Impacts of Rising Sea Levels Channelkeeper's 9th Annual Student Art Show 12th Annual Blue Water Ball is March 17th Stream Team February 4th & 5th Get Your Taxes Done While Raising Money for Channelkeeper Become a Channelkeeper Member!

Channelkeeper Calls for Enforcement of Ventura River Trash Reduction Law

Channelkeeper recently submitted a letter to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) calling on them to enforce compliance with existing laws requiring significant reductions in trash in the Ventura River. We urged the RWQCB to require local agencies to account for trash generated by homeless encampments, which to date have been effectively ignored in official monitoring reports required pursuant to the trash reduction law, and to take enforcement action for the agencies' failure to meet past deadlines for mandatory trash reduction targets. Channelkeeper's vision is for the Ventura River Estuary to one day serve as a starting point for a Ventura River Parkway, a concept that has been widely endorsed by local public officials, agencies and community groups. We believe a parkway project that restores and transforms the lower river into a managed recreational resource for the local community may be the only longterm practical solution to the egregious trash problem. In the short run, however, local agencies and the community will have to face up to the staggering environmental and social problem of homeless encampments that persist in the river bottom. Read Channelkeeper's letter to the RWQCB and letter to local agencies, and view the results from our second round of trash and homeless encampment surveys, which were conducted last November.

Did You Know?

Take Photos and Help Document Impacts of Rising Sea Levels

According to a 2009 report by the Pacific Institute, the ocean along California's coast is projected to rise as much as 55 inches by the end of the century. To help document the potential impacts of rising sea levels, groups throughout California are calling on citizens, as part of the California King Tides Initiative, to submit photos taken during high tides of areas known to flood and erode and areas where high water levels can be gauged against sea walls, jetties, bridge supports or dikes. The photos will help to identify and catalog coastal areas currently vulnerable to tidal inundation and to promote awareness of the potential impacts of sea level rise. The ultimate goal of the King Tides Initiative is to support climate change mitigation and adaptation policies and to inspire communities and policy-makers to take the necessary steps to protect our coastal beaches, wetlands and coastal properties from destruction as our shoreline disappears under rising seas. Particularly high tides are predicted for the mornings of February 6th, 7th, and 8th (click here to view tide predictions for the Santa Barbara area), so please

Over the past century, sea level has risen nearly eight inches along the California coast, and scientists predict substantial additional increases as a significant impact of climate change in the coming century. In their recent report, the Pacific Institute estimates that

480,000 people; a wide range of critical infrastructure; vast areas of wetlands and other natural ecosystems; and nearly $100 billion in property along the California coast are at increased risk from flooding from a 1.4-meter sea-level rise - if no adaptation actions are taken.

get out your cameras and help us with this fun project! Area locales vulnerable to high tides include (but are not limited to) Isla Vista beaches, Goleta Beach County Park, Leadbetter Beach, Butterfly Beach, Miramar Beach, Carpinteria Salt Marsh, Hobson State Beach and Faria State Beach. Please submit your photos to the California King Tides Flickr group and let Channelkeeper know you participated by emailing us your photos as well. The higher the resolution, the better! For additional details, please visit the "Share Your Pictures" web page and read the inaugural 2010/2011 California King Tides Initiative Report.

Channelkeeper's 9th Annual Student Art Show

Opening Exhibit and Awards Reception on March 1st
For the ninth year in a row, Channelkeeper is hosting our ocean-themed student art show, "What the Channel Means to Me." The goal of the show is to educate and inspire local youth about the value of the marine environment and for their art to in turn educate and inspire others in the community. This year's show will be juried by local artist Nancy Gifford. A public exhibit, reception and awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, March 1st from 5 - 8 pm at the Jodi House (625 Chapala Street) in Santa Barbara as part of the Downtown Organization's 1st 2011 Art Show winner Thursday program. Assemblymember Das Jean-Dwight Ledbetter, Williams will be there present our awards and Dos Pueblos High School cash prizes to the students who produce the winning pieces. The winning artworks will then be on display for their final exhibit at our Blue Water Ball on March 17th. Please join us!

12th Annual Blue Water Ball is March 17th

Channelkeeper's 12th Annual Blue Water Ball benefit dinner and gala is set for Saturday, March 17th, 2012 (St. Patrick's Day!) from 5-9 pm at the Santa Barbara Woman's Club (Rockwood). This fun and inspiring event will feature fabulous local wines, delectable hors d'oeuvres and dinner created from local organic ingredients by Fire & Ice Events, an exciting auction, live music by Mezcal Martini, and a celebration of Channelkeeper's many recent victories for clean water. We are thrilled to present Katrina Rogers, Ph.D., Provost and Senior Vice President of Fielding Graduate University, as our keynote speaker (click here to learn more about Dr. Rogers), and Geoff Green as our Master of Ceremonies. Many thanks to our event sponsors committed to date: Forester Media, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation, Citrix Online, the Coastal Fund, Montecito Bank & Trust, and Patagonia, Inc. To sponsor, donate, volunteer or reserve your tickets or table today, please email or call us at 805-563-3377 ext. 4. You can also purchase tickets online. We look forward to seeing you there!

Stream Team - February 4th & 5th

Stream Team is Channelkeeper's volunteerbased water quality monitoring program. Every month, volunteers join Channelkeeper staff to test for common water quality parameters at numerous sites in the Ventura River and Goleta Slough watersheds. Come join us to help protect our local waterways; we will be sampling in Ventura on Saturday, February 4th at 9 am and in Goleta on Sunday, February 5th at 10 am. For more information, visit our

website, email us or call 805.563.3377 ext.0.

Get Your Taxes Done While Raising Money for Channelkeeper

Have H&R Block do your taxes this year and Channelkeeper will receive $25! Simply download Channelkeeper's H&R Block referral form, bring it to a participating H&R Block office to do your taxes, and H&R Block will contribute $25 to Channelkeeper. To make an appointment with H&R Block call 1-800-HRBLOCK or visit www.hrblock.com. Offer is valid until April 18, 2012 for new H&R Block clients only.

Become a Channelkeeper Member!

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 taxdeductible 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, invitations to special Channelkeeper events and fun volunteer opportunities, and a free Channelkeeper sticker. All new donors contributing $50 or more can also receive a Channelkeeper t-shirt, and for donations of $250 or more, quarterly issues of Waterkeeper magazine. Sign up today by calling 805.563.3377 ext. 4 or emailing us.

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