Residents, landowners, and other interested members of the public are encouraged to attend the Ventura River Watershed Council’s October 3 Watershed Management Plan Public Scoping Meeting.
The meeting will be held on Wednesday October 3, 2012 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm at the Oak View Community Center, 18 Valley Road, Oak View, CA.
A watershed is an area of land that acts like a drainage basin. All of the rain that falls on the land in a watershed drains towards a common water body – in our case, the Ventura River. Watershed boundaries define an interconnected water system.
Across the world, communities are attempting to plan and manage their water-related resources “by watershed” because of the understanding that watersheds, rather than cities or other arbitrary divisions, define the true boundaries of water systems. A pollutant that enters a river upstream can ultimately affect fish in the estuary; groundwater pumped by one user can affect the amount of water available for other pumpers; a flood control structure erected in one area can inadvertently result in greater flood damage in another area. These are just a few examples of watershed interrelationships.
Watershed management plans are cross-jurisdictional, multi-agency plans that take a holistic view of water systems. The plans address whatever issues are important to local stakeholders. In the Ventura River watershed, the primary issues of concern include managing limited local water supplies, keeping our water clean, handling major floods, protecting and improving ecosystem health, engaging the community in stewardship, providing public access to the river, preparing for emergencies, and effective collaborative watershed management.
The Ventura River Watershed Council is an open group of public and private interests that has been meeting since 2006 to work on watershed issues. The Council, which is non-regulatory, has active participation by water and sanitation districts, government agencies, environmental groups, agricultural organizations, businesses, landowners, consultants and private citizens.
At the October 3 meeting, Council members will provide an overview of the watershed and the watershed management plan’s goals and objectives. Participants will have an opportunity to share their concerns and their ideas for addressing watershed problems.
For more information on the Public Scoping Meeting or the Watershed Council, contact Lorraine Walter, Ventura River Watershed Coordinator, at 805/649-6852 x4 or by email at lorraine@ovlc.org.