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Water Board Tosses HRC's Proposed Regulation Changes for Elk River Because Sediment Levels Are Not Improving

Humboldt Redwood Company’s request to change the way sediment pollution is regulated on the Elk River was shot down by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Thursday.

Board members pointed to a lack of data showing sediment conditions on the river improving. A motion to adopt the changes failed, with four board members voting “nay” and only Dale Romanini and Jake Mackenzie in support.

The changes surround Humboldt Redwood Company’s (HRC) Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR), the primary regulatory mechanism for controlling sediment pollution from logging in the watershed.

This rejection followed Water Board staff’s assurances the changes would not reduce water quality protections on the river, which has been heavily impacted by sediment from logging operations, historic and present, and has regulations a staff member said were the strongest in the state.

But environmental groups at the meeting swayed the board, saying instead the changes could increase sediment loads to the river, and argued the regulations should stay the same until marked improvement was recorded.

“It’s hard for me to imagine that increasing logging on 40% slopes, on any geology, would not bring down sediment,” said Board Member Hector Bedolla, speaking of one requested change.

HRC owns about 79% of the Upper Elk Watershed, according to Water Board documents. Under the 2019-era regulations, HRC can propose alternative practices, so long as they are equal or better than requirements in the original WDR. HRC sought a smattering of technical changes to the document.

Jim Burke, Water Board senior engineering geologist, said during a presentation the changes were found to be “reasonable and appropriate” by Water Board staff — who assured the board throughout the meeting they would not reduce water quality protections.

“This permit provides the strongest water quality protection of any permit in the state. The revisions preserve that high level of protection while better aligning the permit with real world operational conditions by allowing HRC flexibility in managing its forest while still complying with the [Total Maximum Daily Loads] targets,” said Burke.

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Eureka takes steps to prevent offshore drilling support

The Eureka City Council took steps toward preventing offshore drilling support from being located in Eureka on Tuesday night, directing staff to come back with a resolution and work on changes to the local coastal program update.

City Manager Miles Slattery explained that “What staff is recommending, and wanting to get direction upon from council on is to, in the interim, do …. what the Humboldt County has done … bring a resolution back for council’s consideration about the opposition for offshore oil drilling, and then incorporate into our ongoing update to our local coastal program some amendments to the coastal dependent industrial zoning district to prohibit those types of uses in those in that zoning district.”

He added that changes to the local coastal program would allow the city to regulate access to the port. He noted that staff aims to have proposed changes to the council by the end of the year.

“We plan on getting it to the planning commission, likely sometime this summer, and then go through that process and bring it to council, and then after that, it needs to go to the Coastal Commission for certification,” Slattery said.

Public comment was primarily supportive of the city’s efforts to prevent offshore drilling infrastructure from accessing city property.

“The first Earth Day was celebrated after an oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara that destroyed ecosystems and communities and beaches for many years afterward,” said Matt Simmons, an attorney for the Environmental Protection Information Center, based in Arcata.

“And so the fact that there’s this big federal push now to restart offshore oil drilling off the coast of California, starting south of us, but including Northern California, is truly terrifying.”
He noted that EPIC supports both the resolution and changes to the local coastal program.

“One thing I wanted to add is that while we were talking about the local coastal program and potential extractive industries, that we should be on the lookout for another industry that the current federal administration is supporting, (which) is offshore mining,” he said. So this is where you take minerals out of the deep sea, you scoop them up and you bring them back to shore, and then you have to dump all the stuff that you dredged off of the bottom of the ocean floor and sift out the little tiny bits of precious metal that you find there. They have proposed projects in Guam and Alaska, but there are precious metal sulfide deposits off the coast of California as well.”

Jennifer Kalt with Humboldt Waterkeeper offered similar thoughts.

“What you have control over is those onshore support facilities within the city of Eureka,” she said. “And so we strongly support both the resolution and moving forward with the LCP update and working with the Coastal Commission, which is working with other jurisdictions, including Humboldt County, to do the same thing.”

Councilmember Kati Moulton added that many in the county oppose any offshore drilling efforts.

“I attended the meeting on Jan. 18 at the Wharfinger building with groups like EPIC and Humboldt Waterkeeper, and it was standing room only. It drew a crowd from across the county. It got our congressman here to talk about it, and there was widespread opposition to offshore drilling in general, but especially here on our pristine North Coast,” Moulton said.
She drew on her personal experience.

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River otters use various hunting strategies at Arcata Marsh

For nearly three decades, Cal Poly Humboldt Wildlife Professor Jeff Black and citizen scientists have been quietly documenting the lives of one of the North Coast’s most charismatic residents: river otters.

Now, marking the 27th and final year of this long-term research effort, Black is sharing new observations at the Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary — a place where wastewater treatment, wildlife habitat, and public access intersect.

Based on two years of intensive study, the latest findings, published in the Northwestern Naturalist, reveal just how deeply river otters rely on the marsh. Otters were present nearly every day, using the wetlands not only to hunt, but to raise pups, socialize, rest, and navigate a landscape shared with hundreds of daily visitors.

“Watching the daily interactions between these top predators and their prey was a treat,” says Black. “These river otters regularly switched between fishing for fish and hunting for waterbirds — depending on which pond they entered.”

The findings challenge common assumptions about river otters. While often thought of as fish specialists, the study shows that waterbirds — ducks, coots, and grebes — make up a significant portion of their diet during much of the year. Otters were also observed using a wide range of hunting strategies, from repeated diving for fish to stealthy ambushes through dense vegetation.

Black’s latest publication and companion video (https://youtu.be/mvRQQhlAdrQ) by Deborah Ketelsen, media production specialist for the Center for Teaching & Learning, offer a window into the world of river otters in the Arcata Marsh, inviting the community to see the marsh — and its otters — with a fresh perspective.

North Coast river otter spotters are encouraged to continue to submit their river otter observations to the larger, ongoing, community-based project celebrating river otters and clean water habitats, visit riverotterecology.org. Submit your wild river otter observations.

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A rash of mountain lion sightings near Eureka may be technology’s fault

A mountain lion was seen on a homeowner’s video camera last week near a residential area outside Eureka. The footage was shared on social media to alert neighbors.

The sighting adds to a growing number of reports along Humboldt County’s forest or greenbelt’s edge, where redwood habitat meets neighborhoods from Freshwater to McKinleyville. Mountain lions are native and typically avoid people, but officials say residents should take precautions and report unusual behavior.

“They’re very common in the northwest part of the state, and they always have been,” said Peter Tira, spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “What’s changed is the technology. Twenty‑five years ago, a lion could walk through someone’s backyard at three in the morning and nobody knew. Now everyone has security cameras, trail cameras, Ring cameras, and all these lions are being captured on video and shared on social media.”

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Record ocean heat off California coast echoes ‘The Blob,’ killing seabirds and reshaping weather outlook

Over the past several months, an intense marine heat wave has developed in the Pacific from Washington to Baja Mexico, with a particularly extreme hot spot between the Bay Area and San Diego. Ocean temperatures have spiked to as much as 7 degrees hotter than average, with many places breaking records for this time of year.

The heatwave off the California coast is already causing starving birds to wash ashore and could increase the risk of thunderstorms and dry lightning that could worsen the wildfire season, scientists say.

Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have recorded 38 days since Jan. 1 when the surface temperature off their La Jolla pier in San Diego broke records going as far back as 1916. On March 20, the ocean there reached 71 degrees, the hottest ever recorded in March and a level normally seen in August.

“It’s extreme,” said Melissa Carter, a Scripps oceanographer. “We have had heat waves in the past. But this is a record event for the duration and the intensity.”

Farther north, ocean temperatures also have broken records on 31 days this year off Newport Beach; 38 off Santa Barbara; 22 at Pacific Grove near Monterey; 9 days at the Farallon Islands off San Francisco; and 14 at Trinidad in Humboldt County.

Scientists say the heat wave, which appears to be related to changes in wind patterns that limit the extent cold water in the deeper depths can move to the surface, and the intense high-pressure system that caused record hot, dry temperatures over the land in March, could bring hotter, more humid temperatures to California this summer.

A similar marine heat wave, which became known as “The Blob,” affected California ocean temperatures in 2014 and 2015. During that event, normally chilly waters were balmy for beachgoers, swimmers and surfers. There were fewer foggy days at the beach. Humpback whales began feeding much closer to the coast, affording people amazing views of the animals — but also putting the whales in greater danger of collisions with ships and entanglement with fishing gear.

Huge blooms of algae emerged, shutting down crab and clam fishing for months. Salmon runs crashed. Ocean species normally seen in tropical waters began showing up much farther north along California, Oregon and Washington.

Closer to the shore, however, seabirds and young sea lions, who couldn’t get enough to eat because of changes in local fish patterns, began washing up by the thousands, malnourished and dead, along beaches. Wildlife rescue centers were overwhelmed.

“Sea lion pups were just starving,” said Dr. Cara Field, staff veterinarian at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, which treated 1,800 distressed seals and sea lions in 2015, triple the normal number. “At 6 months of age, they were at their birth weight. They were completely emaciated. Many of them were dying despite our best efforts. It was very difficult to keep up with.”

The Blob also did significant damage to California’s kelp forests. And although the sea lions and other species have since recovered, kelp forests in many places, including off the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts, are still struggling.

“We’re concerned that it could happen again,” said Anita Giraldo Ospina, a marine scientist with the Monterey Bay Aquarium. “Many of our kelp forests have not recovered.”

The 2014-15 marine heat wave also worsened California’s severe drought, which stretched from 2012 to 2016.

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