August 30, 2010
Jeffrey Shu
Environmental Scientist
State Water Resources Control Board
Division of Water Quality
1001 I St., 15th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 323-1308 (phone)
(916) 341-5584 (FAX)
Dear Mr. Shu:
This letter is being submitted on behalf of Russian River Watershed Protection Committee in response to your Agency’s request for information on the 2012 303(d) List. We had emailed a partial submission to you on July 15, 2010, with three attachments, but we are resubmitting that information with this packet so it will be a complete submission. Our comments address circumstances in the Laguna de Santa Rosa, a major tributary to the Russian River, and the lower Russian River from the confluence of the Laguna/Mark West Creek into the Russian River and down to the Estuary.
We are concerned citizens who are neither scientists nor lawyers, but it is our intent to submit photographs, testimonies, reports, Regional Board documents, etc. to make the case that the Laguna de Santa Rosa should be listed for the invasive plant, Ludwigia, and that the lower Russian River (Forestville to Duncans Mills) should be listed for nutrients (The Laguna is already listed for nutrients.)
In reviewing the requirements for submitting data for the 303(d) list, we are finding it difficult to document our submission in every detail requested (specific camera settings, etc). Also, as ordinary citizen activists, we are not able to provide scientific data with any authority and so we are relying for the most part on photographic evidence. The photos submitted with this report are representative of hundreds that we have on file. If more pictures become necessary later on, we would be happy to provide them (same locations, but different angles, magnifications, etc.) We can also give more information on specific photos as per request.