Land of the West Wind
March 2015
Volume 16, Issue 1
Progress from the Suisun Marsh Waterfowl and
Waterbird Research Program
Biologists from all of the project partners (DWR, USGS,
SRCD, CWA, USFWS, UC Davis and DU) worked together to gather body condition information from birds collected at check-stations and private duck clubs throughout
Suisun Marsh and the Central Valley. Special thanks to
several Suisun Clubs which participated in the effort including Cal Farms, Denverton, Goodyear Land Company,
Grizzly Ranch, Gumtree Farms, Island Club, Morrow Island Land Company, Mulberry Land Company, Suisun
Farms, and Wings Landing Duck Club. In total, data was
collected on over 23,000 waterfowl, including over 5,400
from the Suisun Marsh alone. This information will be used
to compare the health of birds in Suisun to birds in other
regions of the state as well as helping assess the impacts
of drought conditions on waterfowl in California.
The team also deployed 4 GPS transmitters on Mallards
just prior to the end of
the hunting season on
Grizzly Island Wildlife
Area to test their effectiveness at providing accurate locational
data on waterfowl. To
date, two of the
marked birds remain
in Suisun Marsh and
two have moved out
A drake mallard is fitted with a gps
of the Marsh and into backpack transmitter.
the Delta and south
Sacramento Valley. Intensive nesting studies will begin
this spring with plans to track several nesting mallards and
gadwall. You will soon be able to keep track of the movements of these and other marked waterfowl on the USGS
website: www.werc.usgs.gov/project.aspx?projectid=272
1
2014/2015 Grizzly Island Wildlife Area
Hunt Statistics
By: Orlando Rocha
CDFW Environmental Scientist
What a successful season this was
for hunters here on Grizzly Island
Wildlife Area. It was definitely what
we consider a great year. The season average was up considerably
from a 1.59 in 2014 to a 1.81, even
though we had fewer hunters
throughout the season. Public use
was down by 401 hunters from the
2013/14 season. Though we had 401
less hunters we harvested 1,054
more waterfowl than in 2013/2014.
Total numbers are summarized below for the last 3 seasons, but a quick
overview shows us that there were
more mallards shot this year than last
but less than 2 seasons ago and the
big increase in harvested waterfowl
came from the American Wigeon
which for the first time in many years
beat out the Northern Shoveler as top
bird here on the wildlife area. The top
five birds this and last season are
relatively consistent: Northern Shoveler, Green-winged teal, Mallard, Cinnamon teal, and the American
Wigeon, but the newcomer to the
bunch in 2014/2015 was the Bufflehead with 923 harvested this year.
Northern Pintail dropped off this
year’s top five list. In the 2014/2015
season 798 Northern Pintail were
taken which is still up by 183 birds
from the 2013/2014 season. Most of
(Statistics, cont. on pg. 6)
Land of the West Wind
Editorial
Triennial Newsletter of the Suisun
Resource Conservation District
Address: 2544 Grizzly Island Road
Suisun, CA 94585
Telephone: (707) 425-9302
Fax: (707) 425-4402
Water Manager office: (707) 426-2431
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.suisunrcd.org
Circulating is NOT Leaching
Board of Directors
Tony Vaccarella, President
(650) 365-1642
Terry Connolly, Finance
(707) 422-6700
Arnold Lenk, Agency Relations
(925) 284-3100
Jim Waters, Legal
(510) 409-3864
Mike Lewis, Personnel
(707) 224-3824
Associate Directors
Dennis Becker
Kurt Black
Bill Brush, PR
H. Kent Hansen
Directors Emeritus
James Bancroft
Paul Crapuchettes*
Ray Lewis*
Dr. William Coon*
Greg Palamountain*
Timothy Egan*
Leland Lehman*
(*deceased)
SRCD Staff
Steven Chappell, Executive Director
Bruce Wickland, Operations Manager
Kelli Perez, Office Supervisor
Tim Edmunds, Biologist/Water Manager
Dean Podolsky, Biologist/Water Manager
Jeff Taylor, Biologist/Water Manager
Steve Witherspoon, Caretaker LJI
SRCD’s public meetings are
held at 2 PM on the second
Wednesday of each month at the
Solano County Supervisors Chambers
675 Texas Street, Fairfield, CA 94533
SRCD represents private landowners of the
Suisun Marsh at the Federal, State, and local
levels. Its historic goal has been to achieve a
water supply of adequate quality so that
preferred wetland habitat values will be
retained through appropriate management
practices. Through cooperation with
landowners and various agencies, SRCD
seeks to develop new programs aimed at
protecting and improving the Suisun Marsh for
future generations.
California is going through one of the worst drought periods on record. This has had effects statewide on water supplies and waterfowl habitat. In Suisun Marsh, it has been no different. The bulk of
the Marsh had to apply high saline water during the fall flood before the season started. High circulation rates throughout the season are important to reduce the accumulation of soil salts. However, the build-up of salts in the soil profile will happen with the
conditions we have been given.
Leaching is a key component to proper water management. In order to counteract the accumulation of salt, circulation during the
season and leaching are very important. But they are not the same
practice of water management. The high salinity water needs to be
removed from the managed wetlands (to the best of the clubs abilities) and replaced with better quality water from spring rains (knock
on wood!). There are a few techniques to conduct leaching or
modified leaching to aid in the removal of accumulated soil salts.
Leaching
1. Drain pond down right after duck season
2. When water is on foot below pond bottom, reflood.
3. Reflooding: (When water is one foot below shoot level,
drain again)
These 3 steps are considered one leach cycle. Three leach cycles
are ideal and should be completed if possible. Many clubs in the
Suisun Marsh are drain limited and in these cases the club manager must work to apply as much fresh water as possible in the
spring. This can be considered a modified leaching period.
Modified Leaching
Pull all boards and take advantage of spring low tides, do not close
intake structures completely. Instead, reduce flows until the pond
level equalizes just below shoot level. The goal during this time is
to move as much spring water through the pond as possible. During this period, it is ok to have high variable pond levels. This
should be continued through March or April (as long as salinity
conditions permit), keeping in mind any gate restrictions due to
protected species, and summer work which may require drying the
ponds earlier.
SRCD can also assist in the draining and movement of larger volumes of water in a shorter amount of time with the help of our portable pumps. If you have any questions regarding leach cycles or
pump usage, please call the Water Manager’s Office and talk with
your Water Manager. (707-426-2431).
2
Legislative News
Bill Gaines, Gaines and Associates
Predator Management
Implementation of Non-Lead
Ammunition Requirements
In response to pressure from animal-rights advocates, the CDFW Commission is currently reevaluIn October 2013, Governor Jerry Brown signed
ating all existing policy which deals with predator
AB 711 (Rendon), legislation that outlaws the
use of lead for the hunting of all species state- management in California in consideration of makwide. Although the bill mandates that lead am- ing some significant changes. To initiate this review and stimulate discussion last fall, Commismunition be prohibited, it leaves the details of
the bill 's implementation largely up to the DFW sion staff pulled together a summary of all current
policies, code and regulations relating to predator
Commission - simply calling for the non-lead
hunting and management and released them to
requirements to be fully implemented no later
than July 1, 2019. In addition, AB 711 requires Wildlife Resources Committee (WRC). In response, last month two animal-rights groups, the
the Commission to promulgate regulations by
July l, 2015 that phase in the requirements of Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)
the bill. The adoption of the implementation
and Project Coyote , submitted detailed
schedule will be discussed during the April
comments and extreme recommendations to the
DFW Commission meeting.
WRC for consideration. CDFW has laid out a timeline for a thorough review of science before considering possible recommended changes to
Waterfowl Regulation Changes
predator management regulations.
Although the 2015 waterfowl data is not yet
available, small discussions were made on
regulation changes. One change, which is a
“long-shot” proposal that will depend on the
winter assessment would be the increase in the
current 30 day black brant season, or an increase in daily bag limit of two brant.
The Fish and Game Commission is also changing their annual waterfowl regulatory process.
They will be starting dialog in the spring, rather
than the normal August Commission meeting.
This change will hopefully allow earlier adoption
of the final regulations and an earlier publication of the annual waterfowl regulations booklet.
Increase Shooting Times for Turkeys
CDFW and California Chapter of the National
Wild Turkey Federation are spearheading a
measure to extend the close of shooting hours
on wild turkeys from 4:00 to 5:00pm. So far
there has not been push back for the proposal
and should begin implementation in the Spring
of 2016.
Among other things, recommendations received
from these organizations called for a complete
prohibition on the pursuit of all wildlife by dogs.
In addition, they make heavily restrictive recommendations related to the methods of management for bobcats, raccoons and all other predatory mammals. Further, they are seeking a complete revamping of the long-standing depredation
permit procedure. Lacking any common sense or
on-the- ground experience in predator management, these groups are not only calling for depredation permits to be required for the taking of
all mammals, they call for limiting the take under
each permit to only one animal, and requiring
that the damage be done before the permit can
be issued.
Should these highly unreasonable recommendations be eventually adopted by the Commission,
it would not only eliminate the critical use of dogs
as a wildlife management tool and severely impact those who hunt both birds and mammals,
but also have a significant impact on the ability of
ranchers, habitat managers and other landowners to protect their investments.
3
Invasive Weed Management
Now that duck season is over, it is time to start thinking about habitat management. From water
management and how many leach cycles to run, to planning out the work activities for this work season, to invasive weed management. Invasive weed management is an important, but sometimes
overlooked aspect of management of your property. In the Suisun Marsh we have two main invasive weeds that we battle on a yearly basis, Lepidium (Pepperweed) and Phragmites (Common
Reed). SRCD has two invasive weed programs to help landowners manage these invasives, one for
Lepidium and one for Phragmites.
Lepidium is a threat to the diversity of natural plant communities
in the Marsh and forms dense monospecific stands in a wide variety of habitats and is very tolerant of a wide variety of salinities.
This plant is mostly found in wetland/upland transitions, but it can
encroach into both wetlands and upland habitats of the Marsh.
Stems and roots increase in density over time, eventually outcompeting annual and perennial native vegetation like grasses,
sedges, and rushes. Lepidium also acts as a “salt pump”, taking
in salts from the soil via its roots and depositing them near the
soil surface, altering soil salinity and essentially alters soil condi- Image of Lepidium before blooming
tions and giving it an advantage ofver desirable vegetation
growth. Lepidium is quickly becoming a dominant plant in many
parts of the Suisun Marsh.
Telar XP has been shown to work well on controlling Lepidium
and not impacting other surrounding intermixed vegetation. Telar
XP works best at 2% tank solution with 5% tank solution of surfactant. The best success rates occur when Lepidium is sprayed
at the early flowering stage or when it is actively growing and taking in nutrients. This usually happens April through May.
Phragmites is a perennial grass that has a thick horizontal under- Image of Lepidium after blooming
ground stem that puts out roots and forms dense stands. The
stalks can reach 13 feet tall in very mature stands, and can be
found in areas where the soil is moist most of the year. Each
(Manage, cont. on pg. 5)
New Face at Suisun RCD
Dean Podolsky has started with the SRCD as a Water Manager effective 2/17/15. Dean comes to us
from the USGS Western Ecological Resource Center in Dixon where he worked as a Biological Science Technician and a GIS Analyst on the Nevada State Map of Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat.
He grew up in El Dorado County and currently lives near Sacramento. We look forward to putting
his grant writing, extensive GIS, field and project management experience to work for the benefit of
Suisun Marsh landowners.
Dean’s areas of the Marsh include all the clubs South of the Roaring River Distribution System, the
north east corner up Denverton Slough, and upper Suisun by the Fairfield Suisun Sewer District
(FSSD).
4
Diversion Monitoring in Full Swing
The Suisun Resource Conservation District and California Department of Fish and Wildlife have
been monitoring diversion intakes in the Marsh since November 1, 2014. Monitoring for the Winter
Salmon Restrictions was completed in January. Landowner compliance during this monitoring period was perfect, and we hope that continues into the Spring Salmon and Smelt monitoring periods.
We are currently monitoring for Spring Salmon restrictions that began February 21st and run through March 31st. During that time, diversions along salmon smolts’ migration path must be completely
closed.
Monitoring for the Delta Smelt restriction will begin in April 1st and
Chinook Salmon Smolt
will run through May 31st. Diversions located within Smelt habitat
have to reduce intakes to 20% or 35% depending on the results of
annual sampling efforts by CDFW. We have had good landowner
cooperation the past few years during all three monitoring periods
and expect that to continue throughout this year. Landowner notifications will be mailed out before the restriction period begins and
we will start at 20% open. Once CDFW starts their monitoring efJuvenile Delta Smelt
forts, restrictions could be decreased and allow 35% capacity.
(MANAGE, from pg. 4)
Work Restriction Updates
piece of stem has the ability to form a new stand, so
discing is not a control option.
Phragmites is best
controlled with herbicides, which can
be hand sprayed
for small patches,
or aerially sprayed
for larger patches.
This is best done
before it sets seed,
which is usually in
the end of June to Image of Phragmites stand
beginning of July.
So as you start planning for this upcoming work season, don’t forget about invasive weed management.
Controlling these invasive weeds is a yearly ongoing
battle but is crucial to vegetation management on
your property. If you would like more information on
the programs that SRCD offers for invasive weed
management please look at the website
www.suisunrcd.org or call Tim Edmunds at (707)
426-2431 ext. 302.
5
In compliance with the SRCD/CDFW Annual
Regional General Maintenance Permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
there is an annual work restriction for areas
designated to be Ridgway Rail breeding
habitat. If your levee is located in one of
these designated areas, then you may not
conduct any work activities on your exterior
levees within 500 linear feet of Ridgway rail
nesting habitat between February 1st and
August 31st. Please look through the RGP 3
if you have any questions on whether your
levee falls within this closure area. This is
also a restriction on placing dredged material from the SRCD Dredging Program that
runs August 1st through November 30th.
“Breeding Birds of Solano County” is a first of its kind presentation of the remarkable avifauna of Solano County. The
Breeding Birds of Solano County was organized, co-written,
and edited by noted conservationist and bird expert Mike Rippey; with engaging detailed species accounts authored by well
known North Bay ornithologist Murray Berner. Scientifically rigorous and beautifully designed, this foundational document will
be sought out by birders, naturalists, researchers, teachers,
government planners, and all those who love birds and wish to
know more of their beguiling ways.
The book can be ordered online at:
www.napasolanoaudubon.com.
(Statistics, from pg. 1)
the Bufflehead were taken during the middle part of the
season during the doldrums of November and early December. For the majority of our hunters Wigeon proved to
be the top bird for the last 6-7 weeks of the season. Hope
everyone had as good of a season as we did here on the
Wildlife Area, now we can look forward to summer
months to prep for the 2015/2016 season which we can
only hope will be better!
Total
2012-2013
2013-2014
2014-2015
Change
2013 to 2014
Change
2014 to 2015
Waterfowl Hunters
5871
6187
5,786
+316
-401
Ducks
8806
9285
10,325
+479
+1,040
Geese
70
109
123
+39
+14
Total Waterfowl Harvested
9549
9394
10,448
-155
+1054
Season Average
1.61
1.59
1.81
-0.02
+0.22
Top Five Birds
2014-2015
Bird:
American Wigeon
Northern Shoveler
American Green
-winged Teal
Bufflehead
Mallard
Number Harvested
2504
2007
1623
923
856
2013-2014
Bird:
Northern Shoveler
American Wigeon
American Greenwinged Teal
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Number Harvested
2171
1936
1098
743
615
2012-2013
Bird:
American Greenwinged Teal
Northern Shoveler
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Number Harvested
2061
1691
1639
910
866
6
SUISUN RESOURCE
CONSERVATION DISTRICT
ANNUAL LANDOWNER WORKSHOP
DATE:
TIME:
PLACE:
Wednesday, April 29th, 2015
8:00 AM TO 2:00 PM
Rush Ranch Education Center, Solano Land Trust
3521 Grizzly Island Road, Suisun Marsh
Special Thanks to the Solano Land Trust for the use of their facilities.
COST:
$10.00 PER PERSON (includes Coffee & Donuts and Buffet Lunch)
RSVP:
By Monday April 27th, 2015
Topics and Presentations
-BCDC LPP update / Duck Club Management Plans
-Dredging program application and restrictions
-DWR/USGS waterfowl work and upcoming studies
-Aster, Phragmites, and Lepidium control
- SMPA Programs
- Suisun Marsh DO monitoring results 2013 thru 2014 and BMP’s discussion
-Drought conditions, salinity forecast, Water Manager recommendations to modify irrigations
-----------------------------------CUT AND MAIL THIS PORTION WITH YOUR PAYMENT----------------------------------
I would like to RSVP for the SRCD Annual Landowner Workshop April 29th, 2015.
**Please remit to: SRCD @ 2544 Grizzly Island Rd. Suisun, CA. 94585
Enclosed is a check for how many lunch (es) ______
Name: _____________________
Club #: _________
Phone:__________________
Name: _____________________
Club # _________
Phone: ___________________
Name: _____________________
Club # _________
Phone: ___________________
7
PRESORTED NONPROFIT
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
SUISUN, CA 94585
PERMIT NO. 124
Suisun Resource Conservation District
2544 Grizzly Island Road
Suisun, CA 94585
Address Correction Requested
8