To: Lake Davis Steering Committee
From: Ivan Paulsen
Date: October 25, 2004
Re: Notes from the October 25, 2004 Lake Davis Steering Committee meeting, Portola City Hall
Present: Ivan Paulsen (California Department of Fish and Game), John Heavin (U.S. Forest Service), Fran Roudebush (Steering Committee Chair), Jim Murphy (City of Portola), Colleen Marsh (Lake Davis Coalition), Ralph Hinton (California Department of Water Resources)-by phone, Doug Rischbieter (CDWR) – by phone, John Ball – member of the public.
Pike Update: Ivan related that as of today, a total of 11,392 pike have been captured and removed from the lake this year. Due to budgetary constraints, the field crews have worked only a couple of days in September and October. Ivan was not sure how these numbers compared to last year at this time
Water Level Update: Ralph reported that the elevation of Lake Davis is 5,762.61 feet, corresponding to 42,453 acre-feet. This is about 2.0 feet lower than the same time last year.
Update on Project Planning/Groundwater Issues/Economics: Ivan reported that the Portola office of DFG is currently working on setting up technical advisory teams. Last week, Ivan met with Kathy Hill and Nick Villa to discuss detoxification issues. This is one of the critical items involved in a treatment where water is released from the lake. Various options were discussed and will be addressed in depth at a later time. We are also setting up technical teams to deal with various areas such as toxicological issues, ground water issues, etc. There is a meeting in Sacramento on Tuesday, October 26 to meet with various individuals who might be able to participate as one of the team members.
Fran asked about the use of some sort of machinery which could be used to dispense the detoxifying agent. Ivan said that there was some sort of auger which could apparently be used to disperse the powdered KMNO4.
Jim Murphy brought up the issue regarding DWR’s involvement in all this. Ivan related that Curtis Levine should be back to work in the next week or two. Ivan also mentioned that he had met with Maury Miller, DWR Oroville, to discuss various water release/refill issues, downstream water rights, etc.
Grizzly Ridge Golf Course Water Issue: Doug R. explained that he had checked with persons from the State regarding possible water diversions by the golf course. He found that there currently were no authorizations for diversions, unless something had been done between the County and the golf course. Jim related that the County and the golf course had made some sort of agreement regarding water usage but that no agreements had been made with the State.
Toll Collections for Boat Ramp Usage: Jim Murphy stated that he had heard from the concessionaires that next year they may be collecting fees to launch boats at both Frenchman and Davis. John Heavin stated that they would only being implementing this at Frenchman. It is a way for the concessionaire to recoup some monies to help cover the cost of maintaining the ramp, garbage pick up, etc. There will also be an increase in the camping fees at both Frenchman and Davis in 2005. Nightly camping rates will increase from $14 per night to approximately $16 per night. These two campground areas were the lowest on the Forest.
Vacancy on Steering Committee: Fran has not had a chance to talk to Steve Clifton from Leonard’s Market to see if he is interested in serving as a business representative from inside the city limits. Fran is concerned that the business representatives should pass on information from the committee meetings to other businesses in their area. John Ball asked about the purpose and make up of the committee. There was a great deal of discussion regarding the purpose of the Steering Committee and its being a conduit for information between the community and the Department. The committee was not established as an official entity but only provided suggestions, etc. to the Department. Fran stated that Supervisor Pearson will be requesting that the Board of Supervisors appoint an official committee to deal with Lake Davis issues. Fran also related that Mr. Pearson would include current Steering Committee representatives to be appointed to this committee.
Announcements/Other Business: Ivan will check with HQ to see about Director Broddrick’s possible meeting with the Steering Committee on November 10. Ivan will let committee members know status of this meeting.
The next Steering Committee meeting is set for Wednesday, November 10th,
Portola City Hall
NOTE: November 10th meeting cancelled.