Thursday, November 20, 2014

GO WILD with the RCDSMM NATIVE PLANTS SALE




Dear Santa Monica Mountains Watersheds Council members,

Today is the Santa Monica Mountains Watersheds Council meeting. 
Event starts at two-thirty p.m. at the King Gillette Ranch.
Enter on Mulholland and head to the left when you get to the lake.
We are in the building with the big auditorium; event will be held in the back room on the right.

We have an incredible array of speakers so I hope that you can make it.

Please note that we are going to have to "flip" the agenda to accommodate the speaker from WBMWD and the speaker from Ventura; we'll have to fit in the normal updates and announcements later in the schedule. They'll be up at two-thirty and three p.m. respectively.

Also I have a sick kid, so I want to express my huge appreciation for my colleague Rosi Dagit who is stepping in on my behalf today.

Speakers today include:
1. Desalination Plant Presentation by Diane Gatza, West Basin Municipal Water District (30 minutes)

2. "The Nature Conservancy’s Coastal Resilience Ventura Project” by Lily Verdone, the Nature Conservancy (45 minutes)

3. Evergreen Fund: Solar in the Santa Monica Mountains by Robert Metcalf (20 minutes)

4. “The Making of a Modern Day Chief: Charlie Cooke.” Presentation + book sigining by Dr. Mary Gordon (30 minutes)

Diane Gatza is incredibly detail oriented so the desalination talk is fascinating -- she really knows desal plants up and down the coast as well as her own project.

The presentation on Coastal Resiliency is about adaptation after sea level rise. INCREDIBLY important and key researcher Lily Verdone is giving the talk herself.

The presentation on the solar fund idea is given by Robert Metcalf who has already succeeded in the entrepreneurial space in the solar arena -- this is a new approach to funding solar in the Santa Monica Mountains. Worth exploring.

Last but not least, a look at a great local leader by a dedicated historian Mary Gordon + a book signing.

What's not to love? Join us.

In the News

Federal v. State in Water Management Approaches

Ventura Moratorium on New Wells
Passed by a four-to-one vote.

San Diego Moves Forward on Water Recycling

Blue Fin Tuna
Ask your sushi-ya, grocery store, fish retail shop to STOP selling bluefin tuna. And can we declare these fish endangered while there are still some out there swimming?

Sailor's Lonely Pacific 
Forgive me if you have seen this story before but it is really worth considering this been-there, seen-that perspective.

Saltwater Fish Extinctions?
Yes the study is from 2006, but the essential drivers in the research remain all too plausible.

UPCOMING EVENT
GO WILD with the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains Native Plants Sale on Saturday December sixth at the Topanga Ranch Motel. See attached flyer. Please forward to those who you think might want to join us.  

Contact me to pre-order plants.

GO WILD: HOW?
Keep Your Green
Looking to help your garden GO WILD but not sure what to do first? Hire one of our biologists to spend ninety minutes with you on site planning. Email Steven Williams <keepyourgreen@rcdsmm.org>

Walk in beauty.

Sincerely,
Melina Watts
Santa Monica Mountains Watersheds Coordinator
Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains

malibucreekwatershed@gmail.com
http://www.rcdsmm.org/santa-monica-mountains-watersheds-council

Need some beauty in your life? 

Join us at the RCDSMM Native Plants Sale and GO WILD

GO WILD and make all holiday shopping green.

Date: Saturday, December 6th
Location: Topanga Ranch Motel, to be confirmed
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

To pre-order plants, contact Melina Watts at malibucreekwatershed@gmail.com


Follow the Santa Monica Mountains Watersheds Council on twitter: @melinaswatts

Friday, November 7, 2014

TOMORROW is RCDSMM Wild and Scenic Film Festival at Pepperdine University + Santa Monica Mountains Watersheds Council Newsletter



Dear Santa Monica Mountains Watersheds Council Members,

Tomorrow night is the last night of the RCDSMM Wild and Scenic Film Festival.
Join us at Pepperdine University in Malibu at the Elkins Theatre at six-thirty p.m. for an incredible evening.

Students and faculty with ID free.
Tickets available in advance online: WildScenicBu.eventbrite.com

For a moment of enchantment, watch the trailer here.

Check out our slate.

Internationally famous filmmaker / environmental lawyer Teresa Tico is flying in from Hawaii to join us for a Q + A

Find out more about Teresa Tico:
Take a look at one of her earlier films, Miss South Pacific, a clear audience favorite at the Malibu Film Festival two years prior.


Public Workshop for Proposed Projects for Enhanced Watershed Management Plan
Date: Thursday, November 13
Time: 6:30 - 8:30
Location: King Gillette Ranch


Malibu Library Speaker Event: Jodi Hilty
Wednesday, November 197:00 pm 



Dr. Jodi Hilty is a leader on the scientific applications utilized to address major natural resource management and conservation issues across North America. As executive director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's North America Program, she specializes in promoting healthy communities to sustain a healthy environment, reducing the threats of natural resource extraction, and addressing the myriad of challenges climate change poses to wildlife and wild places. She is also a leading proponent of identifying and protecting wildlife corridors, like the one proposed near Liberty Canyon Road, that allow species room to roam.

Overseeing a staff of 60 working in remote locations, Dr. Hilty promotes the active engagement of the Wildlife Conservation Society in the larger scientific and conservation communities, strengthens partnerships with agencies and organizations, and cultivates the next generation of conservation science leaders. Trained as a conservation biologist at the University of CaliforniaBerkley, her passion is focused on finding creative, science-based solutions to resolve critical conflicts between humans and the natural world.

Make your reservation now! Reservations are required. Call the Malibu Library at 310.456.6438to RSVP.
NEXT SANTA MONICA COUNCIL MEETING: SAVE THE DATE
Santa Monica Mountains Watersheds Council Meeting
Date: Thursday, November 20th, 2014
Time: 2:30 - 5:00
Location: King Gillette Ranch
Agenda attached.
Should be AMAZING.

Speakers at next SMMWC Meeting: 
"The Nature Conservancy’s Coastal Resilience Ventura Project” by Lily Verdone, the Nature Conservancy (45 minutes)
Desalination Plant Presentation by Diane G., West Basin Municipal Water District (30 minutes)
Evergreen Fund: Solar in the Santa Monica Mountains by Robert Metcalf (20 minutes)
The Making of a Modern Day Chief: Charlie Cooke.” Presentation + book sigining by Dr. Mary Gordon (30 minutes)


GO WILD with the RCDSMM: Annual Native Plants Sale on December 6th.
To pre-order plants, contact … me.
Melina Sempill Watts at: malibucreekwatershed@gmail.com


ABOUT THOSE NATIVE PLANTS…
A Look at National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat Program by UCLA IOES 
UCLA IOES recently conducted a study of how the Certified Wildlife Habitat supports water conservation, habitat restoration and carbon sequestration of primary greenhouse gas CO2.


PROGRESS ON A GILL NET BAN
Great work by HTB staffer Dana Murray:


STOKED TO RECYCLE STYROFOAM?
City of Malibu Can Turn Your Fluff Into a Surfboard
City of Malibu is stoked to be working with Sustainable Surf Waste to Waves on America Recycles Day Malibu! Drop off polystyrene foam packaging at the collection event at Malibu City Hall Nov 1-15 to keep it out of landfills and the ocean, and it will be recycled into environmentally friendly surfboards! Event info at http://tiny.cc/qkzjox


IN THE NEWS
Are Microfibers the New Microbead?


BPA Bans?
"In France the decision has been taken to ban BPA from food packaging from 1 January 2015 as a result of health fears."

Cash Receipts = BPA Source?

Drivers' Toll on Wildlife
Thanks to Beth Pratt, NWF for the share.

Santa Monica Mountains Watersheds Council Twitter Link
If you twitter, feel free to follow me at @melinaswatts


Walk in beauty.

And take some time to go outside and sit in the sun. Serenity matters.

Sincerely,
Melina Watts
Santa Monica Mountains Watersheds Coordinator
Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains


malibucreekwatershed@gmail.com
http://www.rcdsmm.org/santa-monica-mountains-watersheds-council

Need some beauty in your life? 

Join us at the RCDSMM Wild and Scenic Film Festival at Pepperdine University.

Watch the trailer for the RCDSMM Wild and Scenic Film Festival here.
Buy tickets here: WildScenicBu.eventbrite.com


Special Guest: Theresa Tico, Environmental Lawyer + Filmmaker

Films About Water
RCDSMM Wild and Scenic Film Festival
Saturday November 8th
Reception: 6:30
Time: 7:00 - 10:00