As light fell, scattered fishing boats floated in
a small channel behind the Rod and Boat Club as Bolinas Lagoon silted
up beneath them. A few hours later Monday night Ph.D. Donald Danmeier
of Philip Williams and Associates presented a preview of a study on
what the Lagoon will look like after 50 more years of silt.
The prospect of dredging the Lagoon drew a large
crowd. Every chair in the Quesada room of Bolinas Elementary School
was filled. Fishermen want to dredge, but a faction of environmentalists
want to dredge only as a last resort, after extensive study.
Skip Schwartz, executive director of Audubon Canyon
Ranch said "We finally have a good study." A previous study
of the lagoon by the US Army Corps of Engineers came under derision
and was eventually abandoned.
Schwartz did not say he was against dredging, saying
that it should be considered "if we can determine that the lagoon
needs restoration, that it’s possible, and if the benefits outweigh
the costs."
The consultants’ report will be released on
Nov. 14. The public will then have 30 days to comment on it before it
is taken back and revised by the consultants based on feedback. This
time frame, however, is tentative, as several concerned people expressed
their desire for more time to review.
"We’ll take a close look to see if we can
extend the amount of time that is available for comment," said
Ron Miska, assistant general manager for Marin County Open Space District.
The district is overseeing the process. Two independent panels, both
formed by the district, will review the report to make sure that it
is sufficiently comprehensive.
Dredge now, say fishermen
Fishermen say they want preemptive dredging now and
don’t want to wait until the Lagoon is closed.
Sediment from bluffs, beaches, and deltas wash sand
into the Lagoon, and some of it stays, decreasing its area and raising
the floor beneath the surface of water. The changes include increased
salt marshes, the continued raising of the Lagoon’s floor, and
even possible closures at its mouth in the future.
The lagoon provides local fishermen with the only
convenient place for them to moor their boats with access to the ocean.
When a channel used to moor his boat shifted earlier this year, commercial
fisherman Josh Churchman was forced to load fuel and bait, and unload
his catch, off of the Bolinas beach using a four-wheel drive truck.
That process, a waste of valuable time for those who depend on fishing
for their livelihood, would likely be the only way to continue fishing
out of Bolinas if the lagoon’s mouth closes.
Chance of closure increases with time
In the next 50 years, noted Danmeier, water in the
Lagoon is supposed decrease, but not enough to close it under normal
conditions. Closure, Danmeier said, would take a high energy event such
as a storm coinciding with a weak neap tide or an earthquake. However,
"as time goes on," he noted, "the potential for closure
becomes more tangible."
But fisherman are already having a hard time escaping
the Lagoon. They now need at least a 3-foot tide to get out, said resident
Tom Morrison.
"It breaks my heart, losing something so precious,"
said a Bolinas resident and member of the Rod and Boat Club on Wharf
Road who refused to give her name.