Sunday, January 30, 2011

Stakeholder meeting date change

Due to scheduling conflicts including the Salmonid Restoration Federation conference, the date of the next stakeholder meeting has moved from March 25 to April 8, 2011. We hope everyone can make this new date. Meeting details will be emailed to participants ahead of the meeting. Please email Bill Sears (wsears@sfwater.org) if you plan to attend.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Amphibian Population Task Force Meeting

Last week Yosemite National Park hosted the California/Nevada Amphibian Population Task Force Meeting in Yosemite Valley. The meeting was well attended and brought together some of the foremost experts in western amphibian populations. The two days of presentations at the Yosemite Lodge provided some valuable insights into the recent declines and conservation efforts underway for imperiled amphibians. The meeting ended with a field tour of the UTREP and Looking Downstream projects by SFPUC and NPS staff including Greg Stock, Yosemite park geologist (shown above presenting to participants on O'Shaughnessy Dam).

The meeting and field trip provided a unique opportunity for scientists with the SFPUC, McBain & Trush, the NPS, and others working on developing new environmental flow recommendations for O'Shaughnessy Dam under the UTREP project to obtain critical input on methods and results that have been used to quantify the magnitude, duration, frequency, and timing of flows needed to support amphibians (particularly foothill yellow-legged frog) in the Tuolumne River downstream of O'Shaughnessy Dam.

Input gained from the meeting will be incorporated into our current studies and will be reflected in the final draft flow recommendations report due in the first half of this year.

California/Nevada Amphibian Population Task Force: www.canvamphibs.com