Restoration focus of Matilija Dam walk
by Kelly Feser Eells

While conservationists, environmentalists, and naturalists nationwide have taken a keen interest in the move to decommission Matilija Dam, the movement, like the dam itself, has its roots in the Ojai Valley.
Paul Jenkin, environmental director of the Surfrider Foundation of Ventura County, is also coordinator of the Matilija Coalition, an "alliance of community groups, businesses and individuals committed to the environmental restoration of the Ventura River watershed."
Local partners include Friends of the Ventura River; Patagonia, Inc.; Environmental Coalition of Ventura County; and the Surfrider Foundation. The coalition also teams with the Environmental Defense Center of Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo; Friends of the River (California); American Rivers,; and CalTrout to achieve its goal: restoration through the removal of Matilija Dam.
As concern for the rapidly-declining steelhead trout (an endangered species) population, as well as an ever-worsening coastal beach erosion problem, grew, so did support for restoring Ventura's - and other compromised rivers' -ecosystems.
Highlighting the effort was the Board of Supervisors' June 2001 approval of a cost share agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Ventura County Flood Control District, thereby launching the Matilija Dam Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility study currently underway. The $4.2 million dollar study will include survey and analysis of all geological, biological and engineering factors associated with the dam's removal, and should be concluded by the end of 2004.
In the meantime, the Matilija Coalition encourages community interest and, as part of an on-going public outreach campaign, is hosting a field trip, the "Matilija Creek Walk," on Sat., Aug. 10. Jenkin invites "everyone to join us. We're meeting at the Matilija trailhead, at the end of Matilija Canyon Rd., at 8:30 (a.m.) and expect to be done by 11:00."
Jenkin adds that the "focus of the walk will be the steelhead; Jim Edmondson from CalTrout will be giving a presentation."
Edmondson, CalTrout's Conservation Director, also serves on the California Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead Trout, which advises the Director of Fish and Game and the California legislature on state policy concerning protection and restoration of salmon and steelhead. The San Francisco-based agency was formed in 1971, and its "unending battles" include a "decades long one" with Casitas Municipal Water District, recently ended with CMWD's agreement to construct a fish ladder and fish screens on the Ventura River at the Robles Diversion. "Between the solving of this fish passage issue and the eventual removal of Matilija Dam up river, the complete restoration of the Ventura River and Matilija Creek can become a reality."
For further information on the Matilija Creek Walk, please call Paul Jenkin at 805-648-4005.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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