Sierra Environmental groups, projects lose funding
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:25 am
Environmental groups, projects lose funding
Written by James Damschroder
The Union Democrat
January 14, 2009 07:36 pm
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/index.php? ... Itemid=199
Several local environmental groups and projects are feeling the pain of a state-imposed freeze on bond-funded projects.
Organizations that have been affected last month’s action include the Tuolumne County Stream Team, Tuolumne River Trust and Tuolumne Utilities District.
A Sierra Nevada Alliance survey showed that the state’s freezing of bond-funded contracts has affected about 60 percent of conservation groups in the Sierra Nevada.
Of the 68 groups who responded to the survey, about 26 percent had already been forced to lay off employees and 64 percent had to lay off contractors.
The Tuolumne County Stream Team, whose members test area waterways for sedimentation and bacterial contamination for the Tuolumne County Resource Conservation District, has lost most of its funding, said Corinne Munger, the group’s watershed coordinator.
Testing in some of the county’s often bacteria-filled streams, including Woods and Sullivan creeks, is not being done because of the state’s freeze, Munger said.
The program will soon discontinue if funding doesn’t come, said Galen Weston, a conservation district director.
The Tuolumne River Trust — which recently worked to stop a San Francisco Public Utilities Commission proposal to take up to 25 million extra gallons of water a day from the river — said 25 percent of its budget is at risk.
The group’s efforts to protect the Clavey River Watershed will be affected by the budget cuts, said Rebecca Cremeen, the trust’s Sierra Nevada program director.
“We’re continuing to do our work, but they’ve told us they aren’t writing checks,” Cremeen said.
Among the nine local projects at risk of losing grant money from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy was a $200,000 study of how to bolster storage capacity and improve water quality in Phoenix Lake.
The grant — the largest of the nine — was to pay for half the Tuolumne Utilities District project.
District General Manager Pete Kampa said he still believes the agency will find project funding.
“In a sense, we’re all in the same boat,” Weston said. “We’re trying to move forward, but we can only hold out for so long.”
The Sierra Nevada Alliance survey spanned the entire Sierra Nevada, from Lassen County to Kern County. Conservation groups surveyed included land trust groups, watershed groups, resource conservation districts and grassroots community organizations.
“In the Sierra rural communities, these were great full-time jobs with benefits. This is only the tip of the iceberg,” said Joan Clayburgh, executive director of the Sierra Nevada Alliance, which supports 85 conservation groups in the Sierra.
The Sierra Nevada Alliance conducted the survey after having to lay off four of its employees after the bond freeze.
“The state is not indicating when or even if they will reauthorize work to start again on these contracts,” Clayburgh said.
Contact James Damschroder at jdamschroder@uniondemocrat.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 588-4531.