Pájaro River Watershed Flood Protection Plan - The Pajaro River ...

“lift” or set of gabion baskets becomes a control structure for a new floodplain
in the overwide channel areas,
If sediment supply were very large and aggregate mining were not occurring,
it would be a simple matter to allow the channel to aggrade to sequential
gabion installations until the system was returned to a condition similar to that
prior to human alteration. But sediment supply is episodic and not unlimited
as is demonstrated by the ever-widening channels (see Riley, 2003).
Further, the aggregate industry owns much of the channel and its banks and
is the logical entity with the capability to stabilize and restore the river
channels.
Aggregate Mining Company Opportunities:
We tabulated and plotted all riverside ownerships (see Appendix 3). The
Granite Rock Company of Watsonville, California, owns or controls the major
portion of the channel between the Pájaro confluence and Tres Pinos. They
lease surface portions of their parcels for farming on the Lake San Benito
soils, and extract aggregate resources from the channel bed, usually by
“skimming” the active braided bed. Their active mining operations ceased in
this area 5 years ago. There are other aggregate operators on the river, and
all are in theory regulated by both the State and the County (see Appendix 7).
Regulation is not consistent or effective. The State, under the Surface Mining
and Reclamation Act (SMARA) requires a Reclamation Plan and financial
assurances (bonding) for each operator. This program is administered by
San Benito County. The State has no authority over land use permits, so the
County is also responsible for either issuing a Conditional Use Permit or
making specific findings that may allow “grandfathered” projects as vested
uses. Thus, San Benito County carries the primary responsibility for
oversight of an industry that provides an important part of its tax base.
According to the California Department of Fish and Game (personal
communication, Santa Rosa office, 2003), some San Benito River operators
may not be in compliance with their Section 404 regulations for in-channel
modifications. According to some operators, San Benito County is attempting
to limit their operations, in part because of complaints by riverside
landowners about bank erosion (such complaints were heard from many
property owners that we contacted). This environment restrains mining
operations, with some operations currently shut down awaiting permits. We
see an opportunity to use aggregate mining operators, with access to heavy
equipment and aggregate resources, to help provide a solution.
A San Benito River Parkway Plan needs to be developed to stabilize and
restore the lower San Benito River. At the present time, public respect for the
river is very low. Both access and amenities are rare. Many residents of that
county only see the river from highway bridges and have no idea what is
actually in the channel. Where the channel has incised to the water table and
mid-channel willow thickets exist, local residents and the County complain,
with some validity, that flood flows are then forced into the banks with
resulting erosion. Where roads access the channel or banks, refuse is
dumped to be carried away by subsequent floods. Temporary summer river
crossings, as at Nash Road and Hospital Road, are installed seasonally with
DRAFT 7/22/03
42
Pajaro Watershed Flood Management