Minutes of the Marys River Watershed Council Meeting
December 3, 2003

The meeting began at 7 pm with brief introductions.

1. Outreach and Education Committee: Planning is already beginning for next June 19th's Solstice Event, which will be held again at the Tyee Winery, with Gary Snyder, our guest speaker. Volunteer help is welcome for all phases of this project. Please contact Mark Taratoot.
2. Water Quality Monitoring Committee members were busy providing information at hearings of the Philomath City Council and Philomath Planning Commission regarding water quality and quantity of the Marys River, including the results of their monitoring the river during the Labor Day weekend.
3. Land, Air and Water Use Committee: A field trip to the Desler wetlands was planned for Sunday, December 6th. It was also reported that they have suggestions for further monitoring of the Marys River, particularly including flow and sedimentation.
4. Fish Passage Committee: Reported that Stacey Carpenter and Chris Stebbins have completed a new GIS survey of culverts in Benton County, which includes information on culvert diameter, stream slope and stream habitat. They are developing a fish passage map.
5. Steering Committee: They met twice and discussed the long-term plan. Materials have been received, and feedback was given to the coordinator. The work plan has been completed and the report is now done. We can now go from the planning phase to the active phase! The committee also discussed a water study partnership with Philomath and wanted a plan to deal with the Marys River and facilitate and coordinate an impact analysis. A basic plan of study was submitted to Philomath in October and was presented by Chuck Lane at the Philomath City Council's November 10th meeting. This topic has been submitted to the Public Works Committee and is on their December 11th agenda. Chuck read us the overall goals of the proposal and discussion followed.
6. Coordinator's Report: Sandra Coveny reminded us that the MRWC has been in existence for 6 years now. And now that Liz Dent has admirably finished our Action Plan, we can go from the planning phase to the implementation phase. If you want a copy of this plan, Sandra can cut a CD of it. Each committee will have one. And, we will have a new committee formed as well, called the Action Plan Implementation Committee. Members so far are Tara Nierenberg and Sandra Coveny. Liz Dent will present the Action Plan to the MRWC at our February meeting.Sandra also explained about OWEB 's designation of our watershed as a 5th field watershed, and possible changes that OWEB is considering.

GUEST SPEAKER: Paul Adams, from OSU, presented a talk entitled "Science and Scientists in Natural Resource Policy and Decision Making". Some of his prominent points were: l. technical answers are only part of the picture; 2. a reminder to use the phrase "in my professional opinion", or "in my personal opinion" if you are speaking or signing a letter/editorial and giving your affiliation; 3. Science is much less helpful over policy issues that involve major value differences, and solutions are more likely to be found in negotiation and compromise, high courts, or charismatic leaders. 4. He also discussed terms such as "best available science" and "sound bites" which the media like obtain. A question and answer period followed. The meeting adjourned at 8:50pm.