Facilitator: Tony Cheng

7:00	Call for additional Agenda items
7:05	Reports from around the watershed
7:20	Dr. Neva Hassanein from National Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides will discuss what is known about pesticides as water pollutants in the Willamette Basin in general and the Mary's River in particular. She will address what is known about non-point source pollution in both urban and rural settings. Dr. Hassanein will also present data from various creeks in a variety of land-use types and cover types, such as Dixon Creek and Rock Creek.
7:50	Jeff Spencer, the Watershed Technical Specialist for Benton County Soil and Water Conservation District will present examples of land owner projects from the Muddy Creek area, sample plans for landowners, and the variety of state, federal, and other programs available for landowner assistance.
8:10	Assessment Update -Town Meeting Report - Sandra Coveny
8:50	Additional Agenda Items
9:00	Adjourn

November Meeting Highlights

• Bill Pearcy reported that the temperature monitors have been retrieved from around the watershed. Approximately 50 were placed, and approximately 4 were missing. These data will be available within the next couple of months and will be presented to the council.

• Students at Philomath High School have been conducting water quality tests on Newton Creek, and are examining macroinvertebrates on Mary's River. The council asked for a presentation by the students in the near future.

• A draft plan from the engineer is expected this month for the Newton Creek Wetlands Assessment being conducted by the City of Philomath.

• Smith discussed different perspectives on riparian areas and how local viewpoints often differ from those of scientists. Court raised three questions: 1) What should a riparian area look like? 2) How much will it cost to produce such riparian areas? and 3) Who will pay? A discussion revolving around these three questions followed. In this discussion, questions were raised, such as: to what degree should channel position be constrained? what kind of vegetation should be considered as representative of a healthy riparian area? and what role should beaver be allowed to play in riparian management?

• Ethen Bennett (929-4537) described a study he conducted of changes in the Wren area between 1945 and 1993. His study was based on a comparison of aerial photographs, and he looked at vegetation cover, roads, and development.

• Kim Mattson (745-2045), owner of Ecosystem Northwest, described the assessment process, how it was to be conducted, and what products would come out of it. A draft document will be available by the end of the year with 4 main chapters: 1) History and Characterization of the Watershed, 2) Current Conditions and Measures of Change, 3) Elements of Change and Causes of Change, 4) Future Trends of Change. A public meeting is scheduled for December 1st to allow for landowner input on issues of concern in the Marys River Watershed. Six analysts will work on this preliminary assessment including people with expertise in fisheries, streams, forests, hydrology, water quality, soils, geomorphology, history, and GIS.

• On Dec. 3 at 7 PM a meeting will be held in the Corvallis Public Library meeting room concerning Corvallis Storm Water Management Practices. On Dec. 5th there will be a field trip, to be announced at the Dec. 3rd meeting.

  Several council members have made suggestions for guest speaker which they would like to have present to the council. In response, we have initiated a speaker protocol. If you have speaker suggestions, please call Tara Nierenberg at 737-4457. Tara organizes the speaker scheduling. She will then run it by the Steering Committee and work directly with the speaker (or you) to schedule their talk.

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