Marys River Watershed Council

Marys River Watershed Council
MRWC MEETING

Philomath City Hall
May 5, 1999
7:00 - 9:00 pm

7:00 Call for additional Agenda items
7:05 Reports from around the watershed
7:15 Jerry Davis, Benton County will discuss the opportunity for Benton County Government to work with the Marys River Watershed regarding the Oregon Plan.
7:35 Chip Andrus, EPA and Bill Pearcy (MRWC) and Hiram Li will discuss the results of the temperature monitoring study they conducted as part of the MRWC in 1998. They will discuss watershed-wide patterns of maximum water temperature for the Marys River watershed. Based on the summer, 1998 monitoring data, we find distinct patterns of stream warming in a downstream direction depending on upstream geology, stream size, and level of shading.
8:05 Report from the Steering Committee
8:20 Report from the Watershed Council Coordinator - Sandra Coveny
8:40 Other Agenda items
9:00 Adjourn

Important Announcement

There will be a field trip on Thursday, May 13th at 5:30 PM at the Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Meet at the crew dock parking lot. We will examine the riparian area and learn how to describe its components.

Last Months Meeting Highlights:

Steve Griffith (USDA,ARS) spoke: Steve gave a presentation on a study of water quality as affected by riparian ecosystems in agricultural settings.
The main working hypothesis of this group is that natural riparian zones next to streams adjoining grass seed fields result in the export of water from those fields with lower concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorous, and herbicide to the streams. Because these soils are poorly drained, water moves through these fields as shallow lateral subsurface flows. Steve's group have monitored three study sites in the mid-Willamette Valley. All sites consisted of perennial ryegrass seed field, a riparian area, and an intermittent or perennial stream. The riparian areas differ at the three sites. One site has a managed grass field in the riparian zone, another has an uncultivated natural grass area, and the third site has a mixed hardwood-conifer forest. All sites were monitored through the use of nested piezometers, wells, stream gages, and overland flow gages. Stream and overland water flows were continuously monitored. Ground and surface water samples were periodically sampled for major forms of nitrogen, phosphorous, and the herbicide diuron. The monitoring of these field sites started between the fall of 1994 and the summer of 1995, and has continued since then.

Steering Committee Report:

The Steering Committee endorsed the migratory bird study proposed by Val Glooschenko
The Steering Committee endorsed Jeff Mitchell's stream restoration plan for the Mary's River. This proposal had local high school students planting alder trees so that the roots would hold the stream bank steady. Funding for the project came from the town of Philomath and from Cascade Pacific RC&D.
The Steering Committee developed guidelines for future endorsement of project proposals. These guidelines were modified from the mid-coast watershed council and included requirements of at least 3 months notice.

Coordinator's Report:

The Mary's River assessment should be done in a week. At this time we'll start working on an action plan. Things will get more contentious at that time, so please let's try to maintain a cooperative spirit as much as possible. There will be a presentation of the assessment at the library.
The next application deadline for GWEB funding is Sept. 1 (assuming that the measure 66 allocation passes).
GWEB is looking favorably on funding the coordinator position for our council. We'll know more in May.
Coloring books are now available: "Endangered Species of the Lower Columbia River" - A water quality monitoring guidebook is available. - On May 15th GWEB will sponsor a workshop on survival skills for watershed groups.

7:00	Call for additional Agenda items
7:05	Reports from around the watershed
7:15	Jerry Davis, Benton County will discuss the opportunity for Benton County Government to work with the Marys River Watershed regarding the Oregon Plan.
7:35	Chip Andrus, EPA and Bill Pearcy (MRWC) and Hiram Li will discuss the results of the temperature monitoring study they conducted as part of the MRWC in 1998. They will discuss watershed-wide patterns of maximum water temperature for the Marys River watershed. Based on the summer, 1998 monitoring data, we find distinct patterns of stream warming in a downstream direction depending on upstream geology, stream size, and level of shading.
8:05	Report from the Steering Committee
8:20	Report from the Watershed Council Coordinator - Sandra Coveny
8:40	Other Agenda items
9:00	Adjourn