Bedwell OK with water director plan
Grass Valley Union - 10/31/03
By Dave Moller, staff writer

Nevada County Supervisor Drew Bedwell has been openly challenging public watershed groups in recent days, contending county government might do a better job of watching over the waterways.

But Bedwell embraced the Bear River Watershed Group Thursday when it decided to pursue a grant to support a director for the next three years.

The group is dedicated to meeting state water quality standards for the Bear River watershed through area governmental agencies and public watchdog organizations. It includes representatives from the Nevada Irrigation District, Placer County Water District, the Nevada and Placer County Resource Conservation Districts, and Friends of Wolf Creek among others.

Bedwell was confronted with their collective expertise and admitted, as a new supervisor, he was just getting up to speed with the group's goals and functions. He also extended an olive branch.

"I'm on the budget committee. I could recommend a line of funding for monitoring (the watershed)," Bedwell told the group. "I'll do everything I can; I'm the bank here."

That was welcomed by group member Rudi Golnik, the Grass Valley public works director, who said volunteer stream monitors often get burned out.

But Friends of Wolf Creek member Jonathan Keehn reminded them that his watershed organization has plenty of free volunteers "and we want to help in any way we can."

That was echoed by Friends member and professional environmental consultant Lynell Garfield, who said, "we could save a ton of money on monitoring with volunteers. ... We could save a lot of tax dollars that way."

The director of the Bear River Watershed Group would be funded by a grant from the state's CALFED Watershed Program, which is dedicated to delivering clean water to the delta and San Francisco Bay. Nevada County Resource Conservation District employee Cyndi Brinkhurst will write the grant seeking the director and estimated the position will pay $60,000 per year.

The director would coordinate a large number of tasks within the watershed to improve water quality and resolve conflicts.