Operational & Field Report - 2005
PHONE
800-231-3236 (toll free)
707-285-2200 (office)
707-285-2210 (fax)
ADDRESS
595 Helman Lane
Cotati, California
94931-9736
HOURS
Monday through Friday
7:00am to 3:30pm
Closed
11:30am - 12:30pm
Chuck Krause, Operations Director
The arrival of West Nile virus, and the new 1,200 square miles of service areas, brought several new challenges. We started the year with five new technicians and one new area supervisor, bringing the total operations staff to 24. We also had two excellent seasonal assistants from March through October, who helped on our catch basin and storm drain projects, tidal marsh surveillance, and larval control.
Chuck Krause checks water primrose infestation.
1. Staff field assignments. Our field technicians are responsible for larval source surveillance, reduction and control in 14 zones, as detailed below:
Zone 1 (Jeff Petersen): - Belvedere, Corte Madera, Larkspur, Marin City, Mill Valley, Sausalito, Tam Valley and Tiburon.
Zone 2 (Tony Trisciuzzi): - Bret Hart, Canal, Greenbrae, Fairfax, Forest Knolls, Kentfield, Lagunitas, Larkspur, Ross, San Anselmo, San Geronimo, San Rafael, Sleepy Hollow, and Woodacre.
Zone 3/4 (Dan Leslie and Kevin Beardsley): - Dominican College, Glenwood, Hamilton Field, Ignacio, Las Gallinas Sanitary, Loch Lomond, Loma Verde, Lucas Valley, Marin Village, Marinwood, Pacheco Valley, San Rafael, Santa Venitia, and Terra Linda.
Zone 4 (Robert Morton and Joe Tescallo): - Bahia, Bel Marin Keys, Blackpoint, Greenpoint, Marin Village, Novato, Petaluma Marsh, Port Sonoma, Reclamation Marsh, and San Marin.
Zone 5 (Nick Picinich): - Cotati, Hershels, Petaluma, and Penngrove.
Zone 6 (Marc Nadale): - Diamond A Ranch, El Verano, Fetters Hot Springs, Mission Highlands, Schellville, Sears Point, Sonoma Creek Marsh, Sonoma, Tolay Creek South, Tubs Island, and Vineburg.
Zone 7 (Tony Russo): - Bennett Valley, Eldridge, Oakmont, South Rohnert Park, and Santa Rosa - Montgomery Village.
Zone 8 (Chris Mohrman): - Bellevue, Cunningham, Dell Rio, Forestville, Graton, Hessel, Knowles Corner, Mirabel Park, Roseland, Sebastopol, Summerhome Park, and West Santa Rosa.
Zone 9 (Mike Cole): - Mark West Springs, Santa Rosa, South Park, and Rincon Valley.
Zone 10 (Bruce Ohlinger): - City of Santa Rosa, Town of Windsor, South County Airport, and the Novato Sanitary District.
Zone 11 (Kolleen Reeves): - Wikiup, Santa Rosa.
Zone 12 (Mylo Wiles): - Glen Ellen, Kenwood, Agua Caliente, Boyes Hot Springs, and Sonoma.
Zone E – Sonoma County north & west (Joanne Towl - Supervisor; Paul Filippi, Nathan Reed, Mike Wells): - Annapolis, Asti, Bodega Bay, Berkeley Camp, Bodega, Bloomfield, Bohemian Grove, Bridge Haven, Cazadero, Cloverdale, Camp Meeker, Duncan Mills, El Bonita, Fort Ross, Freestone, Guernewood Park, Guerneville, Geyserville, Healdsburg, Jenner, Lytton, Knights Valley, Monte Rio, Northwood, Occidental, Oceanview, Rio Nido, Sereno Del Mar, Sea Ranch, Stewarts Point, Skaggs Springs, Timber Cove, Two Rock, Vacation Beach, Valley Ford, and Walsh Landing.
Zone A – Marin County west (Joanne Towl - Supervisor; Paul Filippi, Nathan Reed, Mike Wells): - Bolinas, Dillon Beach, Fallon, Inverness, Inverness Park, Marshall, Muir Beach, Nicasio, Olema, Point Reyes Station, Stinson Beach, Tocaloma, and Tomales.
2. Control projects. We completed source reduction procedures in some 5,000 linear feet of existing channels to increase water circulation and help reduce mosquito production. The late spring rains required prolonged surveillance and larviciding in seasonal wetlands and wastewater irrigation projects. A total of 22,472 acres were larvicided: 7,697 in Marin and 13,949 in Sonoma counties.
3. Prevention & Planning. Our staff continues to work with Marin and Sonoma county agencies and cities to help foresee, and if possible avoid, potential mosquito-producing situations while projects are still being planned. The District is recognized as a commenting agency on wetland creation and restoration projects and on storm water prevention control structures (BMPs). Through a cooperative effort, both counties now provide the District with early, planning stage information, and incorporate many of our management, maintenance and design criteria into their final projects.
The District is a commenting agency on the Vernal Pool Mitigation Bank Task Force. Some of the many projects we were involved in during 2005 included Tiburon’s Tule Pond, Remillard Park in Larkspur, Novato’s Hamilton Air Force Base and Bugeia Marsh, the Dickson Ranch and Leonard Ranch wetlands restoration projects on the San Pablo Bay shoreline, and the Laguna de Santa Rosa.
Leonard Ranch, Sonoma County, looking south toward the Bay.
4. Equipment. 2005 saw significant improvements to our available equipment. Following a design from the Greater Los Angeles District, we developed a new, safer, timesaving catch basin rig. We also developed a high volume, high output sprayer, useful for dense vegetation situations like cattail wetlands. And we are now designing a rotary ditch vehicle for source reduction and a brush cutter that could be attached to light ground pressure equipment for mowing dense vegetation and brush in sensitive areas.
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