Protect Palo Alto Streams: Important Community Meeting February 06

What is happening?
Palo Alto is developing a Stream Corridor Protection Ordinance. A hybrid community meeting will be held (in person or by Zoom) on Thursday, February 06, 2025. At this meeting, City staff will present an overview of Palo Alto’s creek protection regulations as well as a summary of their recommendations for updates.

Why is it important?
Creeks are a vital part of Palo Alto’s natural landscape, providing critical ecological habitat that supports biodiversity and offers important linkages for wildlife. They also contribute to the city’s aesthetic appeal and play a key role in flood mit654igation by channeling stormwater to the Bay.

Development setbacks typically require that a designated distance, measured from the “top of bank,” remain free from the construction of structures. These setbacks are essential because they buffer wildlife and habitats from disruptive activities, preserve ecological functions, and ensure the long-term health of riparian and aquatic environments. By maintaining these buffers, setbacks also help protect water quality, reduce erosion, and provide space for natural floodplains, which in turn reduce flood risks to homes in the watershed.

Even channelized creeks, which have been confined to concrete banks, can offer ecological benefits if setbacks are properly maintained. While concrete channels are far from ideal, they can still support urban ecosystems. Allowing trees and vegetation to grow along the banks can create a more functional riparian habitat, offering water and shelter to birds, insects, and other wildlife.

How can you help?
Community input is crucial to further refine options under consideration and staff recommendations before they are presented to the Planning and Transportation Commission and the City Council. Here’s how you can make a difference:
Join a community meeting in person or on Zoom and provide your feedback to help shape staff recommendations for the ordinance update!

📅 When: Thursday, February 6, 2025 | 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
📍 In person: Palo Alto City Hall Lobby, 250 Hamilton Avenue (Free parking is available in the garage under City Hall.)
📍 On Zoom:
https://cityofpaloalto.zoom.us/j/81024332864
Meeting ID: 810 2433 2864 | Passcode: 494888

RSVPs are not required, but they help the City plan. To  RSVP for this community meeting use the link here.

Suggested Talking Points for Community Members:

• Preserving Riparian Buffers: Emphasize the importance of setbacks to protect creek ecosystems and ensure they remain resilient to urbanization and climate change.

• Ecological Benefits of Creeks: Highlight how creeks like San Francisquito, Adobe, and Matadero support biodiversity, water quality, and flood control.

• Improving Channelized Creeks: Advocate for retrofitting or enhancing land near channelized sections with vegetation, trees, or habitat-friendly features to improve their ecological function.

• Long-Term Planning for Resilience: Stress the need for policies that anticipate future challenges, such as increased flooding or habitat loss due to climate change.

• Community and Aesthetic Value: Discuss the importance of creeks as natural spaces that enhance the community’s quality of life through recreation and education.

Your voice matters in ensuring that these vital natural resources are protected and restored for future generations. Together, we can create policies that balance urban development with the health of Palo Alto’s creeks and riparian environments.

Thank you for being active in your community,

Please tell County to approve artificial turf ordinance

Hi nature-lovers,

On Tuesday, January 28, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will vote on an ordinance that would prevent the County from installing new artificial turf on County-owned property. Artificial turf (plastic grass) causes microplastic pollution and exposure to PFAS “forever chemicals,” as well as causing more player injuries than natural grass. Please email the Supervisors and tell them to vote for this ban and improve sustainability in our county!

What’s Happening

Santa Clara County is considering adopting a partial ban on artificial turf. This ban would apply only to property owned by the County – not to any sports fields owned by schools or city parks, or to privately owned homes or businesses. In addition, the ordinance includes an exemption for County-owned land where an existing lease requires the continued use of artificial turf. It also only bans new installation or replacement of artificial turf – it does not require removal of existing turf. 

Unfortunately, the artificial turf industry and some sports organizations have mounted a huge campaign to oppose the ordinance. As a result, many families mistakenly believe that this ordinance would require ripping out existing artificial turf sports fields, or that it would apply to all sports fields everywhere in the County, which could drastically affect playing time availability. When the Supervisors first considered this ordinance last summer, many people emailed and spoke to beg them not to approve the ordinance due to this mistaken belief.

The truth is that there are only a handful of sites which contain County-owned land with artificial turf, and most of those fall under the existing lease exemption. There is a proposal to create new sports fields at the County Fairgrounds site, and the ordinance would apply to those if approved.

Why It Matters

Artificial turf can be more accurately described as “plastic grass.” The plastic material degrades over time, creating microplastics that are washed into storm drains and out into the ocean where they impact marine species. And the chemicals used in artificial turf are known as “forever chemicals” because they never break down. Artificial turf has the dubious distinction of being something that will linger on this planet forever. Considering that as a playing surface, artificial turf only lasts 8-10 years before it must be hauled to a landfill and replaced, that is a very short usable lifespan compared to the millions of years this product will stay in our environment.

Artificial turf is not even a superior playing surface. It results in more player injuries than natural grass fields, and it reaches temperatures during hot days that make it hazardous to use. As climate change accelerates, there will be more and more days of extreme heat, meaning there will be more and more days when artificial turf playing fields will be unusable. Supervisor Otto Lee’s office has created an FAQ on artificial turf with more information. 

While this ordinance is extremely limited in its impact, even this modest action will serve as a first step towards encouraging other counties and cities to consider enacting their own bans.

What You Can Do

Please email the Supervisors and tell them to vote for the artificial turf ordinance!

February Updates

Foothill Yellow-legged Frog: Pierre Fidenci

Help protect Burrowing Owls

Last March, our chapter with other organizations submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission to list the Western Burrowing Owl as a threatened or endangered species under CESA.  In October 2024, the commission provided the owls with a Candidate for listing status, providing the Western Burrowing Owl with the same legal protection given to an endangered or threatened species. This action opened a 12 month period for The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to conduct a status review prior to the commission’s final decision. As part of the status review process, CDFW wants to receive information about the species’ ecology, genetics, life history, distribution, abundance, habitat, the degree and immediacy of threats to its reproduction or survival; the adequacy of existing management and recommendations for species management.

Now, CDFW is seeking public input on a petition to list the western burrowing owl under the California Endangered Species Act. The owl, which inhabits grasslands and agricultural areas, faces threats from habitat loss, pesticide use, predation and recreation. CDFW will review data on the species’ ecology, threats, and management to produce a status report by October 2025, aiding the Fish and Wildlife Commission in its decision. Submit comments by email to wildlifemgt@wildlife.ca.gov by February 15, 2025. Please include “Western Burrowing Owl” in the subject line and express how important it is to save the Burrowing Owls of California from extinction.

Palo Alto residents: birds and nature need your help!

Palo Alto is making progress towards the adoption of ordinances to reduce light pollution, protect birds from flying into windows, protect waterways, and integrate more nature and less plastic in Palo Alto's landscape.  Palo Alto residents have several opportunities to participate in shaping these important local environmental policies at upcoming public meetings this February:

Monday February 3:  The City Council will discuss the proposed Dark Sky Ordinance aimed at reducing light pollution. 

Thursday February 6: An in-person community meeting will focus on the development of a Creek Protection Ordinance to safeguard local waterways (Creek Protection Project Page). Please join us to help protect our waterways. Register here.

Monday February 24: The City Council will discuss the proposed  Bird-Friendly Design Ordinance to help reduce risks to local and migratory bird populations.

Tuesday February 25: The Parks and Recreation Commission will discuss the City’s Tree and Landscaping Manual. Let’s ask that the manual promotes locally native plants and habitat and reduces the use of plastic in landscaping!

Please watch your inbox for our action alerts! And please contact Shani at Advocate@scvbirdalliance.com if you are able to participate (in person or on zoom) in any of the meetings listed above - we need to show the city that we care about birds and nature!

Help Protect the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes designating 760,071 acres in California as critical habitat for four distinct population segments of the foothill yellow-legged frog. The species is threatened by habitat degradation, climate change, and invasive species. Critical habitat includes streams and upland areas essential for survival and recovery, with half on federally managed lands. Efforts to balance conservation with wildfire risk reduction and water infrastructure operations are ongoing. 

Please comment by March 17, 2025

December Updates

Stevens Creek by Carolyn Knight

Action Alerts

A few minutes of your time can have an impact on our environment. Here are a few opportunities to engage:

Sargent Ranch (Jusritac)

The proposed Sargent Quarry Project threatens land that is of immense cultural importance to the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. This land also provides habitat to oak woodlands, grasslands and sycamore alluvial forests and supports many species of native birds, including burrowing owls. Please:

• Join 20000 people and sign a petition to Santa Clara County asking all elected officials in Santa Clara County to Protect Amah Mutsun Sacred Grounds from the Proposed Quarry at Sargent Ranch (Juristac): https://www.protectjuristac.org/petition/

• Write a very short email to the Palo Alto City Council (city.council@CityofPaloAlto.org) to express your support for Item 19 on the December 2nd agenda, a resolution in support of the efforts of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band 1) to preserve Juristac/Sargent Ranch as open space in perpetuity and to regain access to their cultural and spiritual sites at Juristac 2) retain the name of the open space as Juristac and 3) urge the County of Santa Clara to deny approval of permits for the proposed Sargent Ranch Quarry Project.

Everyone Can Watch a Creek 

• Please watch our creeks! As you walk or drive by a waterway, please take a look at the flow. If something looks amiss (the water is of a wrong color, dead fish, trash) please let advocate@scvas.org know, and provide location, time of observation, and if possible, a photo? And naturally, if you see something lovely, please share!

The Newts Patrol Seeks Volunteers

• The rainy season has started, and newts will again attempt to cross the hazardous Alma Bridge Road. Santa Clara County Roads and Midpeninsula Regional Open Space are slowly making progress on a design for newt crossings, but for now, the Newt Patrol seeks volunteers to help document newts killed by traffic on the road. If you are interested in helping out, please contact https://www.bioblitz.club/newts.

Mountain View Biodiversity and Urban Forest Strategy 

• There is still time to respond to the survey on the City of Mountain view Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan. Mountain View is the first city in our region to embark on a plan for biodiversity, and we hope others will follow. You can help by taking an online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BiodiversityMV_Survey_English 

As you fill the survey, note that you may need to use comments to convey some of the elements that are critical to the enhancement of habitat for birds and pollinators in our urban/suburban landscapes.