Forum to Focus on Santa Clara River

Residents of Ventura and Los Angeles counties interested in the Santa Clara River and the threats to its future are invited to a daylong seminar May 7 sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of the Santa Clara River.

The river, which runs about 100 miles from its headwaters in the hills above Acton in Los Angeles County to the ocean in Oxnard, faces threats from development, oil spills, sand and gravel mining, street runoff and other sources.

“We just think it’s a good chance to educate the public,” said Ron Bottorff, chairman of Friends of the Santa Clara River.

“The only hope for this river to be kept in its mostly natural state is for the public to be well-informed and involved.”

The river is the subject of a study and enhancement plan funded primarily by the California Coastal Conservancy. The state agency underwrites efforts to protect and restore the coastal environment.

Speakers at the forum will include biologist Cat Brown with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jeff Rosenbloom of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Jim Danza of Friends of the Los Angeles River, Larry Rose of the Ventura County Agricultural Land Trust and Don Davis of the Ventura County Audubon Society.

Topics will include river hydrology, pollution, the river as a water resource and implications of the federal Clean Water Act. A question-and-answer session on the river’s watershed will conclude the day.

Cost of the seminar is $15 if registered by Monday and $20 at the door. A continental breakfast and buffet lunch are included. For information, call Bottorff at 498-4323.