|
Voices from the Arosa Canyon: Think Blue!
Voices from the Arosa Canyon: Think Blue!
Date: 11/16/2011 9:49:57 AM ( 13 y ) ... viewed 1561 times
THE AROSA CANYON IS A WATERSHED
ABSTRACT
The Arosa Canyon is a wateshed. Use of Round Up. increasingly being shown as a hazardous waste, as a means to manage Arundo Donax is not advised. Using this to kill the roots of Arundo Donax, has the potential of sending streams of residue into the ground water basin potentially natural plant life, and a Nature Habitat of birds, small animals, and other flora and fauna. Superweeds are now a common occurrence where Round Up is used.
It is time now to fully understand the consequences.
Pollution violation, as reported by the EPA may be as high as $10,000 a day. THe water that drives through the canyon run off goes into our storm drain system and ends up in ground water and the ocean.
The use of Round Up to kill roots of Arundo Donax on the hillsides of the Arosa Canyon may seem small; and yet the use of Round up is now coming close to our own canyon backyard. it is time now to take a stand, as neighbors to educate the City and its recreational department that we do not want Round Up here.
There is a growing trend to use less and less herbicides to maintain our park lands and open spaces; and yet we persist in using Round Up. Why not explore other ways to kill the roots if need be. I personally would prefer to use teenagers and people in need of work taking on the management of this species, that in the proper environment--other than our canyon--may be one of the likeliest candidates for a biofuel substitute.
It is time to explore other non toxic ways to eliminate potential invasive species such as Arundo Donax. Other ways to manage and kill the roots exist.
UNDER THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO's MUNICIPAL CODE #43.0301, Storm Water Management and Discharge Control ordinance, it is illegal to discharge pollutants into the storm water convenancy system.
http://www.sandiego.gov/thinkblue/pdf/thinkbluebrochure.pdf
http://www.vcrcd.org/pdfs/DRAFT%20CCARP%20EIR%2012_28_2010.pdf
WHAT IS ARUNDO DONAX (GIANT REED)?
Arundo is a large, woody, perennial grass believed to be native to eastern Asia (Polunin and Huxley 1987). It has been cultivated for thousands of years on several continents including other parts of Asia, southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. During the last 2 centuries, it has been introduced throughout North and South America (Perdue 1958, Zohary 1962). Arundo is now common throughout the watersheds of southern California. It was historically used for fencing, roofing, fiber production, fodder, and as a windbreak. It is no longer widely used for these purposes, but is still occasionally used in landscaping.
Arundo grows in dense clumps and a single stand may be comprised of hundreds of canes. It produces dense, plume‐like flower heads approximately 2 feet in length in the early autumn. However, these flower heads rarely contain viable seed. Instead, arundo reproduces primarily from rhizomes (i.e., underground stems) and stem segments, as it grows outward from the existing rhizomes of a parent plant (Bell 1997, Dudley 2000). Arundo is also easily spread when rhizomes from an existing population are washed downstream during a large rain or flooding event (Else 1996). Shoots have been occasionally observed on stem segments with as few as a single node (Huber pers. obs. 2005).
Arundo tolerates a wide variety of environmental conditions including drought, flooding, and fire, and survives extended periods of salinity exposure. Arundo is able to quickly colonize watersheds due to its rapid growth rate. It is one of the fastest growing plants in the world, and can grow several inches per day during the spring and summer months. Arundo also grows quickly in response to elevated nitrogen levels (Dudley 2000). Arundo forms large, dense monocultural stands that out‐compete native riparian vegetation and displace the associated wildlife (Bossard et al. 2000).
http://www.vcrcd.org/pdfs/DRAFT%20CCARP%20EIR%2012_28_2010.pdf
ARUNDO DONAX IS COMMONLY REMOVED WITH ROUND UP GLYSOPHATE
This practice raises concerns for use in the Arosa Canyon Watershed.
The Stands are at the top of the slope. Rainwater will carry the residues
in roots down hill.
SUGGESTED PRACTICE HERE WOULD BE
TO CUT IT, COVER WITH HEAVE BLACK PLASTIC AND THEN
WITH ARUNDO MULCH
This needs to be supplemented with funds other than the
pocketbook of the residents.
THE ARUNDO MULCH WILL DECOMPOSE OVER TIME AND COULD BE
A BED FOR OTHER PLANTS TO GROW
This is my suggestion.
LIMITED RESPROUTING HAD OCCURRED
FROM MULCHED ARUNDO DONAX
AGAIN THE CONCLUSION FROM CAMP PENDLETON IS THIS....
Conclusions
1. While very small stem and root fragments can germinate under laboratory conditions, in the field very few actually do.
2. The numbers of resprouts are so few and small that pesticides are not needed for their control and they can easily be collected by hand.
pp 64-78
http://www.cal-ipc.org/symposia/archive/pdf/18602.pdf
OTHER PRACTICES IN SAN DIEGO HAVE CUT THE ARUNDO
WHERE IT EXISTS AND LEAVE IT TO DECOMPOSE
Reported by Bill Tall, City Farmers' Nusery.
USDA SCIENTIST WARNS OF ILL EFFECTS OF ROUND UP
USDA downplays own scientist’s research on ill effects of Monsanto herbicide 46
While exact figures are a closely guarded secret thanks to the USDA's refusal to update its pesticide use database after 2007, estimates suggest upwards of 200 million pounds of glyphosate were dumped on fields and farms in the US in 2008 alone. That's almost double the amount used in 2005.
Glyphosate has a reputation as the “safest” of all the agricultural herbicides and has become the primary means of weed control in industrial agriculture. While being the best of an extremely nasty bunch may be the faintest of praise, the USDA relies on this perception, which has been fueled by industry and government research indicating that the chemical dissipates quickly and shows low toxicity (as poisons go, that is) to humans.
http://www.grist.org/article/usda-downplays-own-scientists-research-on-danger...
ROUND UP IS NOT A TEMPORARY PRESENCE IN THE ENVIRONMENT
OF THE SOIL; IT STICKS AROUND
Huber’s 13-page paper has this chilling conclusion: “The introduction of such an intense mineral chelator as glyphosate into the food chain... root exudation into ground water, could pose significant health concerns for animals and humans and needs further evaluation.”
Huber is a widely respected plant pathologist at Purdue University, not a weed-hugger from Berkeley...
Perhaps the most troubling point that Huber makes is that contrary to conventional wisdom, glyphosate is not a temporary presence in the environment. It can actually stick around in the soil for long periods of time, and this is a problem.
http://looncommons.org/2010/04/16/monochemicals-monocrops-mucho-problems/
ROUND UP RESIDUES PERSIST
Department of Microbiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala.
Abstract
Persistence in soil of the two herbicides glyphosate and 2,4-D was investigated after application for brush control in conifer reforestation areas. Field experiments were carried out at five sites in southern Sweden and six in northern Sweden. Initially, glyphosate disappeared faster in northern soils than in southern soils. This was probably a result of the higher biological activity in the northern soils. However, small amounts of glyphosate were detected in the northern area long after all traces had disappeared in the south, presumably because of the long period during which the soil remained frozen in the northern area and because of the slow release of vegetation-bound herbicide. One metabolite of glyphosate, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), persisted longer than glyphosate itself. After 2 years, 8% of the theoretical amount was found in the northern area and, after 1 year, 1% in the southern area. 2,4-D disappeared rapidly from all sites, although minor amounts persisted for several years, probably because of slow release from vegetation-bound residues.
PMID: 2806176 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2806176
OMNIPRESENT USE OF ROUND UP
The omnipresence of Roundup in the US is due in large part to the more than 100 million acres of Roundup Ready crops. As farmers pour on Monsanto's weed killer, weeds are learning to adapt and withstand the poison -- so farmers pour on more. In the first 13 years since GM crops were introduced, the use of herbicide-tolerant crops resulted in an additional 383 million pounds more herbicide. And due to the emergence of superweeds (now found in 11 million acres), the increased use of Roundup is accelerating dramatically.
USDA solution? Even more Roundup
The USDA has a unique response to this mounting threat: Add more Roundup. In January 2011 they deregulated yet another Roundup Ready crop, alfalfa -- which is widely used for animal feed. Only 7% of the more than 20 million acres of this crop typically gets any herbicide applied to it. But that's about to change, since Roundup Ready alfalfa will soon be drinking Roundup in a hay field near you.
Not content with just the alfalfa, on July 1 the USDA told Scotts Miracle-Gro that it could introduce Roundup Ready Kentucky Bluegrass to lawns, golf courses, and soccer fields around the nation, without any government oversight.
So now we have Roundup in our food, animal feed, air, rain, and streams, and soon it will be sprayed in high doses where our children play on the grass. It's not just birth defects that may soon plague America as a result. Roundup is also linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, lower sperm counts, abnormal sperm, human cell death, miscarriages, and other disorders. But it's also linked to billions in profits for Monsanto. No wonder they are working overtime to silence the scientists and cover-up the findings. What if people knew the truth?
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033772_Monsanto_Roundup.html#ixzz1dtXZVMat
http://www.naturalnews.com/033772_Monsanto_Roundup.html
BLACK PLASTIC USED AS A NON TOXIC WAY TO ELIMINATE ARUNDO DONAX ROOTS
http://www.rcdsantacruz.org/media/brochures/pdf/InvasivePlantRemovalCalendar_...
BLACK PLASTIC USED IN SANTA BARBARA
http://www.countyofsb.org/parks/parks01.aspx?id=9004
ROUND UP KILLS MORE THAN WEEDS
A weedkiller that kills a lot more than simply weeds? If it’s worse than the poison it’s no cure at all, says Pat thomas
http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/behind_the_label/269751/behind...
in April 2005, work by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh, US, suggested that Roundup is lethal to lifeforms other than plants – in this case amphibians. In an extensive study on the effects of pesticides on these ‘non-target’ organisms in a natural setting, the researchers found that Roundup caused a 70 per cent decline in amphibian biodiversity and an 86 per cent decline in the total mass of tadpoles. Leopard frog tadpoles and gray tree frog tadpoles were nearly eliminated by exposure to the herbicide.
Monsanto disputed the findings, saying Roundup was not intended for waterways, but this is hardly a relevant argument. Because of its widespread use, Roundup can be found in most waterways as a result of runoff – and it has the potential also to contaminate surface waters. In fact, in one 1998 survey Roundup was reported to have been found in surface water in the Netherlands, in wells sited under electrical substations that had been treated with glyphosate, in seven US wells (one in Texas, six in Virginia) and in forest streams in Oregon and Washington.
You don’t have to go to a specialist garden centre to buy Roundup weedkiller; it is sold in the garden section of most supermarkets. The choice – buy a weedkiller and kill a weed – seems simple on the surface, but when you buy a product such as Roundup you are buying into a whole host of other issues – worldwide pesticide contamination, loss of biodiversity, increases in ill health and the support of GM crops – you may never had dreamed of.
Roundup reactions
Many people reason that Roundup would not be on sale if it weren’t safe, or that it is safe as long as you use it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. However,
accumulating data suggests neither assumption is correct.
Short-term exposure to glyphosate can cause breathing difficulties, loss of muscle control and convulsions. Farm workers exposed even to small amounts of Roundup – by rubbing an eye, for example – report swelling of the eye, eyelid or face, a rapid heartbeat and elevated blood pressure, all as a result of the residues transferred from the hands after touching leaky equipment. Accidental drenching is known to cause eczema of the hands and arms that can last for months.
7:45 am
November 16, 2011
I hear voices from the Arosa Canyon. I can not deny what I hear. They are birds sounds, innocent, and they are calling out. I am concerned. I "Think Blue" The concerned neighbors of the El Cerito Community in our newsletter are concerned. So is Mr Bill Harris, Supervising Public Health Information Director, Transportation and Storm Water Department, CIty of San Diego.
TO MAKE A REPORT WHEN YOU SEE THE POTENTIAL FOR STORM WATER
POLLUTION
When you see the potential for storm water pollution, we encourage everyone to report pollution of storm drains and our recreational waters. In the CIty of San Diego call 619.235.1000. In the Greater San Diego Region, call 1-888-844-6525 to make a report.
http://www.sandiego.gov/thinkblue/pdf/thinkbluebrochure.pdf
He will be in our neighborhood at ECCC's thursday, November 17, 2011, at the Blessed Sacrament Parish Hall, 4551 56th street (at El Cajon Blvd.) This is the large Catholic Church with the lovely stepple and bells that ring out on occasion through our neighborhood, heard at our home many blocks away.
Bill Harris will discuss storm water and run off into our drains. This is something we don't give much thought to in our day-to-day lives, reports an informative article in the El Cerrito Community Newsletter, Volume Cix, Number 2, November 2011.
http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/behind_the_label/269751/behind...
EL CERRITO COMMUNITY COUNCIL
El Cerrito Community Council,
P.O. Box 151268,
San Diego, C 92175-1268;
ECCC@cox.net
6190287-2460
Newsletter editor for the El Cerritio Community Newsletter
is Jan Riley, 619-287-1268
THINK BLUE< CITY OF SAN DIEGO
Storm Water Department
9370 Chesapeake Drive, Ste 100, MS1900
San Diego, CA 92123
Hotline (610_ 235-1000
CALIFORNIA STATE WATER RESOURCE CONTROL BOARD
Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region (9)
9174 Skypark Court, Suite 1--
San Diwego, CA 92123
(858) 467-2952
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds (4503T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460
Phone 202.566/1300
Http://www.epa.gov/watershed/region/region9
From
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/81178010/landscaping-Best-Practices-Guide
BLESSED SACRAMENT PARISH HALL
This is located on the grounds of the Blessed Sacrament church. I go there to vote often.
Blessed Sacrament Parish Hall San Diego
Blessed Sacrament Parish School
4551 - 56th Street
San Diego, California 92115
(619) 582-3862
(Office Hours of the School, FYI: 7:30-3:30 pm Monday through Friday)
http://www.bsps-sd.org/
Add This Entry To Your CureZone Favorites! Print this page
Email this page
 Alert Webmaster
|
