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annual report06-07
INLAND EMPIREResource Conservation District
To promote the understanding thatthe quality of the environmentdetermines the quality of life.
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District Boundary 2
Mission Statement 3
Executive Summary 4
Federal Appropriations 5
Santa Ana Watershed Association 6
Big Bear Restoration Project 7
Education 8
Envirothon and Speako 9
Annual Workplan 10
Financial Statement
Table of Contents
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Mission Statement:
The purpose o the Inland Empire Resource Conservation District is to promote the understanding that
the quality o the environment determines the quality o lie. In cooperation with landowners, local,state and ederal agencies, the agricultural community, environmental and community groups, we will
promote good stewardship o our soil, water and other natural resources. We will provide strong educa-
tional programs that will encourage todays youth to accept the responsibility o conserving our natural
resources or tomorrows generations.
Board o Directors:
Michael Martin - President
Paul Williams - Vice President
John McMains - Secretary/Treasurer
Cheryl Avent
Terrie Andrews
Sybrand Vander - Dussen
Tim Johnson
District Sta:Jennier Ares - District Manager * Gretchen Laustsen - Natural Resources Manager * James Law - Field
Ecologist * Angela Marion - Conservation Educator * Kate Sykes - Administrative Assistant
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Resource Conservation Districts are unique, in that they are classied under Caliornias Public ResourceCode, Division 9 as Improvement Districts. Resource Conservation Districts may make improvements
or conduct operations on public lands, with the cooperation o the agency administering and having
jurisdiction thereo, and on private lands, with the consent o the owners thereo, in urtherance o the
prevention or control o soil erosion, water conservation and distribution, agricultural enhancement,
wildlie enhancement, and erosion stabilization, including, but not limited to terraces, ditches, levees,
and dams or other structures, and the planting o trees, shrubs, grasses, or other vegetation. (Division 9,
#9409). These general powers enable RCD sta to cooperate with private landowners in a non-regula-
tory manner while educating and implementing conservation methods.
The Inland Empire Resource Conservation District has more than 1.3 million people in its 854,293 acre
service area, requiring a huge eat rom sta and board members to ensure that the conservation mes-
sage is being conveyed to citizens in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. On July 1, 2005 the East
Valley RCD and the Inland Empire West RCD consolidated to create Inland Empire Resource Conserva-
tion District. This merge has been very successul, creating more conservation opportunities in the
Inland Empire through the consolidation o resources, programs and partnerships.
Inland Empire Resource Conservation DistrictAnnual Report July 2006-June 2007
Executive Summary
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EmployeeTotal Hours for
FY 06-07
Administrative 363
IT/Database Management 16.5
Public Outreach/Education 994.75
Workplan 77
Removal/Restoration Projects 813.5
Conferences/Training 191
Meetings 136.25
Mill Creek 396.5
Total Employee Hours 2988.5
Inland Empire RCD continues to conduct restoration projects in the Santa Ana Watershed with the ed-
eral appropriations received rom Congressman Jerry Lewis oce rom 2003-2006. The money is being
managed through the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The unds will be used or conservation projects in the Santa Ana Watershed. The objectives o these
restoration projects are to reduce the threat o invasive plants on native habitat and watershed unction,
to reduce fooding and erosion caused by unsae agricultural and urban practices and to restore natural
habitats to their original state while protecting property as well. Detail o specic projects are outlined
in more detail throughout the report.
Multiple projects have been developed to urther these goals. The development o outreach materials
and educational programs are vital in insuring that these measurers are sustainable. The programs are
available to the public and directed especially towards private landowners within the watershed. Tech-
niques and protocols, as well as the guidelines or long-term monitoring programs are also outlined. The
progress o activities must be reported to ensure the eectiveness o the plans.
In cooperation with the Santa Ana Watershed Association (SAWA), Inland Empire RCD is responsible or
the maintenance o 592 acres o removed non-natives. Four-hundred and ty seven o these acres are
paid or by the earmark unds, the remaining acreage is located in Orange County, which is not included
in Jerry Lewis district. The ederal unding will assist with the maintenance contracts to ensure complete
eradication. IERCD will also begin new removal contracts to continue the invasive plant removal pro-
gram. In addition, the IERCD hosted a cleanup o Mill Creek as part o their Federal Appropriations Work-
plan.
Total sta hours o activities and expenses o the Federal Earmark Program rom July 2006 June 2007
are listed below. The total amount expended as o June 30, 2007 was $961,985.89.
Federal Appropriations
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Mill Creek Cleanup
The Inland Empire Resource Conservation District hosted a clean up o the open space surrounding Mill
Creek near the Prado Wetlands in Chino on October 28, 2006. The site, which has long been used as a
dumpsite by trespassers, drains rainwater into Mill Creek, a tributary o the Santa Ana River. The river pro-
vides drinking water or Orange County residents and valuable habitat or native wildlie. The majority o
the unding or the clean-up came rom the ederal appropriations.
The Cleanup brought together volunteers rom various public and private agencies around the commu-
nity. The District partnered with San Bernardino County Regional Parks, the US Army Corps o Engineers,
the Santa Ana Watershed Association, the Orange County Water District and REI to bring the cleanup to asuccessul completion. A crew o 80 volunteers assisted by three tractors, cleaned up 34 tons o garbage
and 600 pounds o recyclable materials rom the site. Some items removed rom the cleanup site includ-
ed a treadmill, a bathtub and a recreational boat!
The Mill Creek Cleanup was one o several regional cleanup events held in October o 2006 as part o a
statewide eort to address pollution entering Caliornias waterways. The Inland Empire RCD installed
gates and created earthen and boulder berms to discourage urther dumping at the site.
Volunteers Removing Trash rom Mill Creek Site
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Santa Ana Watershed AssociationIERCD has a major role in the Santa Ana Watershed Association with a representative serving on the
board o directors. SAWA was ormed in 1998 by the ve Resource Conservation Districts located in theSanta Ana Watershed. Since this time, SAWA has become a non-prot organization with a large number
o sta.
The Santa Ana Watershed Association (SAWA) continues to maintain over 3000 acres o removed invasive
plants. IERCD maintains 610 o those acres. The majority o the eradication expenses takes place in year
2-4 where re-growth occurs and herbicide applications need to take place,
The ollowing removal projects are being maintained by IERCD and are currently being unded by the
ederal appropriations monies. The eld ecologist has veried that a majority o our removal locations
have less than 1% regrowth o biomass. As a result, it has been determined that the complete removal o
invasive plants is approximately a ve-year process. This determination becomes essential inormation
or budget estimates on uture projects.
Project Reports
Project Area County Acreage
San Timoteo Creek Riverside/San Bernardino 209
Yucaipa San Bernardino 30Highway 30 (Highland) San Bernardino 30
East Twin Creek San Bernardino 84
Santiago / Modjeska I Orange 120
Santiago Creek Phase II Orange 15
City Creek San Bernardino 14
Harrison Canyon San Bernardino 7
Calimesa/Cherry Valley Riverside 21
Zanja Channel San Bernardino 15
Mill Creek San Bernardino 20
Santa Ana River San Bernardino 27
San Bernardino CountyRemoval
San Bernardino 18
Total 610
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IERCD Mitigation Program
IERCD became involved with mitigation and conservation easement projects through SAWA. In 2004,
SAWA received its In-Lieu ee status. This allowed the organization to receive unds rom developers
who have impacted habitat. The RCD manages the SAWA mitigation projects within district boundaries.
Consequently, the RCD became recognized by the regulatory agencies as the appropriate public agencyto accept and maintain mitigation and conservation easements in perpetuity. Monitoring tasks include:
removing invasive species, conducting photo documentation, monitoring project sites regularly, and pre-
paring annual reports or the regulatory agencies. The ollowing is a list o the mitigations and conserva-
tion easements received to date.
Agency Type Location AcresRequired
TimeRecd Amount
OCWD/GWRS Mitigation Santiago Creek 1 Perpetuity 8/29/01 $50,000.00
Joseph NicholsHomes
ConservationEasement
San TimoteoCreek
6 Perpetuity 8/29/01 $112,000.00
County of Orange,IWMD
Mitigation Santiago Creek .324 Perpetuity 3/5/03 $16,200.00
California Quartet Mitigation Santiago Creek 2 Perpetuity 6/1/03 $100,000.00
Reach 3-B FloodControl Project
MitigationSan Timoteo
Creek34.56 20 years 3/15/04 $1,620,000.00
City of Irvine Mitigation Santiago Creek 2 5 years 4/22/04 $75,000.00
So. CA. Reg. RailAuthority
Mitigation Santiago Creek .37 5 years 6/25/04 $21,000.00
Essex Nationwide Mitigation Warm Creek 0.5 5 years 9/22/04 $21,132.80
Viele Ave. / Beaumont MitigationSan Timoteo sub-
tributary
0.06 5 years 12/1/04 $ 3,000.00
Yorba Linda Heights Mitigation Santiago Creek 3.25 Perpetuity 2/1/05 $162,500.00
Caliber Motors Mitigation Watershed 0.1 Perpetuity 2/1/05 $ 5,000.00
Metro Water Dist. Mitigation Santiago Creek 0.45 Perpetuity 2/1/05 $ 25,000.00
OCTA Mitigation Santiago Creek .06 Perpetuity 6/16/05 $3000.00
MastercraftConservation
EasementSan Timoteo
CreekTBD Perpetuity 7/1/05 $242,000.00
Century Homes Mitigation Wildwood Creek .09 Perpetuity 7/26/05 $87,000.00
KB Homes Mitigation Santiago Creek 9.06 Perpetuity 10/6/05 $453,000.00
Century American MitigationSanta AnaWatershed
.48 Perpetuity 10/19/05 $24,000.00
Chino Hills/Centex ConservationEasement
Chino Hills 25 Perpetuity 1/1/06 $120,930.00
Rialto Channel MitigationSanta AnaWatershed
3.3 Perpetuity 5/16/06 $61,575.00
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UD
MAGNIB
H
EX
The photos above represent the rst conservation easement IERCD received. The easement is located
in San Timoteo Creek in San Bernardino County. The easement was required due to development in the
area. The eld ecologist perormed a variety o maintenance activity on the site in the 2006-2007 scal
year. Tasks included; weed abatement, trash removal and photo documentation.
Many hours were spent on SAWA projects or scal year 2006-2007. The breakdown or hours spent per
employee is as ollows:
Table goes here
May 2006 January 2007
July 2004 June 2007
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Big Bear Sediment Load Reduction ProgramOn March 30, 2004 Inland Empire RCD was awarded $250,208.35 in grant unding rom the State Water
Resources Control Board (SWRCB) under the Watershed Protection Program. The goal o this grant is to
reduce sediment entering Big Bear Lake rom the abandoned Snow Forest ski resort via Knickerbocker
Creek, city streets and other small drainages.
During the 05/06 year the Snow Forest Monitoring Plan, which described the types o constituents to be
monitored and the requency/schedule or the monitoring activities, was completed. In addition the rst
drat o the Quality Assurance Program Plan (QAPP) was completed. This report describes how the data
collected will be o adequate quality to meet the monitoring objectives.
The Forest Service completed the rst drat o the engineers restoration plans or the abandoned ski site
and a public meeting was held or local residents and representatives rom businesses and agencies to
review and comment on the nal restoration plan. The SWRCB approved the nal drat o the restoration
plan ollowing the public meeting and a site visit.
During the 06/07 scal year the nal drat o the QAPP was completed and approved and the District
was ocially able to begin water sampling. Unortunately there was never signicant rainall allowing or
Knickerbocker Creeks water level to be high enough or water samples to be taken. Although there was
some snowall throughout the winter, the subsequent melting never resulted in substantial fow withinKnickerbocker Creek to obtain water samples. District sta continues to make monthly visits to the site
or photo documentation. Also we will make additional trips or water sampling in the event o a rain
storm.
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OMMYNONSECORE
Many administrative matters were handled throughout the year as well. The District applied or and
received a one year grant extension rom the SWQCB. The amended grant agreement also updated the
District name rom East Valley RCD to Inland Empire RCD.
Ater the completion o the QAPP and the approval o the restoration plan a Request or Proposal was
created and put out or bids. In October the Natural Resources manager met with Paul Bennett and JoshDireen o the U. S. Forest Service and Scott Towsley o Towsely Construction (the selected contractor)
regarding the Snow Forest Restoration Plan. Towsley Construction began implementing the Snow Forest
Restoration Plan on October 11th. Due to the dry weather throughout the month Towsley construc-
tion was able to stay on schedule with the project with one remaining task to be completed in spring. In
November the Forest Service hired a helicopter operator to place downed trees on several slopes o the
Snow Forest ski area. These trees assist in reducing fow velocity and may also discourage any unauthor-
ized uses o the area.
The nal portion o the restoration work was on hold or a couple additional months due to a pair o bald
eagles on the site. Bald eagles were a ederally listed Threatened Species, (removed rom Endangered
Species List in June 2007) thereore no work could be done until the pair moved rom the site. Eagles
typically arrive in the San Bernardino Mountains in late November and remain until early April. The last
part o their job, road removal, will be completed in the 07/08 scal year when the Forest Service is done
using the road or the removal o dead and dying trees.
Many hours were spent on the Snow Forest restoration project or scal year 2006-2007. The breakdownor hours spent per employee is as ollows:
Employee Big Bear
Gretchen Laustsen 258
Kate Sykes 0.5
Linda Burdwell 2.5
James Law 20.25
Angela Marion 44
TOTAL 325.25
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Education Report
Each year the Inland Empire Resource Conservation District visits thousands o school children and edu-
cates them on the importance o resource conservation. During the past year the education department
oered environmental education programs tied to the Caliornia Content Standards or the Teaching
Proession, to meet the individual needs o our diverse community. Inland Empire RCDs purpose is toinorm the public that resource conservation can be practiced no matter how limited the time, space or
monetary resources. Many schools utilized the Districts ree education programs and have shared their
experiences with other teachers, thus expanding the scope o IERCDs education programs.
Inland Empire RCD is also expanding their education programs beyond the schools in order to reach a
larger audience. The educator presented Stormwater and Trees Please programs at Earth Day Events, Sci-
ence Nights, and Education Expos in order to reach more members o the public. The Conservation Edu-
cator even visited local libraries in an eort to reach more children within the community. These events
provided the opportunity to educate parents and other adults as well as children.
During the 2006/2007 year, the Conservation Educator introduced Recycle, Reduce, Reuse to the Districts
youth, educating them about the importance o recycling our natural resources. This program was a suc-
cess with students who were able to make their own piece o recycled paper and learn about recycling in
the process o this un and hands-on activity.
Backyard Conservation
Backyard Conservation teaches students about the importance o practicing conservation in their own
backyard. Students identiy the sources o many household items and ways they can conserve resources
at home and school. Students reinorce their connection to the web o lie through hands-on activities.
Stormwater Pollution
Stormwater Pollution teaches students about Non-Point Source Pollution (NPS) through the use o anEnviroscape watershed model. Students are taught about the water cycle and their local water sources.
Students participate in modeling how surace and groundwater can transport pollutants rom their
neighborhoods into the Santa Ana River and out to the Pacic Ocean.
Toil o Soil
Using scientic soil sieves, students reveal the components and properties o soil. Students see how all
living creatures depend on healthy soil or their existence. Students participate in a demonstration o the
precious little amount o land on the earth that is considered suitable or arming.
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Trees Please
Students engage in a class discussion about the benets trees provide: shade, lumber, oxygen, cleaner
air, wildlie habitat, etc. Students also discuss the benets o growing native species. The students are
then given a planter, some soil, and a native seed to raise at home.
Wonders o Wetlands
The Wonders o Wetlands program uses an Enviroscape model to involve students in demonstrating the
unctions and eatures o a wetland. Students learn how wetlands can remove pollutants and improve
water quality. As with all IERCD education programs, the kids also learn what they can do to preserve this
natural resource.
Recycle, Reduce, Reuse
Recycle, Reduce, Reuse teaches students how they can help promote the wise use o our resourcesthrough recycling reusing and reducing. Students understand the importance o recycling and are
taught how they can implement recycling in their home.
Employee Programs # of Students# ofClassrooms
Angela Marion
Backyard Conservation 420 21
Stormwater Pollution 1100 44
Toil of Soil 400 20
Trees Please 760 36
Wonders of Wetlands 40 2Recycle, Reduce,
Reuse 220 11
TOTAL 2940 134
Total Number o Classroom Education Programs or 06-07
Employee Stormwater Events # of Students Taught
Angela Marion
Earth Day Festival- Chino 1,000
Cal State Earth Day Expo-San Bernardino
1,500
Earth Day Festival- Fontana 500
Education Expo- Ontario 5,000
TOTAL 8,000
Total Number o Students taught Stormwater Pollution at Outreach Events in 06-07
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Total Number o Students Taught Trees Please at Outreach Events in 06-07
Employee Trees Please Events# of Students
Taught
Angela MarionEarth Day Festival- Chino 700
Science Night- Redlands 250
TOTAL 950
Total Number of Students Reached by IERCD Education Programs for 2006-2007: 11,980
Employee Hours
Jennifer Ares 5
Linda Burdwell 15
Angela Marion 209
Kate Sykes 8
Gretchen Laustsen 4
TOTAL 241
Total Number o sta hours spent on education programs in 2006-2007
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The Caliornia Envirothon
The Envirothon is an outdoor natural resource education pro-
gram or high school students in grades 9-12. Students rom all
over the state are challenged to work as a team to answer writ-
ten questions, and conduct hands-on explorations o orestry,soils, wildlie, aquatics, and a current issue.
IERCDs Conservation Educator attended preparation workshops
or local teams and volunteered as a guide at the event. IERCD
Associate Directors also played a role in the Envirothon, acting
as judges or the event. Inland Empire RCD sponsored two local
teams rom Banning and Upland to participate in the event.
The 2007 Caliornia Envirothon event was held in Crestline in the
San Bernardino Mountains, at the Thousand Pines Camp rom
April 25-27. The Current Issue topic was Alternative/Renew-
able Energy. Fiteen teams participated. The winners were the
Sequoia team rom Palisades Charter High School. The Kodiak
Grizzly Bears rom Palisades Charter High School took second
place with the American Lions rom Arlington High School tak-ing third.
The Annual Speak - o Competition
The local speak-o was held on September 21st, 2006, at
A.K. Smiley Library in Redlands. The topic or the competi-
tion was Biouels: The Energy o the Future. Each student was
given 3-5 minutes to speak on this topic in ront o a panel ojudges and their ellow competitors.
The contestants were scored by a panel o three judges.
Krystina Thurin, a senior at Redlands East Valley High School,
took home 1st place with her speech, which provided his-
torical and international examples o the successul use o
Biouels. Krystinas eloquence and passion about resource
issues really shined, and she went on to take 1st place at the
Regional Speak-O at the South Coast Region Resource Con-
servation District Fall Meeting. Kay Larsh and Quira Perez,
both o Yucaipa High School, placed 2nd and 3rd at the local
Speako.
EmployeeTotal Hoursfor FY 06-07Envirothon
AngelaMarion
19
Employee
Total Hrs for
FY 06-07SpeakoffLinda
Burdwell56.25
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Financial Statement
A.A. 100Participate by booth/displays and presentations.
C.E. 60
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER
D.M. 100
NR.M 50
P.M. 50Pursue possible contacts, leads and partnerships to assist in thedevelopment of the district facility.C.E.A.A.F.E.
100100
50
ANNUAL SCHOOL CONTEST
Annual speech, essay and poster contest. C.E. 100
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Resource Conservation District25864-K Business Center Drive,
Redlands, CA 92374
INLAND EMPIRE