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Mr. Cummings said that is part of the Zone 7 study. Different sections of different <br />streams have fishery interests, habitat interests, etc. There are pros and cons of each. <br /> <br />Ms. Dennis wanted some participation in that study by the City staff. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cummings said he is going before the Zone 7 Board in two weeks to get approval of <br />the contract for the consultant and to set up resource committees and groups. <br /> <br /> Ms. Michelotti indicated there is a short term problem and asked if September was when <br />the water would flow again? <br /> <br /> Mr. Cummings said September was the latest when flow would return to the creek. <br />Between now and then, the only alternative he could see was to pump from City wells or use <br />Hansen quarry water. The Hansen water is also being requested by Shadow Cliffs. There is a <br />need to determine the amount of water needed and who will pay for pumping it. <br /> <br /> Mayor Pico reiterated the possible benefits of conservation. He thanked Mr. Cummings <br />for coming to Council to answer these questions. <br /> <br /> Mary Straus, 1043 Harvest Circle, thanked the Mayor for what he is attempting to do. <br />She asked Council to do whatever it can to save the arroyo. She said she is a regular visitor to it <br />and felt it is one of the things that makes Pleasanton such a wonderful place to live. She sees a <br />variety of people there every day as well as many forms of wildlife. She realized that the arroyo <br />may have been dry in the summer thirty years ago, but that has been changed. She referred to <br />the Mayor's suggestion about conservation and pointed out that 80% of residential water goes to <br />landscaping. She said she would be willing to cut back usage or to pay a premium to keep the <br />arroyo going. She felt many people felt the same way. She asked Council to do whatever is <br />necessary to preserve the creek. She said she has spoken to staffmembers at the Department of <br />Fish and Game and they are also concerned about the area. She felt a riparian habitat was <br />extremely important and could not believe anyone would say it should go dry. <br /> <br /> Jennifer Hosterman, 2922 Chardonnay Drive, praised Randy Lum and indicated she had <br />enjoyed working with him. He will be missed. She agreed the arroyo is a unique riparian habitat <br />and felt it was on the brink of a major environmental disaster. She believed this situation was the <br />fault of Zone 7 because it did not have the foresight to predict this situation. She felt this was a <br />question of public trust. Navigable and unnavigable waters are to be preserved for public use <br />and the state is responsible for protecting the public's right to use them. She believed this was <br />also a duty of the state to protect people's common heritage of streams, lakes, marshlands and <br />tidelands. She believed Zone 7 was required by statute to take public interest into account. She <br />said there are also laws regulating the use of waterways with downstream fisheries. She had <br />contacted the Alameda Creek Alliance as well as Friends of the Arroyos and referred to attempts <br />to remove dams throughout the area to allow the return of native steelhead trout, which is a <br />threatened native species. Evidence has been found which shows the steelhead are returning to <br />Alameda Creek for spawning. She cited case law which requires sufficient water to allow <br />downstream spawning. She then referred to the original permit for Del Valle in 1956 which <br />contained a provision that no diversion of water could be allowed without the approval of the <br /> <br />Pleasanton City Council <br />Special Meeting Minutes <br /> <br />16 07/09/02 <br /> <br /> <br />