[Full story published April 23] Environmentalists turned out in force to speak at a meeting on Murieta development conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers at the Country Club Tuesday evening. Almost 200 people attended the meeting.

Andrea Jones, senior project manager, said the corps was there to gather comments on projects currently being reviewed for permits -- Lakeview in Murieta South and the Residences of Murieta Hills on the North. The projects would add 297 homes to the community.

Opponents of current development plans hailed the meeting as a step towards requiring an all-encompassing study of the impacts of development. In an announcement about the meeting, Candy Chand of the Rancho Murieta Development Concerned Citizens Committee wrote that the RMDCCC had "lined up several expert speakers, from scientists to environmental group reps, to federal and state regulators who share many of our Murieta development impact concerns."

Andrea Jones, senior project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, opened and closed a meeting on Murieta development attended
by nearly 200 people Tuesday night at the Country Club.

The speakers focused on the Cosumnes River, emphasizing its importance and fragility. The first speaker, Dr. Graham Fogg, a UC Davis professor of hydrology, sounded the theme that was heard from most of the 23 speakers during the three minutes each was allowed at the podium.

"Basically, since the ‘30s, over-drafting of the groundwater system has drawn down the base flow of the river to the point that the margin of error for survival of fish and other riparian habitat is very thin," he said.

The Cosumnes River separates North and South Murieta and provides the community's water. Rancho Murieta's water rights allow water to be diverted from the river from November through May after flows reach specified levels. The community has the right to store some of the water that's diverted in three reservoirs created for the development -- Lakes Calero, Chesbro and Clementia. At present, only Calero is drawn down to provide water during the dry months.

RMDCCC members who made lake drawdown part of the development debate expressed concerns about reductions in river flows. RMDCCC member Janis Eckard displayed a photo of a dry riverbed as she spoke about a study with "alarming" findings about declines in river flows over a 33-year period. She, like Chand, emphasized the need for cumulative environmental review of the impacts on the Cosumnes in her comments.

Another member, Terris Hanson, stated the group's position that it supports "responsible, controlled development" for Rancho Murieta.

Other speakers seemed to oppose any additional claims on the river's resources.

Speaking for the Environmental Council of Sacramento, James Pachl talked of reaching "a tipping point" and said, "Murieta developers want to divert yet more water ... and the net result when all this is said and done is the Cosumnes will dry up."

Campbell Ingram of the Nature Conservancy said almost $100 million has been invested in the Cosumnes River preserve, downstream from Rancho Murieta, "recognizing the value of this watershed as the last free-flowing river flowing out of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. ... Probably the greatest threat over time ... to the ecology of the system is the small, incremental increases in diversion of surface and ground water."

Democratic congressional candidate Bill Dunston, speaking on behalf of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said although at the face value, the environmental effect of the proposed developments "seems like it would be a relatively small change ... if you look at the cumulative effects of small changes on the environment, it all adds up to a very significant negative change."

Resident David Voss provided the corps representatives with water-flow charts for the Cosumnes from 1939 through 2008, showing a "significant loss of water resources" from 1972 to the present. "All of us present here, all these organizations, are all attempting ... to bring about ... the preservation of the Cosumnes River," Voss said. "The only way this can be accomplished in a mass program is for the Army Corps of Engineers to do an (Environmental Impact Statement)."

Neighboring rancher Jay Schneider told the corps representatives the data about river flows don't reflect all the contributing factors.

After the scheduled speakers concluded their remarks, the audience had the floor. Mary Brennan, who served as a director on the CSD board for eight years, was the first to speak. She questioned the motivation for the meeting.

"These anti-development folks have beaten this dead horse for over six years," she said. "They have instigated every possible barrier they could come up with. ... With these constant and continuing appeals they have effectively stopped all development. That means no school, no upgrading of our aging water systems, no more parks, no community center, no swimming complex."

Although audience response was subdued, especially in comparison to last year's development hearings before the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, remarks made by Brennan, Voss, Chand and several other speakers generated scattered applause.