When the Salamander Rules

There are two laws which have been adapted in my county that are quite disturbing. Section 16.30 Riparian Corridor and Wetlands Protection and 16.32 Sensitive Habitat Protection both sound innocent enough. Sure, we should protect our wetlands. But the devil is in the details.

Lets start with 16.30, Its purpose is "to minimize and to eliminate any development activities in the riparian corridor." So lets look at the definitions.

• Arroyo - "means a gully, ravine or canyon created by a perennial, intermittent or ephemeral stream, with characteristic steep slopes frequently covered with vegetation. An arroyo includes the area between the top of the arroyo banks defined by a discernible break in the slope rising from the arroyo bottom. Where there is no break in slope, the extent of the arroyo may be defined as the edge of the 100-year floodplain."

• Buffer - "means the area abutting an arroyo where development is limited in order to protect riparian corridor or wetland."

• Development activities shall include:

  • Land clearing - "means the removal of vegetation"

  • Tree and shrub removal - "means the topping or felling of any standing vegetation greater than eight feet in height."

  • The use of herbicides, pesticides, or any toxic chemical substances.

  • Any other activities determined by the Planning Director to have significant impacts on the riparian corridor." Got to love that one!

  • Disturbed area - "means an area determined by the Planning Director to have experienced significant alteration from its natural condition. Such disturbance may typically consist of clearing, grading, paving, landscaping, construction, etc."

• Ephemeral stream - "means a natural watercourse or portion thereof which flows only in direct response to precipitation, as identified through field investigations."

Now the tables of the buffer zones are complex and detailed, but the buffer zones range from 30' for a drainage ditch, to 100' for a wetland.

I know all these definitions are tedious, but basically the county has defined anyplace water runs when it is raining as a riparian corridor, with a buffer zone typically 30' to 50'. So what is included? Every drainage ditch along every road in the county. Every drainage ditch in everyone's yard, and in every field and in every pasture. If you have a swale in your front yard and the water from your gutters runs down it, that is a ephemeral stream and is now protected, as well as at least 10' on either side,

So what can't you do in this zone. Well, you can't clear the brush, cut the weeds or trim the trees. You can't spray or dig, build or pave.

Surely there are exceptions? Not really, not without a permit.

Violations? Oh yea. "It shall be unlawful for any person to do, cause, permit, aid, abet, suffer or furnish equipment or labor for any development activity within a riparian corridor."

But what about flooding? What about the need to keep drainage ditches open? Sorry. No exceptions for flooding.

So what about 16.32? Well, we have this salamander. Not just any salamander, it is the Santa Cruz Long-Toed Salamander, at likes riparian corridors, so its protection overlaps, with even more draconian restrictions, and a duplication of fines, as cutting down the weeds in your drainage ditch now violates a second law.

Is this all just a joke? I appealed my third red tag as the threatened fines were exceeding $10,000. No, it is not a joke, and the court room at the county office looked just like a criminal court, with court recorder and judge glaring down at you. His job is to uphold the law, and we would not find him lenient or understanding, he informed us at the beginning of the proceeding.

I stand condemned. I pulled the debris and brush from the drainage ditch in my front yard. A neighbor saw me do it and turned me in. Now I am going to have to replant the weeds. Sometimes you have to wonder where it will all end.