On behalf of the California Department of Conservation (DOC), the Western Shasta Resource Conservation District (WSRCD) in association with Salix Applied Earthcare is conducting a survey to determine whether or not California needs a new Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook.

The last Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook produced by the State of California was developed and published by the DOC and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Governor Edmund G. Brown in 1978. As "the first of its kind for California and the Western United States," the original handbook provides erosion and sediment control information to "those agencies and individuals involved in planning and construction of roads, large graded areas, waste disposal sites, mine-land reclamation, loffing, landslide mitigation, off-road vehicle sites, and ski slopes." The survey administrators are asking if it might be beneficial in the 1990's to add guidelines for erosion and sediment control for utility easements, storm water pollution prevention plans for construction sites and municipalities, mitigation for wildfires and floods, park and timberland rehabilitation, wind erosion, oil refineries, range land management, agricultural induced erosion, etc. What information is used? What information is unavailable? What information or activities by agencies or organizations could be combined with this project to leverage resource expenditures to produce a better product? How should a handbook be assembled to be most useful? A secondary element of the questionnaire is a survey and compilation of existing erosion control information.

In order for the survey team's recommendations to DOC to include the possible collaborations between agencies, organization, and individuals for contributions of expertise, materials, and financial resources, the help of erosion control professionals is needed. Contact John McCullah or David Santos of Salix Applied Earthcare at (916) 224-0878 or fax (916) 224-0879 to obtain a questionnaire and comment.