While we have a lot of fun at our events, it is not so much about the party as it is about the networking that occurs at these gatherings.

It is only by listening to thoughts and ideas from our friends and donors that we can continue the process of creating what is important to all of us and inspiring people to support our mission. Issues that are priorities for some people are not as big of a deal to others – and that’s fine. We make a real effort to incorporate as many perspectives as possible into our decision-making so the end result is satisfied people all around.

The most successful organizations listen to their constituents and we want to emulate these groups. For this to work well, it is important to meet face-to-face, which is why we want you to come to one or more of our events in the coming year.

Our goal at our events is to hear what you have to say as well as update everyone on where the Institute’s programs and our Fresno Aquarium project stand today and what our vision is for the future. It is our view that this vision should parallel the wishes of our supporters and this is why we’re constantly seeking to refine what we are doing to make sure this is happening.

Now that I have made our real motives clear – LET’S PARTY!!!!

Arthur Dyson's design for Phase One of Aquarius Aquarium Institute's Fresno Aquarium

Building the Fresno Aquarium is a journey.

I’d like to share with you our history to date…

We have been very fortunate to have been able to raise substantial funds from our generous supporters over the years to be able to pay for each step required for the building of the Fresno Aquarium. When we began in 2000, we started with one generous donation of $5,000, which enabled us to incorporate as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and also served as the very first gift toward our first Capital Campaign, the Campaign for Special Gifts, which raised well over its $750,000 goal by 2005.

Funds from this campaign also paid for all of the environmental studies, planning, preliminary designs required by the County of Fresno and led to the Fresno County Planning Commission’s unanimous approval of the Fresno Aquarium project in November of 2005. In 2006, we closed escrow on our donated 10-acre parcel, which our organization now owns free-and-clear (no mortgage). A while ago, I wrote about why our site was the perfect location for our future Aquarium campus.

As a result of this progress, in 2008 and 2009, Aquarius Aquarium Institute received a donation of aquarium exhibits and equipment from the the California Academy of Science’s Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco. These 5-year-old, gently-used tanks – one is 21 feet in diameter – will form the basis of the Fresno Aquarium’s opening exhibits.

Although the Steinhart Aquarium donated these exhibits, we had to dip into our savings in 2008/2009 in order to transport them to Fresno, which resulted in a small ($7,869) loss in revenues vs. expenses on our bottom line in 2009 – our first “loss” in our 10-year history.

However, for this expense, our organization gained well over $1 million in assets in terms of value of the Steinhart Aquarium donation. Our board felt this was a reasonable return on our investment. All of this information is available for public review on our annual Form 990s filed with the IRS, linked from our website through GuideStar.org – Form 990 for 2009.

We continue to educate our community about our Fresno Aquarium project by making television appearances, sending out press releases as well as school visits often several times a week, public outreach at such events as our Earth Day Run for the Reef and Water Planet Adventure Day at Fresno’s River Park shopping center and our exhibit at The Big Fresno Fair sponsored by Aqua Sports dive shop.

In 2009, our Local Agency Formation Commission unanimously voted to permit the City of Fresno to add the Fresno Aquarium property to to its adopted Sphere of Influence (SOI). This action, unanimously supported by the Fresno City Council, allows the Aquarium to connect to City water and sewer systems in the future. The substantial costs for this SOI revision (only the second such revision for Fresno in this new century) were covered by funds still remaining from the Campaign for Special Gifts and by a portion of our Charter Membership funds.

The Fresno Aquarium project continues to be a private nonprofit grassroots effort and not financially supported by the City or County of Fresno or by a dedicated tax or by a sale of bonds. While this is definitely a slower way to go, our board of directors feels very strongly that growing in phases as donations, sponsorships and grants come in is the more financially sustainable path to take.

Our Charter Members keep the organization going, our outreach programs keep the community and our schools engaged and our volunteers are the smiling faces that help us get accurate facts about our projects out to the public.

We invite you to comment on this post or participate in any way possible to keep Aquarius Aquarium Institute and its Fresno Aquarium project moving forward.

Send us an e-mail or call us at (559) 490-FISH (3474) right away!

Sometimes things can get a bit confusing in all the rush – like when we are going to two different schools with the same name in different towns. “Hello,” said a recent caller, “I’m calling from Roosevelt School and we have you coming out for our classes next week.” We then have to ask whether this is the Roosevelt School in Kingsburg or Hanford because we are going out to both in the same week!

The need for educational programs like the Institute provides is great in our San Joaquin Valley. We reach many, many children who have never been out of their own town, let alone to the coast or to an Aquarium. We teach about issues important to our Valley and our entire world such as water conservation, pollution and personal responsibility in a fun and meaningful program designed to reinforce what our schools are teaching.

We appreciate all of our Charter Members, sponsors and supporters who make our educational programs possible. As we continue to work toward building the Fresno Aquarium, we never want to lose sight of why we are doing so. The physical structure will enhance our ability to deliver on our promise to our Valley to educate our inland population about our aquatic world and the lifeblood of this region and our planet – water.

For the last 62 years, Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have not been able to swim from the Pacific Ocean up the San Joaquin River to their historic spawning beds near Fresno. The construction of Friant Dam put an end to the runs in 1948.

Now, in the winter of 2010, water has flowed continuously down the long-dry sections of the riverbed for nearly a year thanks to the San Joaquin River Restoration Program and a particularly strong fall-run of Chinook salmon has produced a number (this number has not been publicized by our local Fish and Game officials) of “strays” that have made it all the way to Sack Dam (left), a small dam constructed to feed the Arroyo Canal of the San Luis Canal Company located just 21 miles from Firebaugh in Fresno County and about 50 river miles from the City of Fresno. (see map)

This is not only an event of historic significance, but it also may indicate that restoring a robust salmon run in the southernmost parts of the San Joaquin may not require all that much “re-evolution” as some have implied. If we furnish an adequate water flow to achieve temperature control, screen side channels and gravel pits and educate our population that these fish need to be protected for the health of both our riparian and marine aquatic ecosystems, then we may well succeed at the largest river restoration ever attempted in the United States and achieve an unprecedented re-creation of a local place of recreation, relaxation and beauty.

Sack Dam (so-named because it historically was created using sacks of sand) is today a concrete structure that includes a fish ladder (right) and represents only a small barrier to migrating anadromous fish furiously determined to reach their spawning beds. It is conceivable that some salmon may well have made it up the simple 3-step ladder and are swimming in the river in the Firebaugh area even as you read this.

This year, we have plenty of water for San Joaquin Valley cities, farms and even fish. As long as we citizens realize we can have it all with reasonable compromise and conservation, (80%+ of the river’s water may still be diverted for uses other than restoration) then we can all be justifiably proud of the new life we have been able to return to the mighty river for which our Valley is named.

However, when a 238-acre mega-sized shopping center, with possible big box tenants like a Super Target, Toys R Us and other national retailers attracting thousands of shoppers each day, is proposed to share the same severely under-built freeway interchange, poorly configured adjacent city intersection and Union Pacific Railroad mainline at-grade crossing, most thinking motorists realize that this less-than-perfect configuration will become even more of a traffic nightmare than it is already unless it is completely redesigned.

Yet, the El Paseo Shopping Center’s Draft Environmental Impact Report (page 415) states “The final design for improvements to the Golden State Boulevard/Herndon Avenue intersection (including street widening, lane addition, and traffic signal modifications) is complete, and construction of these improvements is anticipated to start in Spring 2010. A grade-separation project (Herndon Avenue underpass at the UPRR tracks) just east of Golden State Boulevard is also identified. The timing for this improvement is uncertain.”

Of course it’s uncertain. As of now, it doesn’t appear the Shopping Center developer will be required by the City of Fresno to build the underpass. Instead, its impact fees could be applied to other projects other than the improvements so desperately needed at the Herndon/99/UPRR complex. Click here to read the Aquarium’s June 15 comment letter to the City.

If you have any comments, there is only a short window of opportunity to submit them in writing to the City. Please be respectful, but firm, when expressing how you feel. Here is the staff planner’s contact information:

Mike Sanchez at (559) 621-8040 or via e-mail at Mike.Sanchez@fresno.gov

City Councilmember Andreas Borgeas: (559) 621-7820  Email

Highway 99 bridge over the San Joaquin River in Fresno

During the process of implementing the San Joaquin River Settlement, there have been a series of meetings held to determine the course of action to restore the river and bring Chinook salmon spawning runs back to the stretch of the river that flows through Fresno. I had the pleasure of attending a number of these meetings and was impressed by the thought and planning of fisheries professionals that has gone into this process. A tremendous amount of time and government (read: taxpayer) expense has been dedicated to this restoration process, but this doesn’t seem to matter much to Caltrans as it plans its new Highway 99 freeway bridge over Reach 1 of this historic effort.

The FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) is very specific in its National Highway Runoff Data and Methodology Synthesis (2003) when it comes to how state transportation agencies (STAs) should conduct their studies when it comes to constituents in freeway runoff, especially when such runoff flows directly into environmentally sensitive waters such as the San Joaquin River. FHWA’s data quality objectives (DQOs) process is designed to help weigh the costs of data acquisition against the consequences of a decision error. In the Island Park Six-Lane Project Technical Studies, Caltrans simply states that as long as best management practices (BMPs) are followed, no significant impact would occur from the runoff expected to be generated by the new six lane freeway bridge over the San Joaquin River adjacent to the future Fresno Aquarium property (see photo above). Unfortunately, Caltrans cites no actual studies nor identifies what chemicals the runoff from this project might consist of. Caltrans states that its new retention basins to be sited next to the river will mitigate any impacts to the river even though the designs and required sizes of these retention basins are not provided nor analyzed.

To demonstrate that water-quality data are valid and technically supportable, FHWA requires sufficient documentation to prove that the data are meaningful, representative, complete, precise, accurate, comparable, repeatable, and admissible as legal evidence (Alm and Messner, 1984; FHWA, 1986; ITFM, 1995a, 1995b; USEPA, 1997).

FHWA’s DQOs process is intended to help weigh the costs and benefits of local short-term monitoring requirements against regional and national long-term information needs, but FHWA also stresses that monitoring activities need to be improved and integrated to meet the full range of local, regional, and national information needs more effectively and economically (ITFM, 1995a).

Caltrans highway construction division has recently been criticized by California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office for its inefficiencies and overstaffing. With the majority of Caltrans environmental work being performed by outside consultants to expedite project delivery, the resulting lack of oversight often results in environmental corners being cut, cookie cutter approaches to wide ranging regional issues and bureaucratic unresponsiveness due to Caltrans personnel relying too heavily on these hired guns for the preparation of their environmental documents.

In the DQOs process, FHWA characterizes decision errors as Type I or Type II errors. Caltrans, stuck in a system that relies on outside consultants, has a much greater chance of making a Type II error than a Type I error. Let me explain.

A Type I error occurs when a determination is made, on the basis of available data, that problems exist when they do not really exist and a Type II error occurs when real problems exist but the determination is made, on the basis of available data, that no problems exist. A paid consultant who comes up with too many problems that end up not being real (Type I) simply won’t be a paid consultant for long, but one that simply doesn’t provide data (and therefore doesn’t find/disclose any problems) will have success in delivering projects for Caltrans quickly and will therefore be rewarded future contracts again and again.

But, there are serious problems associated with state transportation agencies attempting to avoid study of real project impacts. According to FHWA, consultants who substantially underestimate concentrations, loads, and the impacts of highway runoff pollutants—a Type II error— can actually cause worse problems down the line, subject their client (Caltrans) to high corrective costs, and negatively affect public perceptions about the veracity of environmental information provided by transportation agencies. Discovery of large prediction errors during the planning, design, and construction phases of a highway project could increase costs beyond project budgets. Type II errors discovered while monitoring runoff from a highway once it is in operation could result in regulatory actions, fines, and costs associated with additional BMPs.

Bottom line here – Caltrans may think they are the kings of Project Delivery, but if enough people call them on their lack of study of very real substantial impacts and how this lack of study negatively impacts the environment in addition to the the daily lives of California citizens Caltrans is supposed to serve, we may be able to force this state agency to reform its practices and take responsibility not only for Project Delivery, but also for following the guidelines established by the FHWA for the protection of our Nation, our aquatic resources and the motoring public.

When Caltrans built Freeway 41 through the heart of Fresno in the 1980s and 90s, they assured us that they had studied all aspects of that project and that surface street congestion would be mitigated by construction of the Freeway. As one who travels this route on business nearly every day, I can say without question that Freeway 41 has made business and personal travel through the metropolitan area much easier. However, soon after the Freeway opened to motorists, flaws in Caltrans’ design of the four northbound offramps at Shaw, Bullard, Herndon, and Friant as well as the inability of City of Fresno surface streets to handle the new traffic flows exiting from the Freeway became quickly apparent.

Many Fresnans will remember that the first Freeway 41 section was completed in the mid-80s and terminated at Bullard Avenue and how we all looked forward to the day when the gridlock that backed up on our new Freeway all the way south to Shaw Avenue during each weekday’s rush hour would be eased by the opening of the final segment. As soon as we were able to exit at Herndon and Friant, we thought, all would be well. Also, by reconnecting the Freeway to the highway again along a broad curve just before it crossed the San Joaquin River into Madera County, all northbound traffic would flow smoothly northward toward Yosemite National Park.

But soon after the remaining Freeway section was “completed,” many were surprised to see the backups on Bullard were now transferred north to Herndon and especially Friant. It became so bad, in fact, that Caltrans had to scramble to fix what was a very dangerous situation vividly illustrated on the Freeway’s new pavement by numerous long black skid marks and by many dramatic vehicle accidents on the local nightly news. Years after the low-capacity, poorly-designed Friant offramp was opened, and after millions more taxpayer dollars were spent to re-engineer and acquire additional right-of-way from adjacent property owners, Caltrans finally added not one, but two more lanes onto the Freeway shoulder (see photo above) and increased the Friant offramp’s original two lanes to five!

I share the preceding local history to illustrate how Caltrans’ lack of planning has not only caused every day Fresno citizens the inconvenience of being stuck in gridlock, but also placed motorists in extremely dangerous traffic situations for many years.

Now, in the case of Caltrans plan to widen Highway 99 from 4 lanes to 6 lanes from Ashlan to Herndon and then from Herndon to Avenue 7 in Madera (section map shown above), a very similar situation is developing. In seeking to rush this massive project through the regulatory process and deliver it on time and on budget, Caltrans simply left out a Traffic Impact Study for City of Fresno surface streets. Their Initial Study/Environmental Assessment simply states, without any supporting documentation whatsoever, that “No local roads within the City of Fresno or Madera County would be affected. No work would be done on the Grantland undercrossing, the Herndon overcrossing, or the Avenue 7 overcrossing. These structures are non-standard and have been addressed with a design exception.”

So, what exactly is a design exception? Caltrans normally expects new facilities to be constructed using full design standards, but when reconstructing existing facilities, especially in urban areas, an Exception to Design Standards may be approved by the Chief, Division of Design, at the district/region level as long as sound engineering judgment can be documented in determining the justification for the nonstandard feature. This is how Caltrans can legally get away with not widening the Freeway 99/Grantland undercrossing at Herndon, not widening or lengthening the northbound Herndon or southbound Grantland offramps and not participate with the City of Fresno in building a grade separation (underpass) at the Union Pacific Railroad crossing just east of the Herndon/99 interchange to the detriment of City of Fresno motorists who will be trying to get to and from Caltrans’ brand-new increased-capacity Freeway. Sound familiar?

Of course, had Caltrans conducted a full EIR (Environmental Impact Report) for the Island Park Six-Lane Project instead of their proposed MND/FONSI (Mitigated Negative Declaration/Finding Of No Significant Impacts), these issues may have been discovered.

When I think of all the development projects in our community being required to conduct EIRs and Traffic Impact Studies almost routinely by our local planning departments, Caltrans’ flagrant refusal to do the same for their own $64.1 million growth-inducing, capacity-enhancing Project seems that much more arrogant and condescending to those of us in the motoring public who sit in gridlock wondering why our state and federal government agencies continue to fail to address such a basic issue as good local roads and quality Freeway design that matter so much to our daily quality of life.

Next blog post coming soon: Caltrans fails to study constituents of Freeway surface runoff from its proposed new bridges over the San Joaquin River Restoration and whether or not the new fenced retention basins or bioswales they are planning to build directly adjacent to the San Joaquin River to catch this runoff could potentially release these contaminants into the path of future spawning Chinook salmon or smolts heading back out to sea.

When the Council of Fresno County Governments (COG) adopted the Highway 99 Beautification Master Plan in 2000, the northern and southern Major Gateways to Fresno County along Highway 99 were designated as two of the most important elements in the Master Plan. The Major Gateways, located at the County borders, would “set the tone for the remainder of the enhancements,” said the document created by RRM Design Group, by being “architecturally significant in scale, materials, colors and detail.”

In cooperation with Fresno County officials and the Association for the Beautification of Highway 99, Aquarius Aquarium Institute agreed to grant an easement on its future Aquarium property so the northern Major Gateway Monument sign shown above could be constructed facing the Freeway.

You may be asking – how could mere beautification of a highway corridor represent an economic benefit to a community? Well, the consensus of the Association’s members when they formulated their Master Plan was that the lack of visual appeal along Highway 99 had been effectively discouraging economic development in our region for years. This broad coalition of area business, political, economic development and educational leaders passionately believed that by showing an effort to invest in our community’s image and aesthetic character, they would be encouraging existing businesses to also invest in the area and attract new economic interests as well. Caltrans was listed as a possible funding resource in the adopted Master Plan.

Indeed, Caltrans officials at that time were deeply involved in the process and, on December 10, 2003, actually provided a huge, shiny Caltrans tractor truck and flatbed trailer draped with red, white and blue bunting to serve as a grand stage for the sign’s official groundbreaking. From atop the Caltrans big rig parked right on the spot where our Aquarium building is to be built, Fresno County Supervisors, City of Fresno elected officials and other distinguished guests made inspiring speeches over loudspeakers to the assembled crowd about all the economic benefits that would most certainly come to both the City and County of Fresno as a result of the full implementation of the Highway 99 Beautification Master Plan. How wonderful it was that we were making our section of 99 a shining example for the rest of the San Joaquin Valley, they said to enthusiastic applause and the television cameras. I know all of this because my wife, Aletha, and I were present to hear the dignitaries speak so proudly about what a big deal this new Major Gateway area was for the promotion of Fresno County as an economic powerhouse. Even the Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce-endorsed message on the Gateway Monument was audacious: Welcome to Fresno County – California’s New Frontier.

But only six-and-a-half years later, right after Fresno County’s first-ever Major Gateway Monument sign had celebrated its fifth anniversary of completion, the Beautification Master Plan is all but forgotten in Caltrans’ plans for rebuilding the Freeway bridge over the San Joaquin River. The only “plan” Caltrans has shown publicly has orange marker lines depicting the highway swinging out to the west – encroaching forty or fifty feet onto our County, City and LAFCo-approved future Aquarium property, bisecting our future Oceanarium and right through our one and only existing Welcome to Fresno County Major Gateway Monument sign. The large Eucalyptus trees now masking the southbound Herndon Avenue exit overcrossing to Golden State Blvd. just to the south of the Major Gateway are also slated for destruction.

Caltrans position in both its Initial Study/Environmental Assessment and the separate “Technical Studies” is that this massive $64.1 million major construction project will have no significant impacts on our community and therefore does not require preparation of a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR). But their IS/EA and Technical Studies contain only passing reference to our COG-adopted Highway 99 Beautification Master Plan and make no acknowledgment whatsoever of the importance of the northern Major Gateway Monument area to the Master Plan’s ultimate success. There is no study on the economic impact of planting nothing more than grasses on the new Freeway shoulder and berm at the designated Major Gateway entrance to both the City and County of Fresno nor any analysis of the economic impact of losing our brand-new Gateway Monument Sign local volunteers worked so hard to create.

Next blog post coming soon: Will Caltrans get away with not performing a Traffic Impact Study on its $64.1 million capacity-enhancing Project? (even though state law requires many much smaller private-sector and local projects to do so routinely)

San Joaquin River in Fresno - just west of Highway 99

Funny thing about the San Joaquin Valley – it’s named after a river of the same name. This second-longest river in California has its three sources in the incredibly beautiful snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains just east of Fresno. And not long after its North, Middle and South forks all converge in a strikingly gorgeous granite-walled valley that even knocked the socks off John Muir, the power of this snow-melt driven fury blasts into its much larger namesake Valley and serves as the northern border of both the City and County of Fresno until it turns north and meanders through Firebaugh into Merced County.

When we began searching for a site to build our educational Public Aquarium back in 2000, our nonprofit board of directors had several criteria. The project had to be freeway-visible and freeway-accessible to maximize attendance and on donated land to minimize debt. We also felt passionate about the efforts to beautify Highway 99 – which is what far too many people think of as Fresno as they are traveling through. In 2002, when the Jura family offered our organization their property directly adjacent to Highway 99 overlooking our Valley’s river – we were thrilled to say the least. It met all of our criteria and added another exciting component: How better to teach the history of this place that so many people simply drive on through today than to give them an opportunity to stop and experience the real power of this river?

An Aquarium is simply one tool in Fresno’s toolbox that can be utilized to tell the world the story of our Valley and to educate our own population about the interconnectedness of our region to the greater world. Visitors could view the river as a metaphor for Fresno as the source and conveyor of so much bounty flowing out into the world – as long as the story is compelling, engaging and reinforced by creative, interactive, meaningful and inspiring presentations.

Of course, merely building our Aquarium on the banks of the San Joaquin River does not make the project authentically Fresno. But the stories that begin to unfold as soon as visitors enter our main doors must leave them with a deeper sense of respect and understanding of  both the history and present-day issues unique to this place in the world or we will have failed. It must motivate them to become better stewards of our Valley’s water resources – armed with knowledge that we must impart to them about how terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are undeniably intertwined.

Let me conclude with one last thought. In order for any city or region to be attractive to visitors and businesses, it must work to support many cultural institutions. Museums, Zoos, Theatre, Opera and Dance companies, Planetariums, Art Galleries, cultural arts and entertainment districts and even Aquariums all have their roles as vital amenities within any given community. When thinking about Fresno’s Aquarium, always remember that great water aphorism: “a rising tide lifts all boats.”

Aquarius Aquarium Institute is committed to building Phase One of the educational Public Aquarium for California’s entire San Joaquin Valley with little or no debt. We are scheduled to go before the Fresno City Council on January 28th for approval of a Resolution to be introduced by Councilmember Andreas Borgeas in support of a federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant application to pay for $2.75 million in City water and sewer lines to serve the Aquarium and surrounding neighbors. This will bring more of our own tax money back into our region and help boost our local economy. Stay tuned – we will be calling on you soon for support.