DPAC Minutes 2025-12-02

    Meeting Minutes
    Delta Protection Advisory Committee

    Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 5:30 p.m.
    Clarksburg Schoolhouse
    36397 North Center Street, Clarksburg, CA 95612

    Agenda

    1. Call to Order/Flag Salute – Anna Swenson, DPAC Chair

    Chair Swenson called the meeting to order at 5:39 p.m. and Member Jerred Dixon led the Pledge of Allegiance.

    2. Welcome and Roll Call – Introductions with a Special Welcome to the New Executive Director, Amanda Bohl

    Clerk Heather McClure called the roll. Present were: Chair Anna Swenson; Vice Chair Russ Ryan; members Arron Pellarin, Emily Pappalardo, Jeff Iniguez, Todd Bruce, Morris Lum, Edward Hard, Erin Chappell, Jeff Twitchell, and Jerred Dixon; and Ex Officio Member Heather Swinney. Member Douglas Hsia arrived at 5:53 p.m. during Item 6.

    Chair Swenson welcomed new Delta Protection Commission Executive Director Amanda Bohl, who introduced herself and described her background in the Delta.

    3. Public Comment – an opportunity for members of the public to address the Commission regarding items not on the agenda

    Chair Swenson asked for public comment, and there was none.

    4. Approval of Draft August 5, 2025, Meeting Minutes

    Draft minutes were not available in time for the meeting.

    5. Approval of 2026 Meeting Schedule

    The Committee reviewed proposed meeting dates and alternate dates.

    Motion: Member Hard moved to approve the meeting schedule as proposed, and Vice Chair Ryan seconded. The motion passed on a unanimously.

    6. Recognition of Angels Recovery Dive Team – Chair Swenson and Juan Heredia

    Stockton diver Juan Heredia and his wife, Mercedes Heredia, of the Angels Recovery Dive Team addressed the committee about the 2024 founding of their nonprofit, which searches for lost loved ones to bring resolution to families of the missing. Since its founding, the team has recovered 15 bodies, typically after other searches have been called off.

    Delta Protection Commission Member and Sacramento County Supervisor Patrick Hume presented Heredia a certificate of recognition for the Dive Team’s work.

    At this time, Chair Swenson announced that she would be skipping to Agenda Item 11 because the speaker had time limitations.

    11. Delta High School Parent Group Facility Update – Gia Moreno

    Gia Moreno, a teacher at Hood Middle School (and an alternate on the Delta National Heritage Area Advisory Committee), addressed the Committee regarding the dilapidated condition of 50-year-old portable classrooms. To improve the buildings, building regulations require the structures to be elevated 12-15 feet to protect them from flooding, and the school does not have the funding to do so. Her goal is to get an exemption to the elevation rule.

    Committee members noted that improving the levee to 200-year flood standards would eliminate the requirement. Member Emily Pappalardo noted that the levee in question had been decertified by FEMA in 2012.

    7. Update on Delta Protection Commission activities – Amanda Bohl, Executive Director

    Executive Director Bohl told the Committee that the Delta Protection Commission had voted on November 17 to appeal the Department of Water Resources’s certification that the Delta Conveyance Project is consistent with the Delta Plan. She noted that the Commission had a January 2 deadline to submit additional information, and that the Delta Stewardship Council would have 60 days after hearings scheduled for February 26-27 to decide on the appeals.

    She also noted that the 2026 Delta Leadership Program had received 21 applications and 15 candidates representing a nice geographic mix of the Delta had been chosen.

    8. Clarksburg Trail Update – Amanda Bohl, Executive Director

    Executive Director Bohl said there had not been a lot of progress on the trail in the past few months, though the project had recently been split into two segments that could be completed independently: one for the portion of the proposed trail on property owned by the City of West Sacramento, and another for the final segment to Clarksburg, for which rights have not been secured.

    Many members of the audience addressed the Committee with questions and concerns about the proposed trail, among them:

    • It would be a highway to Clarksburg for the homeless.
    • There are no public restroom facilities in Clarksburg for trail users.
    • Public trail use might interfere with normal farming practices.
    • The trail would bring trespassers.

    Committee members expressed interest in hearing more about the issue in the future, noting it would need to be agendized properly for the Committee to take a position on the matter.

    9. Golden Mussel Update – The Committee

    Committee members discussed concerns about the spread of invasive golden mussels in the Delta and the need to move from preventing spread outside the Delta to containing the existing infestation inside the Delta.

    Member Pellarin, who owns a marina, said boats hauled on trailers have been a focus, but boats that remain in the water have not been discussed. There is still a need for the state to develop best practices. He noted that the state was reviewing mussel sticker fees.

    Vice Chair Ryan spoke from a Reclamation District perspective about mussels clogging pipes, decreasing water flows, and potentially affecting agriculture. Member Pappalardo said she feared it would be an economic disaster for marinas and agriculture.

    Member Hard noted that much work still needs to be done on containment. He noted there are also questions about whether and how the private sector can step up to address containment. He said it is a water security issue for the state, with recreational boating as the secondary issue.

    Member Chappell noted California was not as prepared, as a state, as it should have been. She noted it will take time for the state to stand up its full response.

    Chair Swenson asked for public comment and there was none.

    At this time, Chair Swenson announced that she would be skipping to Agenda Item 12.

    12. Freeport Jurisdiction Inquiry – Janet Lake and the Freeport Community Group

    Hood Community Council Chairman Mario Moreno, speaking on behalf of Janet Lake, explained that many homelessness problems are coming down the river.

    He noted that Hood has a new sewer system and new roads. Many cyclists come through. The Council is looking to enhance the community with murals.

    Chair Swenson noted that one of the issues with Freeport is that there is an area that has been annexed into the City of Sacramento, but that doesn’t have a person in charge of that area yet. There were problems with people displaced by the Delta Shores construction, resulting in nine vehicles pulling trailers relocating near the bridge.

    Swenson asked for comments from the committee and public, and there were none.

    10. Task Group Report Out on Rivers and Levees – The Committee

    Chair Swenson noted that the Delta Protection Commission was interested in giving more direction to DPAC. Vice Chair Ryan indicated he would like more advance notice of what issues will be coming up at future Commission meetings to help DPAC prepare more ideas.

    Member Twitchell said the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan would be updated in 2027, which would require a lot of work in the coming year. He is working to draw attention to levees that protect nine of the eleven Delta Legacy Communities – Freeport to Rio Vista; he said it’s their opportunity to come together and provide more of a voice to the state.

    Member Pappalardo noted that she and Twitchell had worked together on the Small Communities Feasibility Study that looked at risks for small communities, but implementation funds were limited and none went to Delta communities.

    Swenson asked for comments from the committee and public, and there were none.

    13. Member Announcements and Next Meeting

    Chair Swenson noted the next DPAC meeting would be Feb. 3.

    Member Hsia reported that the Delta NHA Advisory Committee has been discussing what to do for the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, and that the current plan is putting information tables at various fairs.

    Rafe Goorwitch, a member of the public, announced that the Delta Queen had become available for purchase. He noted that the vessel, which is much more historically significant than the Delta King, had hosted three presidents, had been attacked, and is still water-worthy. He said the boat was the last of its kind, the last functioning example of American steam power. The vessel cost $1 million at the time it was built, and turns 100 in 2027.

    Member Chappell noted that invasive mute swans have been proliferating in the Delta, but the Legislature had passed a law allowing the take of mute swans effective Jan. 1. She also noted mute swans infected with avian influenza had been detected on Liberty Island. She encouraged people to report infected swans, which tend to swim in circles and not be aggressive; normally they are quite aggressive.

    14. Adjournment

    Chair Swenson adjourned the meeting at 7:31 p.m.