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October 2022 LOCSD ENEWS Online

SAVE CUESTA INLET PLEIN AIR ART FUNDRAISER - November 5th and 6th
Save Cuesta Inlet Logo, Kayaks, Water, landscape

From our friends at Save Cuesta Inlet:

Please join the Los Osos community for a plein air art fundraiser at Cuesta Inlet on November 5th and 6th. The Inlet is located off of Doris Avenue in Los Osos. Save Cuesta Inlet a 501c3 is organizing this event. Cuesta Inlet is a much-loved piece of our Morro Bay coastline where people walk their dogs and have launched kayaks and other boats for many years. Its owners have recently put this pristine 13-acre parcel on the market. Save Cuesta Inlet would like to purchase the land for continued public use. Come and watch artists at work on Saturday, November 5th starting at 9am. Many different artist will be painting scenes outside at Cuesta Inlet. Volunteers will be available to explain the importance of saving the Inlet for use by the public. On Sunday, November 6th the paintings will be available for purchase at the South Bay Community Center in Los Osos from 1 to 4pm. 50% of all sales of these paintings will go to support the purchase of the Inlet. We look forward to seeing you at the Inlet and South Bay Community Center the first weekend of November. You may visit www.savecuestainlet.org for more information.

Big updates! Save Cuesta Inlet is now officially a non-profit and your donations by check, card, PayPal or Zelle are tax deductible!* In the first 24 hours of fundraising, we saw $20k pour in from the community.
Thank you so much. Please spread the news and help us drive those generous pledges as we are hopeful to raise enough to enter escrow as soon as possible! Read on for more ways to help including fundraising, donating art, and buying fun gift coupons for dinner… Everything helps us reach our goal.

Water Conservation remains a way of life for Los Osos residents.
grass, plant, yard, outdoors, nature, bush, vegetation, woodland, tree, land, Waterwise Landscaping

October is the time of year when the days grow shorter.  It is also time for Los Osos residents to shut off their irrigation controllers if they have them.  Many of our residents have replaced landscaping with drought tolerant plants.  This is a good thing as they don’t require as much water.  Evaluate the condition of your garden.  Native plants that are established don’t require a lot of watering.  For those of you who have landscape contractors regularly visit your home, ask them to shut off the irrigation.  Due to the fact that Los Osos is built on sand dunes, our soil will percolate most water accumulated.  So, this provides a possibility for leaks to go undetected.  Go ahead and shut off your irrigation for the rest of the year through winter. 

For tips on water conservation ideas visit our website:  https://www.losososcsd.org/water-conservation

For sustainable landscapes, drought information and to learn more about watering on the Coast go to   https://www.slowaterwiselandscaping.com/

Drainage – Stormwater

October is time for the Annual Report to the State Water Resources Control Board for our Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit.  This is a permit the District has with the state.  We encourage stormwater pollution prevention measures.  As an example, pick up trash and dispose of it properly in a garbage bin.  Use less toxic chemicals for gardening.  Less toxic products are sold at Miner’s Ace Hardware in both Los Osos and Morro Bay and Farm Supply in San Luis Obispo.  They are members of the Our Water Our World program  https://ourwaterourworld.org/

We also take this time to remind the public that should there be a rain event, we want to make sure that only rain goes down the storm drains.  In Los Osos most of our stormwater flows out to the bay.  The exceptions are in Cabrillo Estates where stormwater flows to a drainage basin off of Madera Avenue, and in Bayridge Estates stormwater flows to a drainage basins off of Bay Oaks Drive, Tierra and East Tierra.

What is an Illicit Discharge?
logo, fish, dump no waste, blue and green circle

Illicit discharges are generally any discharge into a storm drain system this is not composed entirely of stormwater. The exceptions include water from firefighting activities and discharges from facilities already under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Illicit discharges are a problem because, unlike wastewater which flows to a wastewater treatment plant, stormwater generally flows to waterways without any additional treatment. Illicit discharges often include pathogens, nutrients, surfactants, and various toxic pollutants.

If you see water running down the street and there are no firefighting or water operations activities going on in the immediate area, please report it to the LOCSD main office at 805-528-9370.   

For more information that pertains to Drainage look at our website: https://www.losososcsd.org/drainage

From our Friends at IWMA - Plastic Bags are not recycleable in SLO County
plant, person, human, produce, plastic bag, recycling plant, and food
The first image is a graphic containing plastic film and bags. The second image contains photos from various sources of plastic film & bags getting stuck in recycling machinery.

Plastic bags or film is NOT allowed in your blue curbside bin - EVEN if they have all recyclable items inside of them, they will go straight to the landfill. Why? Because plastic film and bags get tangled in the community recycling machinery. So keep your recyclables loose!

Plastic film and bags include chip packaging, plastic shopping bags, film covering meats & various items, saran wrap, plastic liners from cereal boxes, produce bags, Ziploc-type bags, dry cleaning bags, plastic cover wrapping on a case of water bottles, plastic shipping envelopes, plastic bread bags.

ARGUMENT: Can’t you bring them to stores that have a plastic bag / film drop off? Yes. You can. How do they recycle them? The truth is, they never answer the question— and a CA bill requiring stores to obtain these recycling areas was not renewed. When in doubt, throw it out. I know that’s not what people want or expect to hear, but it’s better than contaminating the recycling line, right?

Upcoming Meeting Schedule

LOCSD is also continuing with their regularly scheduled Board, Utilities Advisory Committee, Finance Advisory Committee, Emergency Services Advisory Committee and Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Meetings. 

Information for each meeting and how to get connected will be available on the Agenda for each meeting. Agendas can be found on the LOCSD Website (losososcsd.org) which is posted a minimum of 72 hours before the meeting time.

Our upcoming meetings are: 

  • Utilities Advisory Committee Meeting - October 19, 2022 @5:30PM 
  • Finance Advisory Committee Meeting - TUESDAY November 1, 2022 @ 5:30PM
  • Board of Directors Meeting Open Session - November 3, 2022 @ 6PM
  • Utilities Advisory Committee Meeting - November 16, 2022 @5:30PM 
  • Emergency Services Advisory Committee Meeting - November 17, 2022 @ 5:30PM
  • Finance Advisory Committee Meeting - November 28, 2022 @ 5:30PM

For more information about the upcoming meetings for LOCSD, please go to our website, or click here

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