A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 12, 2007
3. Watersheds
DELTA ISSUES:
Water officials: Judge's ruling went overboard; Without permits, Delta pump shutdown looms -
Dry year will test steelhead spawn - Monterey County Herald
SALMON OPENER:
Editorial: Strike up the band for salmon season -
DELTA ISSUES:
Water officials: Judge's ruling went overboard; Without permits, Delta pump shutdown looms
By Alex Breitler, staff writer
A judge overstepped his authority by ordering giant Delta pumps near
The Department of Water Resources filed its official response to a March 22 court ruling that, when finalized, could reduce water supplies for 25 million people from
In a series of three dozen objections, the state reasserted its claim that older agreements allow it to kill threatened Delta smelt and salmon at the Banks Pumping Plant, even without an official permit under state law.
What is more, Judge Frank Roesch's ruling assumes that any operation of the pumping plant will "take" fish, while state water managers argue that is not the case during certain times of year.
Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow in a statement said Wednesday's court filing underscores a long-term strategy to restore the Delta while ensuring future water supplies.
"They're trying to reopen the case,"
Among its objections, the state said the word "massive" used by the judge to describe the amount of water shipped south is inaccurate and subject to misinterpretation. And a reference to "significant" numbers of fish killed at the pumps is ambiguous and ignores the state's attempts to save fish and replace those that are killed.
Snow's solution presented Monday was to ask the state Department of Fish and Game to determine that the pumps comply with state law, based on federal biological opinions. This "consistency determination" would be the quickest way to obey the judge's order, he said.
Fish and Game has 30 days to make that determination. The 60-day pump shutdown clock, meanwhile, would begin ticking when Roesch issues his final ruling,
Earlier this week state Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden, asked Snow and Fish and Game Director Ryan Broddrick whether it was wise to continue to operate the pumps given the catastrophic crash in Delta smelt populations. Machado said that until scientists determine what is killing them, running the pumps could reduce fish stocks beyond the point of no return.
"Extinction is forever," Machado said.
Snow said that is a possibility but stressed that the smelt face a variety of enemies other than the pumps: salt levels in the water, competition from invasive species and water quality to name just three.
Given this, Snow warned against the urge to shut down the pumps.
"Turning that knob and having economic consequences doesn't assure the recovery of the Delta smelt," he said.
Committee Chairman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, asked the officials why they chose to ask for a consistency determination rather than go through the normal process. Broddrick said this way is far faster and will in effect mirror the rules the federal government relies on to operate its own set of giant water pumps in the area.
Machado said that state law could be more stringent and require full mitigation of any damage done to the fish by the state pumps. Broddrick said whatever they did would comply with state law.
Steinberg wanted to know why the state would rely on the federal rules. He asked Broddrick if those rules were in dispute.
"They certainly are," Broddrick said, referring to an active lawsuit similar to the one that threatens the state pumps.
"So how do we reconcile that one?" Steinberg asked.
They cannot, Broddrick acknowledged. Essentially, the state is playing double-or-nothing: If the federal lawsuit invalidates the rules governing the federal pumps, and the state's "consistency determination" relies on those federal rules, then the courts could shut down both sets of pumps. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070412/A_NEWS/704120333
Dry year will test steelhead spawn
By Kevin Howe, staff writer
A dry year in coastal
Frank Emerson of the Carmel River Steelhead Association noted that the state designated the 2006-07 rain season as a critically dry year, "and we're not going to be bailed out by a miracle April."
There may be more showers this month, he said, but it is unlikely there will be enough rain to generate runoff needed to replenish rivers and streams where the trout flourish.
Rainfall in the
"That's a lot less than the
Rainfall in the California American Water service area has been 54 percent of normal this year, said Cal Am spokeswoman Catherine Bowie, and produced only 18 percent of normal runoff.
While conservation efforts have reduced pumping in the river since 1995, when the state Water Quality Control Board ordered the water company to cut back pumping and find a new water supply, the allowed use still draws down the river, Emerson said.
The low river flow makes it more difficult for steelhead to migrate upstream, he said. It is so shallow that adult steelhead can't make it past certain ripples, and more of them end up spawning in the lower river.
That is the part that dries up first in summer, Emerson said, which means the areas where the fish eggs are laid will dry up before they hatch.
Steelhead Association volunteers annually wade into the river with buckets to rescue fingerlings in the drying areas, he said, but if the eggs can't hatch, "we can't even rescue the fry."
Lower runoff brings less fresh water into Carmel River Lagoon, Emerson said. The river is a vital rearing ground for juvenile steelhead, where they grow and fatten off the creatures that live in it before swimming to the ocean.
Without fresh water, the lagoon loses oxygen and the creatures in it die, as do the fish. Most steelhead that make successful returns from the ocean to the river to spawn, he said, are originally reared in the lagoon. Fish that reach maturity upriver are often stunted because of a lack of food.
The association is trying to increase the amount of tertiary-treated sewage water pumped into the lagoon, he said, water that "is cleaner than the water that's already there," and which could keep the lagoon viable through the summer months. #
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/17065919.htm
SALMON OPENER:
Editorial: Strike up the band for salmon season
If anybody is in need of some good news for a change, it's the
But this year, the brass band is playing “Happy Days are Here Again” as every kind of salmon fisherman -- commercial and recreational, ocean and stream, and tribal, too -- are anticipating the most liberal season in years.
And the optimism not only affects locals -- it will be a needed boost to the tourism economy, as the salmon frenzy will surely attract thousands of anglers from outside the area.
A lot of people deserve credit for making it happen, but first on the list has to be the Klamath Management Zone Coalition, a group from Northern California and southern Oregon that not only worked to interpret the mass of scientific data used to determine regulations, but then lobbied for the best fishing opportunities.
The plan was approved last week by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, and the final OK is expected from National Marine Fisheries Service by May 1, just days before the sports season begins -- one of the earliest in 20 years. And although the commercial season in these parts is limited in order to protect coastal fall-run chinooks, the season is open for three months south of Point Arena.
And the fishing fiesta may keep going, because salmon look abundant for next season, too. #
http://times-standard.com/allopinion/ci_5649737
####
No comments:
Post a Comment