[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS - 5/4/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

May 4, 2007

 

3. Watersheds

 

An Eel River Run - The importance of the Eel

Ukiah Daily Journal – 5/4/07

By Ben Brown, staff writer

 

Editor's note: This is the second of two stories by Ben Brown on his two-day tour of the Eel River with the Mendocino County Farm Bureau.

 

According to reports from the California Department of Water Resources, one-third of the rain in California falls in the north coast, which is defined as the area between Sonoma County and the Oregon border.

 

The various forks of the Eel River run through a good portion of that and, on average rain year, carry and distribute much of that water in Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties.

 

"It supplies a tremendous amount of water from Potter Valley south," said Janet Pauli, Chairwoman of the Mendocino County Inland Valley Water Commission.

 

Water from the main branch of the Eel River is diverted through a tunnel, through the Potter Valley Project and into the East Fork of the Russian River. >From there it flows into Lake Mendocino and then downstream all the way to Sonoma County.

 

Along the way a number of communities, including Ukiah, draw water for drinking and agriculture from streams that originated in the Eel.

 

"We are dependent on it," Pauli said. "Everything north of the confluence of Dry Creek is dependent on it."

 

In a good water year, the system delivers the water, but on a bad one, everyone suffers. Some go looking for someone to blame, and there is no shortage of people and agencies for that.

 

A good portion of the land in the Eel River watershed is owned by the National Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, other parts of it are in the hands of Indian tribes and some still remains privately owned by farmers and ranchers.

 

Private landowners like Ross Burgess blame the government and the "ologists" he has no respect for, for restricting the cutting of trees that overgrow the land and suck up all the water, making the river uninhabitable for fish.

 

Environmentalists blame logging companies, ranchers and private landowners, for cutting down the trees, filling the river with silt and leaving the fish with no place to spawn.

 

Other agencies, like the fisheries division of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the California Department of Fish and Game, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and even Pacific Gas and Electric, also get their share of the blame for regulating one part of the river or another to fulfill their duties.

 

In addition the Eel River, no respecter of human boundaries, runs through Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties and brings the residents of those counties and their locally elected officials into the mix.

 

Nature itself also plays a role. While roads do run through the wilderness in the Eel River watershed, much of the river is only accessible by travel on foot in a rugged landscape, making it difficult to observe or understand what is going on in the river itself.

 

Thus far, attempts to regulate the river generally seem to help one area while hurting another. Recent examples include PG&E's announcement that they would reduce flows out of the Eel River and into the Potter Valley Project by 33 percent in order stay in compliance with their FERC license.

 

Keeping more water in the Eel River is expected to help flagging fish populations but it also prompted a flurry of activity from local government and the Mendocino County Inland Valley Water Commission to ensure there will be enough water in the East Fork of the Russian River for frost protection in Potter Valley.

 

Additionally, reduced flows through the project have been cited as one of the reasons, along with below-average winter rainfall, that water levels in Lake Mendocino are expected to reach historic lows.

 

More recently, the Sonoma County Water Agency has said they plan to reduce the flow of water out of Lake Mendocino down the Russian River in order to preserve water for the fall Chinook runs which will mean less water in the Russian River this summer.

 

Regulating the river at one point means that someone up or downstream suffers. A holistic view of the river might make for better regulation, but the sheer size and complexity of the watershed seems like it would render a full understanding of the river the next thing to impossible. #

http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_5818480

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