A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 11, 2007
3. Watersheds
Feds release Klamath coho recovery plan - Eureka Times Standard
Editorial: If salmon could vote - San Francisco Chronicle
FISHERY AGENCY OKS USE OF RUBBER DAM; Report says project won't jeopardize steelhead runs - Monterey Herald
DEVELOPMENT ISSUES:
State orders project halted; A Coastal Commission report says work altering part of the Los Cerritos Wetlands in Long Beach is illegal without a permit - Los Angeles Times
Feds release Klamath coho recovery plan
By John Driscoll, staff writer
The federal government has finished a plan to restore flagging populations of coho salmon in the
The National Marine Fisheries Service plan is based largely on a massive plan developed in 2002 by the California Department of Fish and Game.
The plan calls for incentives for private landowners and water users to help restore the threatened fish's access to tributaries and help boost flows to the Klamath. It also calls for improving forestry practices and road building and maintenance activities that degrade spawning habitat. And it deems completing the ongoing restoration of the
”Using up-to-date scientific information, this recovery plan provides prioritized actions for restoring coho salmon in the Klamath Basin,” said fisheries service South West Region Administrator Rod McInnis in a news release. “But one thing is clear; coho recovery can best be accomplished through the formation of effective conservation partnerships among the diverse communities and interests to solve the many natural resource issues facing the
The coho salmon is particularly susceptible to poor conditions found in the Klamath River basin, since it spends longer periods in freshwater than its cousin, the chinook salmon. Early information from canneries suggests that hundreds of thousands of coho once ran up the river each year, according to the plan. But by the early 1980s, fewer than 20,000 made the run.
Fish cannot reach spawning grounds above the lowermost of several dams,
Commercial and sport fishing for coho in
The draft plan calls for a variety of restoration projects along with disease and water quality monitoring. Removing skid trails and unneeded roads and improving efficiency of irrigation systems are also among priority projects listed.
A copy of the recovery plan can be found at http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/klamath/index.htm or http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/salmon/MSRA_RecoveryPlan_FINAL.pdf. #
http://times-standard.com/local/ci_6347888
Editorial: If salmon could vote
San Francisco Chronicle – 7/11/07
WHEN precious
What's new in this tale of water manipulation is that Vice President Dick Cheney may have pulled the levers, according to a Washington Post profile of his anti-environmental record. The report has led 36 Democratic House members in
But demonizing Cheney for what ails the Klamath isn't enough. It's time that this powerful posse of elected leaders, whose party rules Congress, do more. The delegation should get together behind a plan that will assure steady water flows needed by salmon to survive.
One option is removing the four dams near the
The hearing could underline this directive because the federal licensing of the four dams is up for renewal. One federal agency has mandated that costly new fish ladders be built, a condition that could doom the structures.
Congress could work on the other essentials needed to revive the Klamath: timber-cut policies, development and water diversions needed by
The White House has done its part to wreck the Klamath. Now it's up to Congress to move beyond this sad fact and begin the hard job of reviving a seriously stressed river. #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/07/11/EDGNNQ4VKP1.DTL
FISHERY AGENCY OKS USE OF RUBBER DAM; Report says project won't jeopardize steelhead runs
By Larry Parsons, staff writer
The biological opinion issued this month by the National Marine Fisheries Service says a removable rubber dam used seasonally on the
"That's a significant conclusion," said Bill Hearn, team supervisor in
The steelhead report, which will be used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in deciding project permits, represents a critical hurdle for the water project.
"This is exceedingly good news," said Stephen Collins, vice chairman of the county Water Resources Agency board of directors. "Once you have that ... all the other permits fall in succession."
Agency manager Curtis Weeks said another report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is reviewing the project's impact on endangered snowy plovers, should be released shortly.
"They've indicated there is nothing of major concern," he said.
Hearn said the lengthy fishery review should make the river more steelhead friendly in the long run because of changes in springtime water releases from
Until now, Hearn said, the agency's reservoirs —
That pattern cuts severely into the downstream migration period for juvenile steelhead, when young fish head back to the ocean, and is a significant factor for damage to the river's steelhead population, he said.
"The Water Resources Agency agreed to modify the dam operations to provide more flow during the spring," Hearn said.
"That's a significant outcome of this consultation."
Weeks said: "We'll operate the reservoirs to enhance the fishery. It's a real benefit."
The water project is intended to halt saltwater intrusion at
The inflatable rubber dam on the river near
"This will be one of the most beneficial water projects the
The rubber dam should pose no threat to migrating steelhead because it will have a fish ladder, Hearn said. The county water agency committed to monitor steelhead populations in the Nacimiento and Arroyo Seco watersheds for 10 years and to install an underwater camera on the fish ladder, Hearn said.
The five-year review of the Salinas Valley Water Project afforded the first comprehensive look at steelhead-related issues on the river since the fish was declared an endangered species in 1997, Hearn said. That status required consultation with federal fisheries officials.
"It's the first consultation we have had on the regulation of flows in the
The project, which includes modification to the spillway of Nacimiento Dam, has been in the works for years.
In June, county supervisors approved an annual increase in the assessments despite the project's long delays. Weeks said long-awaited construction should start spring 2008.
Because of the long time it has taken to get the project started, the original estimated cost of about $19 million jumped to $38 million.
"It's been several years, but we always have known it was coming," Collins said.
Calcagno said, "When all is said and done, it was approved with flying colors." #
http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_6346671?nclick_check=1
DEVELOPMENT ISSUES:
State orders project halted; A Coastal Commission report says work altering part of the Los Cerritos Wetlands in
By Deborah Schoch, staff writer
The California Coastal Commission's executive director has ordered Bixby Ranch Co. to halt a construction project that altered and filled a piece of the Los Cerritos Wetlands in
The commission staff is also investigating two other alleged violations in the sprawling salt marshes on the border between
"There are allegations that they were pumping water out of the wetlands area. That is still under investigation," said Aaron McLendon, an enforcement official at the commission's headquarters in
The Los Cerritos Wetlands, at the mouth of the
Two state agencies are hoping to buy the land and restore it, much as the Bolsa Chica wetlands were rejuvenated in
The Coastal Commission staff received a report May 10 that grading and vegetation removal had occurred on several thousand square feet of wetlands along
A Bixby representative disagreed and said the work — described as a pipe repair — would continue, according to a June 29 cease and desist order from commission Executive Director Peter M. Douglas.
In the order,
Bixby Vice President Timothy J. King and BreitBurn representative Jeff Winkler did not return telephone calls Tuesday.
Company officials have contacted the commission and hired a biological consultant, McLendon said.
"We are very hopeful that we can work with Bixby," he said. "We hope to come up with an amicable resolution that restores the wetlands and enhances the wetlands that were disturbed." #
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-marshes11jul11,1,4587578.story?coll=la-headlines-california
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