A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
November 20, 2007
3. Watersheds
CALAVERAS RIVER RESTORATION:
Water district seeks funds to restore passages for fish - Stockton Record
HABITAT RESTORATION:
Bair Island closed up to five years - San Mateo Daily Journal
CALAVERAS RIVER RESTORATION:
Water district seeks funds to restore passages for fish
By Alex Breitler, staff writer
"The fish wouldn't even fit into it," he recalled Monday. "The head stuck out one side, the tail out the other."
The river that Solari fished as a boy - the same river from which his father in the 1930s speared salmon for the dinner table - is today little more than a damp ditch in some lower stretches.
Salmon swimming upstream to spawn face an obstacle course of riprap, debris and concrete that, during low flows, can be impassable.
Stockton-area water officials have started planning for the first of many habitat improvement projects on the lower Calaveras.
The Stockton East Water District is under mandate to help fish in exchange for taking water from that river for farms and the city.
This first project, costing about $1.1 million, would cut a route past four barriers in the
District officials are asking the federal government for half of the cost.
"We're going to be able to show that there's a greater improvement, especially during the high flows," said Kevin Kauffman, general manager of Stockton East Water District.
It's not that the Calaveras has no good habitat to offer. An 18-mile stretch between Bellota Weir and New Hogan Dam east of
It's the 24 miles below the weir, from farmland east of
That stretch of the Calaveras is pocked with 26 structures that can slow or stop upstream migration, stranding and perhaps killing fish.
In the past six years, chinook salmon were able to wriggle upstream only twice - in 2005 and 2006, according to a grant application by Stockton East Water District. Nearly two-thirds of the salmon that did go upstream were unable to reach those prime spawning grounds below the dam.
Instead, they spawned in the lower river, an engineered channel with steep banks, little shade and clay instead of gravel.
How far fish get up the river any given year is a matter of luck and timing.
In a study released in July, biologist Glenda Marsh found that fish historically have moved up the Calaveras when large storms swell the rain-driven river.
This didn't happen every year, but when it did, the fish took advantage.
Those high flows are now less frequent as officials hold water back in
One major obstacle is the Budiselich Dam just east of Highway 99, where fish during low flows must somehow climb a steep slope of riprap about 50 feet long to continue their journey.
Officials plan to build a ramp for fish there. Improvements like these would make a big difference, Marsh said, adding that there is great potential for the Calaveras.
"We know salmon and steelhead are really persistent in going back to the same place" where they were born, she said.
Solari, who was interviewed by Marsh for her study, said he's seen salmon 5 to 6 feet long in the Calaveras. He once caught a 40-pounder in Old Mormon Slough.
"I've fished the river all my life," he said. "But I don't see too many salmon anymore." #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071120/A_NEWS/711200319
HABITAT RESTORATION:
By Michelle Durand, staff writer
Fans of the
Up to 200 truckloads of dirt daily are entering the site as well as large pieces of construction equipment — all reasons why all public access is banned until further notice, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A number of reported vandalism and trespassing incidents also led to the decision announced a few weeks back. The USFWS even reported that pedestrians have ridden all-terrain vehicles through the constructions area and cut through barrier chains.
Dirt hauling began in July and officials wanted to keep some of the site open, even sectioning off a portion of the trails during construction. However, the litany of unsafe practices and illegal acts prompted them to drop the option all together.
An estimated 250,000 people visit the island annually to jog, hike and appreciate the wildlife. That quarter-million visitors, however, will have to put their trips on hold temporarily while the USFWS works on improvements.
The current construction is the first renovation phase to return the island to its former wildlife habitat and create new tidal wetlands and trails. Plans also include observation platforms, expanded parking and rest rooms.
To reach the end goal, more than 1 million cubic yards of dirt will raise the island’s level and shore up levees. The dirt comes from a number of sources, according to the USFWS, and all is monitored to ensure it is clean. Officials are hopeful they can use land from the dredging of the
Once complete, wildlife officials expect the repaired habitat to house a number of species including the endangered
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=83489
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