A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
February 5, 2008
3. Watersheds
INVASIVE SPECIES:
Invasive mussels could keep boating recreationists from area lakes - Amador Ledger Dispatch
DELTA ISSUES:
Sacramento-San Joaquin delta fish drop; Fears of an ecological shift, experts say - California Aggie (Davis
INVASIVE SPECIES:
Invasive mussels could keep boating recreationists from area lakes
Amador Ledger Dispatch – 2/4/08
The East Bay Municipal Utilities District plans to severely restrict boating on reservoirs this recreational season, which began this month, in an effort to keep two tiny, but destructive, invasive mussel species from shutting down the water delivery system.
The restrictions on access to Pardee and Camanche reservoirs will impact boaters in Amador and Calaveras counties and also affect San Pablo, Lafayette, Chabot and Briones reservoirs as the district intends to turn away all boats from outside of California as well as boaters from Southern California, San Benito and Santa Clara counties. All boats coming into the reservoir areas will be inspected before launch and boaters who have recently had their boats in any identified high risk waters will also be turned away. Any boats found to have mussels will not be allowed into the water and the removal of those mussels on boats will be done in coordination with the state Department of Fish and Game.
These actions are only the beginning of a massive prevention effort by EBMUD, the state of California Ukraine and were first detected in the Great Lakes in 1989, are fingernail sized but can grow up to 2 inches and attach to almost anything, including plants, boats, motors, trailers and recreational equipment that is present in water. A single mussel can release more than 40,000 eggs in a reproductive cycle and up to 1 million in spawning season.
According to Amador Water Agency Manager of Engineering and Planning Gene Mancebo, the mussels certainly could cause problems for the water supply. "The mussels have an affinity for pipelines and if they were to get into our raw water transmission pipe it eventually would choke off the supply." Mancebo said that the agency's problem would be the ongoing maintenance of trying to keep the pipes free of the zebra mussel. "That is our biggest fear," he said.
To date, U.S. congressional researchers estimate an infestation of the zebra mussel in the Great Lakes has cost the power industry $3.1 billion in a 6-year period with an overall impact of more than $5 billion due to the spread of the mussels that threatens water delivery systems, hydroelectric facilities, agriculture, recreational boating and fishing along with the environment in general. The hard-to-remove mussels clog pipes and screens and disrupt the functions of other infrastructure to a degree it can no longer function until a shutdown and scraping occur along with high doses of chlorine being applied.
The state Department of Fish and Game, Water Resources, Food and Agriculture, Boating and Waterways, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, National Park Service and the Bureau of Reclamation are working together in an effort with local agencies since January of last year where more than 74,000 boats have been inspected at protection stations with 8,208 being water drained and 70 detained for cleaning.
"Our success depends on the cooperation of the boating public and similar preventive actions by operators of other recreation areas," said EBMUD General Manager Dennis Diemer. "It will take a coordinated, comprehensive effort by everyone involved to prevent the spread of these invasive mussels to EBMUD reservoirs and other water bodies. EBMUD alone cannot solve the problem."
AWA is participating in efforts to keep the mussel from area waterways and, according to Mancebo, is still trying to figure out what this will mean.
"Eventually Fish and Game may quarantine and we don't know what that means. Are we cut off? Or restricted? We're working on figuring that out," he said. "To the degree that we can be a part of the proactive activities, we are participating." #
http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/news/newsview.asp?c=235438
DELTA ISSUES:
Sacramento-San Joaquin delta fish drop; Fears of an ecological shift, experts say
California Aggie (Davis
By Sylvia Chan, staff writer
According to a Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta fish survey, Delta fish species numbers are at their lowest.
On Jan. 10, the state department of Fish and Game biologists released the latest results from an annual survey of Delta fish species. Results included the lowest numbers for three species and continued low numbers for two species.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is one of the state's most important habitats for fish species, according to the state department of Water Resources website. The 740,000-acre estuary also houses drinking water accessible to 25 million Californians.
>From the survey, record-low numbers were released for the American shad,
An expert on
"If the [Delta] levees fail, the smelt will immediately become extinct," Moyle said. "It's an ecological change that's going to shift a part of Californian heritage."
The delta's levees play a role in fish extinction. Depending on the size and timing of a levee breach and what is done with it, breaches can drastically change the water quality in the Delta, said Marty Gingras, supervising biologist of the state's Department of Fish and Game.
Gingras said fish extinctions are usually the result of environmental changes and habitat loss.
"To avoid extinction, all fishes need spawning, rearing and foraging habitat in appropriate proportions and sufficient individuals to preserve genetic diversity," Gingras said. "We need to protect each of these."
Gingras said efforts to save Delta fish from extinction include research and monitoring, education and outreach, habitat restoration and legal measures.
"Most stakeholders respond well to all efforts except legal measures," he said. "With laws, mandatory mitigations and regulations, there are usually winners and losers."
In the event of a Delta flooding or crisis, solutions that include a habitat conservation plan are suggested. This is addressed in the "Envisioning Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin" a 2007 publication written by five UC Davis professors - Jay Lund, William Fleenor, Richard Howitt, Jeffrey Mount and Peter Moyle - and Ellen Hanak of Public Policy Institute of California.
State Representative Lois Wolk (D-Davis), who chairs the State Assembly's
"To restore the entire ecosystem that [would] include the endangered fish species," Wolk said. "It's not enough to introduce legislation. We have to engage in politics and speak out."
Wolk recently introduced Assembly Bill 1806, which addresses rescue or relocation and emergency contingency plans concerning fish and wildlife. Under the bill, a state or local public land management that identifies endangered species of fish or wildlife must develop an emergency contingency plan to rescue or relocate the identified endangered populations. The new requirements for local public management entities would require a state-mandated local program dedicated to fish and wildlife rescue efforts.
"We need a plan so that we can respond swiftly and efficiently in the event of future disasters," Wolk said.
Last year, The Bay Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a petition to change the current status of delta smelt from "threatened" to "endangered" under the California Endangered Species Act. The state department of Fish and Game is currently requesting data and comments on the petition.
To submit data and comments related to the petition or the status of the delta smelt, contact Marty Gingras at (209) 948-3702. Comments must be received by Feb. 29. #
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