A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 12, 2008
3. Watersheds
DELTA ISSUES:
Delta plan sparks senators' protest - Antelope Valley Press
QUAGGA MUSSLES:
Minuscule pests musseling in on boating, threatening pipelines and top bass fishing - LA Daily News
No decision yet on proposed boat ban at Cachuma Lake - Ventura County Star
Contest for quagga prevention - Lake County Record Bee
Fresno County hearing set on restoring San Joaquin River - Fresno Bee
Editorial: Farmers may take big risk backing away from settlement; If agreement collapses, judge could take even more of their river water -
SALMON ISSUES:
GPS tracking could be salmon salvation; Fishermen would record location of catch; genetic test would tell where fish spawned - Ventura County Star
Dire salmon figures may doom season - Sacramento Bee
Feds warn entire salmon season could be halted - San Francisco Chronicle
LAKE
How much did pike project cost Plumas? - Plumas County News
WATERSHED MEETING:
Water resource expert speaks to Watershed Alliance members - Chico Enterprise Record
DELTA ISSUES:
Delta plan sparks senators' protest
By Alisha Semchuck, staff writer
But not everyone in state government agreed with proposals from the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, created by the governor in 2006 to seek a fix for problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
State Sens. Don Perata, D-Oakland; Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento; and Mike Machado, D-Linden, wrote Schwarzenegger a letter on Feb. 27 condemning plans for an alternate water transfer system to bypass the Delta, rather than run through it.
The governor responded by writing back to the senators on Feb. 28, reinforcing his support of the task force suggestions - a move that earned him approval from State Water Contractors Inc., an association of 27 member agencies, including three from the Antelope Valley.
In their letter, Perata, Steinberg and Machado said, "We are shocked to learn that your administration has acted unilaterally to begin work on an 'alternative delta conveyance system,' i.e. The Peripheral Canal."
The peripheral canal became one of the most heated issues in planning the Delta infrastructure back in the 1960s, when people in
The senators cited correspondence from the State Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, which said the Department of Water Resources had "broad authority and discretion to construct facilities like the Peripheral Canal" without taking further legislative action.
Perata, Steinberg and Machado also mentioned a funding request in the governor's proposed 2008 budget to cover the labor costs for engineering and production of environmental documents for construction of the alternative conveyance system, which they again refer to as the peripheral canal. Furthermore, they pointed out that the administration is moving forward with plans for a canal facility although the budget request has not been approved.
"We are vexed that only last week, you invited Sen. Dianne Feinstein to meet with us to help forge a comprehensive agreement on a water bond for the November 2008 ballot," the senators' letter said.
"At that time, you repeatedly stressed the singular importance of reaching a balanced, statewide consensus on water policy that meets the needs of the entire state, and not acting in a manner that addresses some concerns while ignoring others."
In his response, Schwarzenegger wrote that his administration has been working to solve problems in the Delta for more than two years.
"As you all have acknowledged during our negotiations on a comprehensive water infrastructure package over the last year, the heart of
Problems that have plagued the Delta in recent years include old levees that must be repaired to avoid a flood potentially as destructive as the one that hit the
U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger in late December ordered a slowdown of the Delta pumps to save the smelt, which serve an important role in the health of the ecosystem. However, those pumps send water into the 444-mile California Aqueduct, which supplies potable water to
"The task force has issued its vision and will develop a strategic plan to implement the vision by the end of this year," Schwarzenegger said.
He outlined the "near-term actions" necessary to protect the estuary, which includes alternatives for transferring water from the Delta to
Key elements of the task force solutions include a plan to achieve a 20% reduction in per capita water use statewide by 2020; protection of the flood plain in the Delta; multi-agency delta disaster planning; improving drinking water quality; and improving the water conveyance system.
"We applaud the governor for his leadership in taking this initial step forward toward a comprehensive plan for the Delta," said Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of State Water Contractors, which has its headquarters in
"This is the time for action, and the governor is leading us in the right direction," King Moon said. She pointed out that public water agencies throughout the state agree that an enhanced conveyance system will provide cleaner, more reliable water. "We won't be out of the woods until we find another way to deliver water to 25 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. This is a lengthy process, though, and we must get started right away."
"We concur totally with her comments," said Russ Fuller, general manager of the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, one of three Valley State Water Contractors, along with the Palmdale Water District and Littlerock Creek Irrigation District.
"We think the governor is doing an excellent job in addressing this issue and hope he will continue to move forward.
We're sad to see that some of the leaders in the Legislature appear to be trying to slow this process down," Fuller said, adding that state Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, and Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster, are great proponents of the plans. "The Republicans south of
Palmdale Water District "supports the governor in his efforts to develop a comprehensive fix for the water problems in the state of
"Overall, the Valley is spending more than $100 million to improve water treatment plants because of water quality issues that are a direct result of not having a peripheral canal," Paxton said. "We're having to make improvements because of the organics." He was referring to material in the Delta waters that, when treated with chlorine during the disinfection process, creates byproducts called trihalomethanes, which have been associated with certain health problems like heart, lung and kidney damage.
The estimated cost for the conveyance system is around $4 billion, "so it's not inexpensive," Fuller said. "But it's definitely needed and well worth it."
With the ever-growing
http://www.avpress.com/n/11/0311_s3.hts
QUAGGA MUSSLES:
Minuscule pests musseling in on boating, threatening pipelines and top bass fishing
LA Daily News – 3/11/08
By Patricia Farrell Aidem, staff writer
CASTAIC - A tiny mollusk is increasingly raising concerns across the Southland as the pesky creature invades waterways, where it threatens fish populations and clogs underwater pipes.
Boats headed into
And just the threat of the tiny quagga mussel, about the size of a thumbnail, spurred officials to close
Officials were set to meet Tuesday night in
"The quagga is awful," said
"They're an invasive species, pernicious, aggressive, pervasive. They're prolific breeders. And they can destroy a lake."
The migrating mollusk has shown up in the Colorado River and two
The mussels, which attach themselves to any kind of surface, also adhere to one another and clog pipes and reservoir pumps.
In the
Quagga can stow away on boats - hiding in water lines, buckets and bait tanks - and leave invisible larvae in just a few drops of water on board.
From infested lakes in the
Educating boaters
Lake Superintendent Lori Bennett said officials are educating boaters about the mussel and stressing the need to keep boats clean.
Castaic is particularly vulnerable - a No.1 priority on a statewide list - because it not only hosts some 500 boaters on busy weekends but is linked to other water bodies as part of the State Water Project system that brings water from Northern California to the Southland.
"We could take the most drastic measure and shut down, but that wouldn't protect us because we are connected to other lakes," Bennett said.
So boats there - and at nearby
Otherwise boaters risk spreading the shellfish, which also filters the nutrients from the water, killing off the smaller fish and amphibians that are food for the larger fish.
That's a big deal to the fishermen at
"Everyone wants to protect the lakes," said Tom Lee of
If the efforts fail, however, fishermen like Younce and Lee will have to leave their own $30,000 to $60,000 speedboats at home and rent much more modest craft from lake concessionaires.
"Nobody wants to use those," Younce said of the metal craft stacked near Castaic's launch ramp.
On Tuesday at dawn, pickup trucks and SUVs, pulling sleek speedboats, lined up at the main launch ramps at the Castaic Lake Recreation Area.
Parking-lot cashier Wayne Smith eyeballed the boats and briefly checked with owners to make sure they hadn't been to quagga-infested lakes recently in
"We have to be proactive about it," Smith said. "The quagga can be devastating."
Most boaters know the drill.
"The problem's pretty well-known,"
Clint Cates lives in
He's unhappy with the ban on launching boats at historic Casitas, scene of the rowing competition in the 1984 Olympics.
"It's crazy," he said. "That's the only place I ever go. They should take that into account, maybe have an annual pass for people who don't go to other lakes, who can't have quagga mussels on their boats."
Fines, jail time possible
Emergency legislation approved last year allows for fines and jail time for boat owners entering
Six quagga-sniffing dogs have been trained, with a goal of training a total of 24 to sniff out the mussels on boats at lakes and state border-check areas.
At
Rental boats are available in the meantime, but still the ban is expected to cost the lake operator about $220,000 each year in entry fees.
Businesses in nearby Oak View and Ojai also will suffer as boaters head to Castaic and Piru, the closest recreational lakes.
Meanwhile, divers are checking state aqueducts and other areas of
"All waterways in
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_8539423
No decision yet on proposed boat ban at Cachuma Lake
By Tom Kisken, staff writer
After lakes in the Ojai Valley and Westlake Village were closed to outside boaters earlier this month, fishermen now worry they'll no longer be able to launch their boats in Santa Barbara County's Cachuma Lake.
They'll have to wait until March 25 to find out.
Anglers, water district representatives and others debated how to protect lakes from invasions of tiny quagga mussels in a public hearing Tuesday before the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors in
No decision was made on a request to temporarily close the lake nestled in the Santa Ynez Mountains north of
But some of those pushing for a restriction to prevent the mussels from clogging and causing millions of dollars in damage to a water supply for some 200,000 people cited the decision to ban outside boats from
One water district leader suggested the Casitas closure could send more boaters to Cachuma, increasing the risk the mussels attached to a boat will make it to the lake.
All of that made Mike Doering, a
"I think they're going to probably close the lake," he said, holding his wrists to show he felt shackled. "The things I enjoy I can't do anymore. The reason I have a boat is to use it."
The mussels haven't been reported in
Water district leaders fear that if the invasion does come, the damage will be immense. Water flow will be damaged. Taste and odor of drinking water could be affected. The food chain in lakes could be altered.
And once the quagga mussels come, they aren't leaving, said Kate Rees, general manager for the Cachuma Operation and Maintenance Board.
"They are impossible to get rid of," she said. "We've never had this kind of threat before."
The operations and maintenance board wants the county to restrict the lake from all private boats for at least six months so protective measures can be implemented. A letter sent from the board to the
At the public hearing, which had a video link to
Some fishermen left discouraged, but others noted that the California Department of Fish and Game argued against lake closures.
A week ago, the Casitas Municipal Water Board voted to close
Russ Baggerly of Ojai, a board member for the Casitas Municipal Water District, thinks Fish and Game needs to close all sites that are already infected. Until they do, he said, lakes that are still healthy will have to protect themselves.
"You'll probably see one lake after another decide they will be closing to protect their water resources, just as
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/mar/12/no-decision-yet-on-proposed-boat-ban-at-cachuma/
Contest for quagga prevention
By Elizabeth Wilson, staff writer
LAKEPORT -- More than 50 attendees showed up at the Friday Night First Fling at the Lake County Arts Council to vote in the people's choice quagga mussel poster contest, sponsored by the Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee (CLAS).
Sixty-nine students, mostly from
The mollusk is capable of producing one million offspring per year. It was first found in the
CLAS is a volunteer committee appointed by the
CLAS secretary and poster contest organizer Suzanne Lyons said the posters will be placed in storefront windows and may be professionally reproduced and distributed.
She said awareness in the community has grown during the past three months. "Now, when I run into people, most of them say, oh, yeah, the quagga,'"
But that's not always the case. "When I was at
During the Friday Night Fling,
CLAS sponsored the poster contest to get area schools involved and educate young people, who in turn help spread awareness through friends and family,
The people's choice first place award went to Tom Chasen, a fifth grader in Mr. Paul Krohn's class at
http://www.record-bee.com/local/ci_8535182
Fresno County hearing set on restoring San Joaquin River
The hearing will allow both sides of the issue -- farmers and environmentalists -- to debate the settlement. The Board of Supervisors will then consider taking a position on the issue.
In 2006, farmers and environmentalists signed an agreement to restore the river and salmon runs, bringing an 18-year legal fight to an end. But that settlement has been called into question after the Madera Irrigation District backed out of the agreement last week.
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/458128.html
Editorial: Farmers may take big risk backing away from settlement; If agreement collapses, judge could take even more of their river water
The departure of a single water district from the historic
The Madera Irrigation District has signalled its intention to back out of the agreement. It's the first water district to do so, though doubts have arisen among many of the farmers who originally joined the settlement covering the restoration of water flows to the river.
There's a 30-day cooling-off period before the
The farmers and the water districts that serve them were never enthusiastic about the settlement. They would lose as much as 20% of the water they've been getting under terms negotiated with environmental groups that sued over the diversion of the river's natural flow to serve farms on the east side of the Valley. In addition to restoring water flows nearer the historic norm, the environmentalists also hope to re-introduce two ancient salmon runs to the
The settlement requires legislation from Congress, which is where the matter now rests. There are difficult issues to resolve there, such as how to replace at least some of the water farmers would lose, and how to pay for that. The area's delegation is divided: Reps. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, are supporters of the process; Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, has emerged as the principal congressional foe of the settlement.
It took 18 years to get to this fragile point. That's how long environmentalists pursued a lawsuit to divert water back into the streambed to restore the salmon fishery and riparian habitat. The settlement arose when both sides decided that a negotiated agreement would serve their interests better than either having to risk losing big in a judge's ruling.
But the judge has already ruled that diverting the water broke the law. The question is not whether farmers will have to give up some of their water, but only how much. If the settlement collapses, the issue will be back in the judge's hands, and that could get dicey for the east side farms that depend upon water stored behind Friant Dam. They could lose even more than the 20% losses anticipated under the settlement.
That would be devastating to the east side farmers, as well as the communities that have prospered for so many years, thanks to the agricultural abundance of the area, which depends entirely on the disputed water.
It's a risky business for the Madera Irrigation District and any like-minded farmers. We don't think it's a risk they should take.
But water has always been a high-stakes affair in the Valley and
http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/story/457859.html
SALMON ISSUES:
GPS tracking could be salmon salvation; Fishermen would record location of catch; genetic test would tell where fish spawned
By Robert Digitale, staff writer
Gathering such information might one day better protect the state's weaker salmon stocks from rivers where regulators predict relatively few fish in a particular season.
Through the use of genetic testing and GPS tracking, the theory is fishermen could be directed to better avoid those restricted salmon. In return, at times they might receive more access to fish from rivers with larger spawning runs.
"That's exactly what the Canadians are doing with their chinook salmon fishery off the coast of
The result, Garza said, is Canadian fisherman have "pretty dramatically" reduced their catch from struggling salmon runs while pursuing larger catches from more abundant rivers.
A smaller-scale study last year in
In the region off
In contrast, 60 percent of the fish caught between
Garza said the data suggest an abnormally small run of
In April 2006, a study using recreational catches off
Friday in
Many fishermen predict one option will be a statewide ban on fishing because of poor returns predicted for the
In April, the council will recommend season rules to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees the salmon fishery. The commercial season normally begins May 1.
Currently, salmon regulators try to manage the fishery by relying on historic catch data, which is limited because only a fraction of the caught fish are tagged by a hatchery and, thus, can be linked to a particular river. Catch location also is much less precise than what can be recorded with the study's approach using GPS tracking.
Fishermen could receive about $1 million to take part in the study, said David Goldenberg, chief executive officer of the California Salmon Council, a state-created marketing group based in
The fishermen would be paid to land the fish, use a GPS unit to pinpoint the catch location and take a small clip from a fin to be analyzed later by scientists. The fish then might be harvested or returned to the ocean.
Chuck Wise, a
"Then we could work on the stronger stocks," Wise said. #
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080312/NEWS/803120317/1033/NEWS01
Dire salmon figures may doom season
By Matt Weiser, staff writer
A complete closure of salmon fishing in
The drastic proposal – which would mean fresh local salmon would not be available in stores, restaurants or farmer's markets – is driven by a dramatic decline in
Meeting in
That low number is well below the minimum conservation goal of 122,000 fish, leaving officials with few options.
All fishing south of Point Falcon in
"There's no way you can divide up the fish available and end up with any kind of fishery," said Duncan MacLean, a commercial fisherman from Half Moon Bay. "This whole thing sucks."
The fall run is the largest on the West Coast, underpinning a fishing industry worth at least $103 million annually.
Last year, the run saw its second-worst numbers in 35 years, surprising officials who expected average returns. No one is certain why the run is suffering.
The National Marine Fisheries Service blames poor ocean conditions, which may be caused by global warming. The service's experts believe this partly because other runs as distant as
But on Tuesday, they refused to rule out other factors, including poor habitat in the
"The ocean is changing and it's throwing us curve balls. That's the bottom line," said Pete Lawson, a research biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service. However, he added, "things are looking strange. It could be freshwater. It could be the ocean. It could be both."
Fishing industry representatives presented three options for the 2008 season, which begins May 1 in most areas.
Commercial representatives included one option that closes all fishing from
Others include catch limits and shorter seasons.
As a survival measure, one option allows fishermen to participate in a research project. They would be paid by the federal government to catch salmon to collect genetic data, but the fish would have to be released alive.
Recreational interests refused to offer a total closure option and were chastised for it, both by their commercial fishing counterparts and by regulators.
The general feeling was that in a situation this dire, everyone should share the pain.
"The whole West Coast fishing fleet is in survival mode now," said Ben Platt, a commercial fisherman from
The council, meeting in the DoubleTree Hotel near Arden Fair mall, will vote Friday on three options for the 2008 season. One will be chosen as a final recommendation at its April meeting.
State and federal governments then will impose that recommendation as formal fishing rules in the waters they control.
But those agencies may move as soon as this week to close certain areas. Recreational salmon fishing has begun near Point Arena, and other areas open this weekend, so closures may be needed to protect the chinook population before the council's final vote in April.
Federal rules could force the council to call for total closure because the predicted
Such an exemption, however, would require Cabinet-level action by the Bush administration and is considered a long shot. #
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/778892.html
Feds warn entire salmon season could be halted
San Francisco Chronicle – 3/12/08
By Peter Fimrite, staff writer
So few salmon are living in the ocean and rivers along the
It would mark the first time ever that the federal agency created 22 years ago to manage the
Such a move would jeopardize the livelihoods of close to 1,000 commercial fishermen from
A decision to shut down the fishery also would kill recreational salmon fishing for some 2.4 million anglers in
The council is expected to make a recommendation in April to the National Marine Fisheries Service, which will make the final decision about what to do about the collapsing salmon fishery.
"This is unprecedented," said Dave Bitts, a commercial salmon and crab fisherman based in
Why season can be closed
The prospect of banning fishing came up during the first full day of presentations about the salmon crisis during the council's weeklong meeting at the Doubletree Hotel in
The council's salmon management plan, first adopted as part of the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and amended several times since then, requires the council to close ocean fishing if the number of spawning salmon do not reach the conservation objectives set for the fishery.
There are many ways to count fish, depending on what rivers and tributaries are included, but only 63,900 fall run salmon were documented spawning in the
The doom and gloom brought on by the poor run was made worse by news that the number of jacks - 2-year-old fish that return to the river a year early to spawn - is the lowest ever recorded in the
Fisheries experts expected 157,000 jacks, but counted only 6,000.
What it means is that all fishing where the fall run chinook are caught must be closed unless there is an emergency rule allowing an exemption, said Chuck Tracy, a staff officer for the council. Chinook from the
"
Federal disaster possible
The situation is so bad that there have been discussions during the meetings about declaring the salmon fishery a federal disaster,
The Klamath and Trinity river run, another major salmon run along the
"This is the same situation we were in two years ago in the Klamath,"
But, in many ways, the situation is even worse now. Peter Lawson, of the
The emergency exemption allowed some fishing along the
"The
The Sacramento River fall run, the
At its peak, the fall run, which essentially means fish that are at their spawning peak in September and October, exceeded 800,000 fish. Over the past decade, the numbers had never fallen below 250,000 - until this past fall.
Nothing to catch
Fisheries experts say even if the salmon fishery remained wide open there would not be any salmon left to catch.
The collapse is especially troublesome because the recreational and commercial fishing industries all along the Pacific coast depend on fish born in the
The fall run - named for the time the fish pass through the
The scientists, fishermen and tribal representatives at the meetings this week are trotting out various theories for the decline, including global warming, diversions of freshwater in the delta, pumping operations, a lack of nutrient rich deep ocean upwellings and exposure to pollutants. One document lists 46 possible reasons.
Dygert said the death of so many salmon "is suggesting a broad-scale ocean survival problem."
"One thing we know is that these fish had plenty of parents," said Bitts. "Something has happened since then."
The council, which will propose three options for managing the fishery by the end of the week, asked staff scientists Tuesday to investigate a variety of possible causes, including hatchery operations and ecological changes in the ocean and fresh water environments.
Fisheries in crisis
What's next: The Pacific Fishery Management Council, meeting in
Input: The public can comment over the next month in writing or at hearings in
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/12/MNSLVHTM5.DTL
LAKE
How much did pike project cost Plumas?
By Diana Jorgenson, Portola Editor
Now that
The Department of Fish and Game hired two analysts last summer to collect data and ultimately write a report for DFG, which would then be used to advise the state Legislature or whatever agency is designated to work with community impacts.
Also last summer, the Pike Steering Committee created a subcommittee, the Economic Impact Workgroup to begin the process of data collection and to contact area businesses and individuals who felt they had been impacted by the poisoning of Lake Davis, as well as to document the loss of tourism due to no fish stocking during the months leading up to the chemical treatment in September.
The Economic Workgroup consists of two steering committee members, Fran Roudebush and Steve Clifton. Joining them are Realtors and businessmen B.J. Pearson and John Williamson; Julie Cunningham, representing DFG; and Robert Stane, representing state Sen. Dave Cox's office.
The group has met periodically during past months and will meet again in April, but has confined itself to community contact and data collection, which will continue into the second quarter of this year.
Community members who feel that the Pike Eradication Project has impacted them can contact any of these members to state their case and ask for further direction.
The last workgroup meeting, held at City Hall on Feb. 28, attracted a larger group of participants - several members of the community and candidate for supervisor Terry Swofford.
DFG's analysts, Jim McCauley, forensic accountant, and Reece Perkins, real estate appraiser, gave reports by speakerphone.
Randy Kelly, acting director of the Pike Eradication Project for DFG, gave the first report. Although
Appraiser Reese Perkins of Johnson, Perkins, & Associates out of
So far, he had grouped areas in north Portola, another in south Portola, and a third along the
The submarkets would be compared with competitive real estate markets inside
He reported a 2.77 percent decline in property values over the past year in comparison to a .3 percent increase throughout
While local real estate prices had not declined significantly, Perkins reported that sales volumes had declined 59 percent, which he stated was attributable to the types of buyers and less to the impact of the
Perkins said that there were seven sales along the Grizzly corridor in 2005, four sales in 2006 and three sales in 2007. There are currently about 23 homes on
He added that the Plumas County Realtors Association was only started three years ago and has the most reliable data.
Pearson felt that these indicators showed that the pike project had impacted real estate, but Perkins felt that he needed another two quarters of data before anyone could make that conclusion.
McCurley of RGL, located in
He sent out mailers to 120 local businesses that appeared to have valid addresses. Forty businesses responded. Of those, some were Realtors and redirected to Perkins, some were organizations, and still others decided not to participate.
Fifteen businesses, equivalent to 30 percent of the taxable sales base in town, had sent in records for the three prior years DFG has agreed to examine.
Preliminary estimates indicated that the local economy grew 2 percent in the first six months of 2007 and declined 3 percent in the second half, during the tourist season.
"My task is to figure out how much of this decline is attributable to
Two business owners in attendance at the meeting wanted to participate in the business study and Pearson directed them to the Wood 'n
McCurley said that they could not participate. "We have made a decision to limit it to the Portola zip code."
Pearson felt that this limitation was "not acceptable."
"It should include any business affected by
Pearson also asked McCurley whether he had examined the 60 or 70 claims filed during the 1997 poisoning and paid by the state.
He received a negative answer.
Roudebush offered, "Many businesses will say that they have never recovered (from the 1997 poisoning). Many people have never returned to the lake. It's never recovered from the stigma of poisoning. I'd like to see the study go back 10 years."
By way of illustration, community member Maurice Willis agreed with Roudebush. "I haven't bought a fishing license since 1997. Many people feel the same way."
Pearson expanded on the problem, "You have no way of knowing how much the growth rate would have been."
Pearson also said the benefit of pike eradication was to protect the Delta region and the rest of the state, not the people of Plumas. On the other hand, the impact was local. "It's the people here that have been inconvenienced."
He pointed out that Grizzly Ranch had been fined $750,000 by the state for a minor infraction - no barriers had been erected during a construction project and some silt had gone into a seasonal creek bed.
"If this infraction is worth $750,000, what should be the fine for poisoning 4,000 acres? As a member of the committee, I want the same criteria the state uses when they assess a fine, applied to their own actions. You can't have it both ways"
McCurley responded that he would look into former settlements but added, "I've been hired for a specific job that's already been defined - to establish a sales database for a report to DFG."
Pearson responded, "I'm not going to accept any equation that doesn't include this (the Grizzly Creek environmental fine) in the economic equation. If you are trying to be fair and objective, then you can't pick and choose your data."
McCauley answered, "That's not developed yet. Preferably, it would be a comparable town and county. The closest would be in similar
Roudebush pointed out that finding a community whose drinking water supplies have been poisoned would not be possible.
McCauley agreed and suggested that it would be a "blended control group."
Roudebush again stated that she would like to see McCauley look into records for the past 10 years and to examine the settlements and records from the previous poisoning, rather than the three years he is currently confined to.
Sara Bensinger of the Grizzly Store agreed that her business has been impacted for a long time. "The last eight years have really injured me, not just the three months the lake was closed."
Julie Cunningham, DFG, said, "We try to communicate that we believe we're providing a benefit to the community (with the Pike Eradication Project) and our data bears this out."
A DFG lawyer (identified as Stephanie) objected to looking at previous impact payments. "I don't know that that data constitutes a study and I don't agree that it was for actual damages."
In addition to the recommendations the workgroup would make, Roudebush reminded the community that citizens have an alternative method of applying for compensation - the Government Claims Program. Forms can be picked up at city hall or found at governmentclaims.ca.gov.
If for some reason the workgroup were unable to apply to the Legislature, this would be the only avenue for redress available to the community.
Pearson, who filed a statement exempting himself from any claims against the state and any claims of self-interest, did so because he plans to fight hard for appropriate compensation he feels is due the community.
Pike Steering Committee member Steve Clifton sees it differently. "Jim McCurley and Reece Perkins were hired to determine the extent of economic damages separated out from the rest of economic activity (such as failing schools, mortgage issues, etc.). I am waiting for those reports. The findings will then be presented to whomever might be willing to pay for them, most likely the state Legislature. I would hope that they would support the public good, like libraries or schools, as opposed to private compensation." #
http://plumasnews.com/news_story.edi?sid=6090
WATERSHED MEETING:
Water resource expert speaks to Watershed
By Heather Hacking, staff writer
As water planners continue to map out the forces pulling on both groundwater and surface water, questions keep coming up.
Dan McManus' job is focusing on groundwater for the Red Bluff office the Department of Water Resources. He was invited to talk about water for the Monday meeting of the Big Chico Creek Watershed Alliance.
Watershed
There are no easy answers, McManus said.
As someone who focuses on groundwater, McManus said he would hope developers would pay for monitoring wells.
"I've been pushing this with the General Plan," he said.
There is also a need for more dedicated monitoring wells in the
This helps to better understand how long it takes for groundwater to recharge. Through greater monitoring, researchers will be better able track down where the water came from and when, he said.
Strachan is a board member of the Big Chico Creek Water Alliance and also a Water Commissioner.
She and others have been asking a lot of questions about wells proposed in
Of particular concern is that landowners will sell water to other parts of the state.
During his presentation, McManus also laid out the basics of water use in
Of that, about 70 percent is used for summer agriculture, 20 percent for fall agriculture, 5 percent for urban use and 5 percent dedicated to the environment, he said.
Among water users, the county varies. Some areas, such as the Vina area north of
In some areas, such as the foothills, water supply is more hit-and-miss.
The hard rock foundation means wells are dug into the cracks in the rock. Sometimes these wells will tap into a steady supply of water within those fissures. Other times, the wells will reach only small supplies of water. #
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