[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS - 6/6/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

June 6, 2008

 

3. Watersheds –

 

 

 

Court to consider further steps to curtail water deliveries, help salmon

Contra Costa Times – 6/5/08

 

Searching for solution to mussel invasions

Nevada Appeal- 6/6/08

 

Invasive species threatens Lower Colorado livelihood

The Yuma Sun – 6/5/08

 

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Court to consider further steps to curtail water deliveries, help salmon

Contra Costa Times – 6/5/08

By Mike Taugher

A federal judge today will begin considering whether to further restrict the flow of water to California farms and cities in a state already parched by drought.

 

U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger has already ruled that permits meant to prevent water managers from driving fish extinct are failing and illegal.

 

Last year, he ordered Delta pumping reductions of as much as 30 percent because Delta smelt are vanishing. The hearing in Fresno, which may extend into next week, could lead to further restrictions to protect salmon and steelhead, which are also in decline.

 

"This isn't going to solve the salmon crisis but it can help quite a bit," said Zeke Grader, who represents commercial salmon fishers who joined with environmentalists to bring the lawsuit.

 

Most observers do not expect a court order as dramatic as the one Wanger issued last year. In part, that is because salmon and steelhead do not appear to be as threatened as Delta smelt, which are facing the possibility of imminent extinction.

 

"There was common agreement with the Delta smelt that it was disappearing from the system," said Chris Scheuring, a water lawyer for the California Farm Bureau. "The salmon and steelhead are in a little more hopeful situation than the Delta smelt."

 

Instead, environmentalists and anglers are asking water managers to maintain colder temperatures in spawning beds, save more water behind dams and take other measures that would have a more subtle effect on water supplies.

 

Today's testimony will focus on the status of salmon and steelhead runs and whether court intervention is needed. If so, it will likely take several days of testimony before the judge reaches decisions on what protective measures to order.

 

At issue is a permit issued in 2004 by the National Marine Fisheries Service that controls cold water releases from dams, Delta water pumping and many other pieces of California's plumbing system.

 

Federal investigators earlier found the permit was approved under unusual circumstances. Although biologists concluded water deliveries could threaten fish with extinction, they were overruled by a manager, James Lecky, who gave the water plan the agency's blessing and was later promoted to become the Bush administration's top official overseeing marine endangered species.

 

In April, Wanger found the permit did not meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act. Last year, he made a similar ruling on a permit issued by another federal wildlife agency that was supposed to protect Delta smelt.

 

Wanger was not alone. An Alameda County judge ruled last year that the state water resources department's Delta pumps were running illegally because state regulators never issued a permit or certified the federal permit, as required by the state endangered species law.

 

The multiple violations of endangered species laws in the two major water delivery systems — one of which is run by the state water resources department and the other by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — come at a time when Delta fish are in deep peril.

 

Delta smelt are believed near extinction and longfin smelt are being considered for endangered species status.

 

Winter-run salmon, which rebounded during the 1990s from extremely low population levels, dropped sharply last year to the point where fewer than 2,500 fish returned to the Sacramento River to spawn. That represents a decline of two-thirds from the previous generation, which spawned three years earlier.

 

Spring-run salmon and steelhead also are foundering, and even previously abundant fall-run salmon — the backbone of the state's commercial salmon fishery — have collapsed to the point where regulators took the unprecedented step of closing the entire California coast to salmon fishing this year.

 

In all cases, most researchers say there are other contributing factors to the fish declines, including pollution, invasive species and fluctuations in ocean conditions.#

http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/localnews/ci_9493504

 

 

 

Searching for solution to mussel invasions

Nevada Appeal- 6/6/08

By Annie Flanzraich

 

When zebra mussels were found in January in San Justo Reservoir, about 250 miles away from Lake Tahoe in California, state and local agencies made the decision to close the lake to boating.

"Boating on there is not really heavy," said Alexia Retallack, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Game who has been working closely with the reservoir. "For their purposes, they were more concerned with the spread."

San Justo is one example of how a water body infected with invasive mussels has handled the creatures. Quagga and zebra mussels are cousins in the same species family that have similarly devastating effects. Originally from Europe, they have no natural controls in America and can multiply rapidly, destroying the economy and ecology of a body of water, from boating to fishing to beaches. They never have been successfully eradicated from a body of water.

Closing the San Justo was a viable solution because of the reservoir's size and number of access points, Retallack said. But the control method for a body of water, once infected, is dependent on many variables, including size, recreation uses and point in the water system.

"It depends, because each water body is in a unique position, there are so many variables," she said.

Beginning the invasion

Quagga and zebra mussels were introduced to North America in the Great Lakes in the 1980s, probably from the ballast water from a boat traveling from Europe. Mussel larvae are microscopic and can travel in boats from one water source to another.

Since then, the Great Lakes' zebra mussel infestation cost the power industry $3.1 billion from 1993 to 1999, with an economic impact to industries, businesses and communities of more than $5 billion, according to estimates from U.S. congressional researchers.

"They are still here, and we are still dealing with them," said Bob McCann, a spokesman with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

In addition to rebuilding infrastructure to deal with the mussels, there also is a strong effort to educate Michigan boaters about what they could bring to other water bodies.

"One of the biggest things we can do is increase public awareness of how zebra mussels spread," McCann said.

Before 2007, zebra and quagga mussels had proliferated in many places on the East Coast but had not made it past the 100th meridian.

But in January 2007, inspectors found quagga mussels in Lake Mead.

Going west
Lake Mead was prepared for zebra mussels with a prevention program in place, said Roxanne Day, a spokeswoman for the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Employees and concession workers were trained to spot the mussels, and sampling areas were in place around the lake.

But in January 2007, a marina employee discovered a quagga mussel while reattaching a cable line to an anchor.

"We tried to do as much research as we could," Day said.

Now, the strategy at Lake Mead has shifted from prevention to control, with a focus on the 4,500 slipped and moored boats at Lake Mead. Those boats must be cleaned before entering Lake Mead and after exiting the waters. Boaters also are required to notify the marina manager when they leave the marina.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority also is tasked with keeping its infrastructure safe from the creatures, which could cost $24 million in capital in the long run, said Peg Roefer, a regional water quality program manager with the authority.

The water authority is installing a new 3-mile-long intake valve and chlorination line. The temporary solution, chlorinating raw water before it comes into the treatment plant, has a capital cost of $5 million and annual operating costs of $1 million to 4 million, Roefer said.

After quagga mussels were introduced into Lake Mead, they also were introduced into the Colorado River and other locations in Southern California, including Lake Havasu and various reservoirs in San Diego County.

Controlling the invasion
It could cost between $10 million to $50 million a year to deal with the quagga infestation in Southern California, according to Ric De Leon, the microbiology unit manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

"We are in the stage where we are doing control, since most of our system is infected," De Leon said.

When quagga or zebra mussels get into a water infrastructure, they can clog pipes by growing on each other, eventually creating layers of mussels encasing the walls of pipes and valves, De Leon said.

In response, filters at Lake Havasu are cleaned regularly, and additional chlorination facilities are being constructed.

"We have a pretty active maintenance and control program," said Bob Muir, a spokesman for the water district.

Eradication?
There is one case of successful eradication of zebra mussels at the Millbrook Quarry in Prince William County, Va., in May 2006. The water body, an abandoned rock quarry used for recreational and instructional scuba diving, was infected in late August 2002.

To eradicate the zebra population, 174,000 gallons of potassium chloride solution was injected into the water over a three-week period. The process cost more than $400,000.

But the same method would not be feasible at Lake Tahoe, said Ted Thayer, natural resource and science team leader for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

"Chemical treatment's not an option in a lake this size," he said.

Researching natural enemies
Zebra and quagga mussels are controlled in their native Europe because of the natural predators in that environment that don't exist in North America.

However, some researchers are looking at biological solutions to quagga mussels, and one has discovered a small part of the solution.

Dan Molloy, director of the Cambridge Field Laboratory of the New York State Museum, and a team of scientists have been researching a biological control for two decades. Recently, they discovered a soil bacteria that kills zebra and quagga mussels while not harming other organisms in the ecology.

The product was developed for power plants in lieu of chemicals, but research could be done on how it would fare in reservoirs, Molloy said.

"The U.S. Bureau of Land Reclamation is interested in the potential for this," Molloy said. "Now, people are interested if it could be used in the West in open water."#

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/TD/20080606/NEWS/453713556/-1/REGION

 

 

 

Invasive species threatens Lower Colorado livelihood

The Yuma Sun – 6/5/08

BY William Roller, Staff Writer

 

Fast-growing invasive species are rapidly displacing native plants along the lower Colorado River and could threaten livelihoods, wetlands experts said.

 
On Thursday experts gathered in downtown Yuma to discuss options on how to stem the growth.

 "That's probably the single most important waterway because it supplies 30 million people with drinking water," John Laccinole said. "Plus it supplies agribusiness in Imperial and Yuma counties, so we need to take care of it."

 Laccinole, a Ventura County, Calif., resident whose wife has owned vacation property in the Clip Mill Site just north of Yuma since 1936, said he is acting as a liaison between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva's office and local residents about invasive vegetation such as the Arundo donax.

 Arundo donax is a 15-foot perennial reed that resembles bamboo. It chokes riversides and stream channels, and reduces habitat for wildlife. It was introduced to Los Angeles in the 1820s for erosion control in drainage canals and has now spread to many warm coastal freshwaters of the U.S., said Laccinole. 

 "It could substantially deplete the Colorado so we have to take action," Laccinole said. "It has no support for wildlife habitat, it kills aquatic life and becomes the dominant species."

 Salt cedar is another thirsty plant that can guzzle up to 200 gallons of water per day, Laccinole said. It was introduced to the United States in the 1800s as a source of firewood and erosion control. It has now taken over 5 million acres nationwide, he said.

One of the threats of invasive species is they create a monoculture that will not allow any other vegetation to grow in the same area, Mitch Ellis, project leader of the Southwest Arizona Natural Wildlife Complex, said Laccinole.

The complex manages just under one million acres covering the Imperial, Cibola and Kofa National Wildlife Refuges that also includes 30 miles of the lower Colorado River. Arundo donax, salt cedar and fragments are all horrible for wildlife habitat, Ellis said. 

"The warblers, vireos, flycatchers - all the migratory birds like a diverse habitat and they evolve with native plants. They are being displaced. They still migrate through the area but they won't nest and won't get the food they need."

People want their public lands cared for not just because they recreate on them but they expect them to be preserved for future generations. A savvy way of doing this is to create public/private partnerships, Ellis said.

"It's more effective that way, more economical. People bring different skill sets to the table. We just don't have the personnel to get all the work done."

Two of those private partners who joined with the wildlife complex are Aquatic Environments Inc. and Eynon Weed Control. George Forni is president of Aquatic Environments.

"We have a partnership with Eynon. They handle land-based eradication and we work from the water," Forni said. "Between the two companies, we have everything you need to get the water and land transition."

One of the pieces used is an aquamog. It is a low-draft, self-propelled barge that cuts vegetation down to the water line, chops the roots, separates them from the soil, which is then deposited back on the bottom of the marsh.

Debris is off-loaded on to a flatbed using a harvester. A conveyor system allows the harvester to haul it on to a shore bank or truck and when dried used as compost.

Steve Sander, of Eynon, said they use mowing equipment to harvest land vegetation. Their equipment will take down trees up to 10-inch diameter.

"A lot of Arundo is on land and water so it's going to require a joint effort between our two companies," Sander said. "It's spreading fast through California, Arizona and Mexico. It's a long-term process but we're getting rid of a lot of it."

Rep. Grijalva, a Democrat, represents Arizona's District 7, which includes Yuma County. He is chairman of the House subcommittee on national parks, refuges and public lands. He is also committed to restoring the habitat of the lower Colorado River, said Araceli Rodriguez, Grijalva's community representative.

"I listen to the stakeholders and gather information so Grijalva can be briefed," Rodriguez said. "This is a different type of problem because it (Arundo donax) is not the only invasive species. We're going to see what can be done, but it's in the very preliminary stages."#

http://www.yumasun.com/news/species_42146___article.html/threatens_colorado.html