Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
November 20, 2008
3. Watersheds –
Most state native game fish face extinction
San Francisco Chronicle
IID urges action on sea
Editorial -
The
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Most state native game fish face extinction
San Francisco Chronicle – 11/20/2008
By Jane Kay
Most of California's native salmon, steelhead and trout species face extinction by the end of the century unless the state acts quickly to provide adequate freshwater and habitat, according to a study released Wednesday by the state's leading salmon expert.
Twenty of 31 species of the prized fishes are in sharp decline, including the Sacramento River winter run of chinook salmon, the Sierra's
The fish advocacy group, California Trout, that commissioned the study will use the results to try to help persuade legislators and the governor to direct and help the California Department of Fish and Game to better carry out its mission of conserving the state's wild fish.
Decades of lax controls on farming, logging, grazing, mining and road-building have filled and polluted streams, the study said, while the removal of streamside vegetation on the North Coast, in Sierra creeks and on inland lagoons has warmed the water and harmed fish.
For the past 50 years, ocean salmon that spawn in rivers from the Klamath south to the
In some recent years, salmon returning to the ocean to feed and grow have found a poor food supply of krill, squid and smaller fish caused by higher water temperatures that could be related to global warming.
"Our fish need cold, clean water to survive, but they're getting less and less of it," Moyle said. "Dams block access. Climate change is now looming to exacerbate the threat, and it increases the urgency. All of these things are pushing our fish toward extinction.
"If we allow these fish to go extinct, we've allowed the deterioration of the streams and rivers," Moyle said, adding that the same waterways supply clean drinking water to humans.
One species, the bull trout, already has disappeared. The fish was last seen in the
In the 316-page study, Moyle calculated the survival chances into the next decades of 12 kinds of salmon, 11 kinds of trout, eight kinds of steelhead and one species of white fish.
He based the assessment on size of the habit and population, dependence of the fish on human intervention to save it, tolerance to environmental stressors, vulnerability to genetic disruption and likelihood of doing worse under global warming.
Fish and Game Director Donald Koch, in a statement released Wednesday, said the agency looks forward to reading the report.
"We thank California Trout for their dedication to
Sport and commercial fishing and environmental groups have complained that the agency is mismanaged and underfunded, resulting in a shortage of wardens and other staff members charged with preventing poaching, checking stream quality, running restoration projects and monitoring logging and development plans.
Brian Stranko, CEO of the 7,500-member California Trout, praised recent progress in aiding the state's fish. There were two preliminary agreements last week to remove four dams on the Klamath River and a court settlement involving restoration of the San Joaquin River, which aims in part to bring back the spring run on the river that was wiped out by the construction of Friant Dam in the 1940s.
Restoration measures work, Stranko said. Volunteers working with state and federal agencies, conservation groups and private parties have begun to bring back the
But the most important changes must come from Fish and Game, an agency legally mandated to manage and conserve fish and wildlife, Stranko said.
Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, the new chairman of the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, said the state's fiscal crisis will prevent expansion of Fish and Game's resources, which have been depleted by cuts.
But Huffman, who plans hearings on the salmon problem early next year, said the state can find other sources of revenue and can consider other ways to reconfigure the agency "so it can fulfill its missions." In some states, the wildlife agency is combined with the parks agency, he said.
"The department is understaffed and underfunded. The answer is more than money," Huffman said. "We need a department that is fundamentally more committed to its resource-protection mission. That means it can't be subservient to political interests.
"The fishery watchdog agency hasn't had a good track record," he added, referring to court orders to protect smelt that have stopped water deliveries from the delta of the
"This is no longer a hook-and-bullet agency," Huffman said. "It has a serious resource mandate as well."
State Sen. Patricia Wiggins, D-
"It wasn't too long ago that salmon flourished throughout Northern and
Wiggins' bill, SB562, was signed into law last year, providing $5.3 million in funding that will be used to gain federal money for salmon monitoring and restoration. She intends to bring a package of bills to the Legislature in January.
Unless immediate changes are made to protect the environment, she said, "wild salmon as we know it will disappear from our dinner plates."#
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IID urges action on sea
By MEGAN BAKKER, Staff Writer
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The Imperial Irrigation District is attempting to prod the state into action on
The IID Board of Directors voted unanimously at Tuesday’s meeting on a resolution urging the state to fulfill its obligations.
“This resolution says specifically what the district is for,” said IID General Manager Brian Brady.
Brady called for the resolution at last week’s board meeting, saying the board needed to push harder in order to get the state to act. This resolution, Brady said, was an improvement on previous ones that only defined parts of restoration efforts that the district was against.
The move came as Brady said that a previously dead piece of legislation regarding restoration may be on the path to revival.
The bill, proposed by state Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, aims to establish a sea restoration council and charge it with developing and financing restoration efforts.
“In cooperation with local governments, nonprofit organizations, private business, and the public, the Salton Sea Restoration Council can help protect wildlife habitats and endangered species, improve water and air quality, and enhance recreational opportunities in the region,” the bill reads.
However, the last recorded action on the bill was in May, according to the state’s Web site for tracking legislation.
The resolution passed by the board also voices its support for the state’s preferred alternative for
Mike O’Connor, Salton Sea Authority executive director, said at the meeting that he felt the authority’s plan was the better one, since it came with a smaller price tag than the state’s $9 billion estimated cost of restoration.
However, O’Connor said, the resolution “leaves enough wiggle room” so that the board can align itself with a better plan if it chose.
IID spokesman Kevin Kelley said that the primary reason behind supporting the state’s alternative is because it’s already been selected by the state.
“To abandon it would be to start all over again,” Kelley said.#
Editorial -
The
Staff Editor
It's unfortunate, but politically predictable, that the U.S. Senate has decided to postpone action on a public lands bill that includes funding to restore the
The river funding legislation grew out of a 1988 case in which environmentalists charged that construction of Friant Dam illegally diverted water needed to maintain historic salmon runs in the
Fearing they would lose the case, farmers and water agencies in the Valley reached a settlement that will reduce water for farming while restoring the flow of the river in an effort to bring the salmon back.
But had the case been decided by a judge, farming interests could have lost even more water, and the compromise made sense. Some farmers don't agree, and the settlement has become controversial in the agriculture community. We believe the deal is still the best compromise available.
The settlement requires federal approval and funding, which is what brought this issue to the Senate. However, lawmakers decided that the massive lands bill, which contained several items, was too ambitious for the lame-duck session, and it will be put over to next year.
The settlement will cost $250 million, but the funding proposal will only provide $88 million to get the issue moving. If the smaller amount passes, the remainder of the river funding will have to be sought in future years.
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