[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Item for 2/24/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

February 24, 2009

 

Top Item–

 

 

 

Drought could be nightmare for nature

Outlook worsens for wetlands, foraging

San Diego Union Tribune – 2/24/09

By Michael Gardner

 

SACRAMENTO — The punishing drought that threatens to disrupt California's economy could also exact a heavy toll on the environment, from the Anza-Borrego Desert to the mountains casting shadows on Lake Tahoe.

 

Water managers are bracing to get by with just a trickle of the normal deliveries from state and federal agencies. But while drastic cuts to farms and cities have attracted national attention, the combination of drought and delivery shortfalls may be just as painful for fish and wildlife.

 

Despite the recent stormy interruption in the Sierra Nevada, forage may be scarce when bears wake up from their winter slumber, salmon could literally cook in too-warm waters and waterfowl might have to crowd into shrinking wetlands. More rain is urgently needed to dampen fire-prone forests and chaparral – home to common deer and rare butterflies.

 

“The picture has definitely improved, but we are so far behind throughout the state that we need to have another month just like the one we've had in February to recover,” said Greg Mensik, deputy manager of the nearly 100,000 acres that make up the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

 

Continued drought could also limit how, where and when Californians enjoy the environment.

 

Parks officials were forced to close the summer boating season early at reservoirs, such as Oroville, Folsom and Millerton, costing state coffers $1.6 million. Federal wildlife refuges are considering limits on use, from hunting to bird-watching. There may be little water for white-water rafting. And sport salmon fishing could be off-limits.

 

At Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, spokeswoman Gail Sevrens reported that a lack of water is suspected of killing off some cholla cacti and decimating juniper trees above Box Canyon. Over at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, rangers closed the 81-site Green Valley campground until hazardous, drought-weakened oaks can be removed, she added.

 

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Friday reduced allocations to its web of refuges – important migratory waterfowl stops on the Pacific Flyway – by 25 percent. As thousands of acres of wetland habitats dry up, birds must compete for space in even smaller parcels, risking an outbreak of deadly diseases.

“Now we have to make some hard decisions,” Mensik said. “How are we going to continue to maintain habitat? We simply cannot do everything we normally do and would like to do.”

 

Compounding the problem, Mensik said, is the possibility that rice farmers may forgo some planting, which would shrink other feeding grounds for white pelicans, egrets, heron, ducks and songbirds.

 

Not far away, a symbol of what ails California rises out of the Sacramento River. Shasta, the largest of the state's reservoirs, is approaching its lowest level ever.

Federal water managers have had to limit cold water releases for salmon returning upstream – a move that makes 20 miles of the Sacramento River too warm for the fish and their eggs to survive.

 

Illustrating the desperation, federal and state officials are pleading with regulators to ease water quality standards in the Sacramento delta. If granted, the emergency application would save some cold water for salmon, but potentially sacrifice flows that help a rare fish, the delta smelt.

 

“Salmon is going to just be a nightmare,” said Doug Obegi, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council involved in litigation to protect the state's fisheries. “There's just not enough water to go around.”

 

And if the drought persists? “If it's dry again, we'll be in unprecedented territory,” said Paul Fujitani, chief of water operations for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Environmental groups blame the bureau for creating a crisis by stalling tough decisions to cut allocations to farms. The bureau “delivered large amounts of water and drained the reservoirs,” said Tina Swanson, executive director of the Novato-based Bay Institute. “The severe water problems are a combined result of dry conditions and mismanagement.”

 

Fujitani said the bureau has contractual obligations to deliver water and cannot withhold deliveries based on speculation that it might not snow the next year. Days ago, the bureau announced it will turn off all supplies to some farms unless even more snow falls.

 

Perhaps ground zero of the drought is the Sacramento delta, the hub of California's water supply and home to fish, wildlife and plants.

 

Federal officials, following up on a 2007 court order to protect the delta smelt, have imposed restrictions on how much water is pumped out of the maze of waterways, sharply limiting deliveries to many San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California cities for more than a year.

 

The pumping restrictions did not come into play earlier this year because there was very little water to move through the delta. Now that the waterways are improving, pumping limits will be triggered to protect fish.

 

During past droughts, the state has been able to buy extra supplies to help fish and wildlife. But little water is for sale and the state's bank account is empty, said Jerry Johns, deputy director of the state Department of Water Resources.

 

Another persistent problem is invasive species, which take advantage of changes in water temperatures and flows to muscle out others. For example, the Asian clam feasts on plankton, a food source for other fish. A Brazilian water weed is creating dense underwater forests – perfect hiding places for non-native striped bass that feed on smelt.

 

Not all of the problems are in the waterways. Recent warm weather at Lake Tahoe interrupted hibernation, bringing hungry bears out in search of food. Officials worry that food, from skunk cabbage to manzanita berries, will be in short supply for the bears this spring. If so, there could be a spike in human-bear encounters.

“It's going to be hard on them. There won't be anything growing,” said Cheryl Millham, executive director of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, a local volunteer group.

There is also potential for longer-term harm. Some experts are concerned that shortages of water – and by extension, food – could overly stress female bears to a point where the numbers of offspring drop.

 

Fire could also be more easily touched off, claiming animals and their habitat.

 

Andy Yuen, project leader of the San Diego National Refuge Complex, said drought could spark another Harris fire, which burned through half of its 8,400 acres in 2007. The region attracts the California gnatcatcher, least Bell's Vireo and arroyo toad, among dozens of important species.

 

Several blazes have broken out unusually early along the state's north coast, according to Del Walters, Cal Fire director. In addition to tinder-dry trees, prolonged drought conditions will cause fires to burn longer and hotter, he said. #

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/feb/24/1n24enviro234511-drought-could-be-nightmare-nature/?uniontrib

 

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