Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 1, 2009
3. Watersheds –
Fire grows to 650 acres
Woodland Daily Democrat
Man drowns rafting American River
The Auburn Journal
Bidwell Canyon Marina tells 900 boaters they have to go
Chico Enterprise-Record
Klamath restoration negotiations delayed
Eureka Times-Standard
Feds threaten to seize Angel Island, Mt. Tam
San Jose Mercury News
Bulgarians arrested in Covelo-area raid
Ukiah Daily Journal
Mixing socialist and capitalist approaches to fishery management
The Christian Science Monitor
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Fire grows to 650 acres
Woodland Daily Democrat-7/1/09
The wildfire burning in Cache Creek Canyon Park is about 650 acres as of Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., according to Cal Fire.
The state's firefighting agency reports that three structures have been destroyed, two out buildings and a cabin. The fire reportedly started at 2:45 a.m. on Monday, after a vehicle pulled over to the side of the road. The heat from the catalytic converter set the dry grass on fire, a Cal Fire official said.
The incident battalion chief said he wants people to be aware of the extreme heats expelled by a car's catalytic converter and avoid pulling over into dry grass or brush.
The 350 fire personnel, both local and Cal Fire, have the fire about 40 percent contained. Cal Fire fire prevention specialist Suzie Blankenship said, "The terrain is extremely rugged and access is very difficult, so they have to make their plan based on accessibility."
The fire fighters are using bulldozers and hand-tools to create the containment line on the other 60 percent. "It's just plain hard work," Blankenship said.
Dry weather, hot winds and steep inclines continue to hinder firefighting efforts.
Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit is in charge of battling the fire. Two fire fighters have suffered minor injuries while on the fire.
Highway 16 north of Rumsey remains closed, according to the CHP's Woodland office. They estimate the road will remain closed for a few more days.
Donna Neu, executive director of the Yolo & Lake county Red Cross, said on Monday three volunteers assisted the individual whose home burned down. The volunteers were on standby to assist firefighters, but were not immediately required, Neu said, leaving them free to assist the person.#
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_12731872
Man drowns rafting American River
Boat tipped over during whitewater training
The Auburn Journal-6/30/09
By Penne Usher
A man in his mid 20s drowned late Monday afternoon in the South Fork of the American River during a whitewater rafting guide training.
The victim, whose name is not being released pending notification of his family, appears to have gotten his leg entrapped and was unable to free himself.
“What it looks like right now is a group of five to six was being guided down the upper portion of the South Fork and they hit Gunsight (rock) at Troublemaker (rapid),” said Lt. Bryan Golmitz of the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. “The boat tipped over and the victim and others were thrown out.”
The victim reportedly got lodged about 70 yards down river from the Class III-plus rapid near Coloma around 5 p.m. The force of the water delayed rescue efforts by the El Dorado County Swift Water Rescue Team.
“There was just so much water coming down. We had to contact PG&E to slow the flow,” Golmitz said.
The man’s body was recovered around 8:45 p.m. Monday.
Noah Rucker-Triplett, river recreation supervisor for El Dorado County, said Troublemaker is a “significant” Class III-plus rapid, one of the biggest on the river next to Meat Grinder, however incidents of drowning are rare.
“It’s very rare. We have 100,000 people go down every year and very few drowning,” Rucker-Triplett said.
He pointed out that there is always a risk of danger when on or in moving water.
“That’s the risk of being in the river. If your foot or arm gets stuck it’s a dangerous situation,” Rucker-Triplett said. “You try to keep your feet up and keep them from getting entangled.”
Last year a man fell out of a raft in the same area and also had his leg stuck. Bystanders kept the man’s head above water until rescue workers could free him, officials said. No drownings were reported during the 2008 rafting season along the South Fork of the American River.
“The percentages are really low. I’d still tell people to raft and enjoy the river,” Rucker-Triplett said.#
http://auburnjournal.com/detail/118108.html
Bidwell Canyon Marina tells 900 boaters they have to go
Chico Enterprise-Record-7/1/09
By Toni Scott
Lake Oroville has become a second home for boater Steven Parks, who comes to the recreation area often, simply to enjoy the calm and relaxing atmosphere the water has to offer.
But from behind the steering wheel of his 2008 22-foot pontoon boat Tuesday afternoon, Parks, a Plumas Lake resident, said he will no longer frequent the lake he has grown to love.
"This is my lake," Parks said, with fondness. "I know every nook of this lake, but after the 4th of July, I won't be coming back."
That is because Parks, along with approximately 900 other boaters who store their boats at Bidwell Canyon Marina, was issued an eviction notice this week, and is expected to remove his boat from the marina by Aug. 1.
"I just signed for my letter today," Parks said as he enjoyed what will likely be one of his last days on the lake. "I'm pretty disappointed."
Disappointment doesn't begin to explain the feelings Lake Oroville Boat Owners Association President Jerry Johnson has towards FunTime, FullTime, Inc., the entity that manages the marina.
Although the eviction notice, dated June 26 and signed by Frank Moothart, owner of FunTime, FullTime, cites "drought conditions" as the reason for the evictions, Johnson believes Moothart has an underlying motive — retaliation.
The current management agreement between California State Parks and FunTime FullTime, Inc., expires Dec. 1, and the state agency is in the process of seeking proposals for a new
30-year concessions agreement for the marina.
FunTime FullTime was recently denied an extension of its concession agreement by California State Parks, and likely won't be selected to continue managing the marina, due to what Johnson, an Auburn area resident, claimed was documented mismanagement of the marina under Moothart's tenure.
"The marina is in a major state of disrepair," Johnson said.
Over the past few years, Johnson has documented several issues at the marina, including unsafe docks, worn-out moorings and negligent maintenance that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to boats stored at the facility.
As LOBO President, Johnson said he has tried to contact Moothart several times to remedy the marina's problems, but never received a response from him.
So Johnson, along with the 200 boaters who make up the association, voiced their complaints to California State Parks, which oversees the concessions agreement for the marina.
In addition, California State Parks also conducted its own yearly inspections, Johnson said, continually finding "unsatisfactory" conditions at the marina.
As such, Moothart will likely lose out on the new concessions contract, and is now taking out his anger on "innocent boaters," Johnson said by issuing the eviction notices.
Moothart did not return a phone message left at the marina by deadline, though Johnson did provide the eviction notice and an additional letter, signed by Moothart, both of which are dated June 26, 2009.
The letter, addressed to "Boat Owner and Bidwell Canyon Marina Customer" does state some discontent with what Moothart writes are "a vocal disgruntled few."
"We believe from our communications with Marina users, some of whom have been our customers for as long as 40 years, that most Marina customers appreciate our efforts to accommodate their needs ... The nature of politics, however, is to respond to the loudest voice," the letter reads.
Although the eviction notice initially cites low lake levels for the decision to force boaters to remove their boats from the marina, the letter also implicates customers and California State Parks as part of the reason for the eviction.
The letter states that because their contract is expiring, Bidwell Canyon Marina will not re-string lines to allow boats on the lake during the summer, stating that customer complaints factored into the decision.
"In addition some customers complained to the Department about the facilities last year as water levels dropped. Because customer complaint was one reason given by the Department for denying the contract extension, FunTime FullTime will not be able to offer the same accommodation this year that gave rise to such complaints," the letter states.
Regardless of the reason given for eviction, Johnson said it is "physically, absolutely, 100 percent impossible" to remove all 900 boats from the facility in just 30 days, with houseboat owners at a particular disadvantage.
Johnson said extensive equipment is required to move houseboats, and said the cost is "astronomical" adding that one quote he received to move his boat from the marina was approximately $100,000.
Additionally, there isn't enough storage in the Oroville area to handle the volume of boats currently on the lake, Johnson said, and said no other lake in California will accept boats larger than 75 feet.
"There is no other lake in the state that can take our boats," Johnson said. "We are pretty much held captive."
California State Parks officials weren't available for comment Tuesday, but a press release issued Tuesday did address the eviction notices at Bidwell Marina, with the agency stating its disapproval with the action by marina management.
"On June 26, 2009 FunTime FullTime, Inc. sent a notice to marina customers stating that mooring agreements must be terminated Aug. 1, 2009 ... California State Parks does not support this decision and will be taking appropriate action to prevent implementation."
In the meantime, Johnson continues to be flooded with calls from association members, trying to address a situation that can only be described as highly contentious.
Although boaters simply want to participate in what Johnson said was "good family fun," it seems they may have to wage a war with Bidwell Canyon Marina, simply to keep their boats on Lake Oroville.
"I'm afraid its going to be a battle," Johnson said.#
http://www.chicoer.com/advertise/ci_12729430?IADID=Search-www.chicoer.com-www.chicoer.com
Klamath restoration negotiations delayed
Eureka Times-Standard-7/1/09
By Donna Tam
Dam removal negotiators were unable to come to an agreement Tuesday, missing the deadline set for finalizing a plan to remove four aging dams on the Klamath River.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said Tuesday that an agreement is “within reach” and should be completed by the end of summer, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Negotiators from Oregon, California, the U.S. Department of Interior, and the utility company PacifiCor, had tentatively agreed to a dam removal deal in November 2008, with a deadline for a finalized agreement set for Tuesday.
The efforts aim to rebuild the Klamath fishery and sustain agricultural communities who rely on the Klamath River. All parties have agreed to extend the deadline for a final agreement on the future of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project to September 2009. The tentative agreement from last year has since been joined by 22 other stakeholders.
Under the proposed agreements, the Department of the Interior and its agencies -- including the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and U.S. Geological Survey -- would be joined by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and state and local agencies to implement restoration measures.
”I am pleased that the good faith efforts of the parties to reach common ground in decades-old water conflicts have put a final deal within reach,” Salazar said in the press release. “With one more push, and with the continued personal engagement of Gov. Kulongoski, Gov. Schwarzenegger and PacifiCorp President Greg Abel, we will have a final agreement by the end of the summer. This final stretch represents an historic opportunity for all parties to pursue their shared interests over the damaging water wars of the past.”
The conservation organization Oregon Wild said since negotiations began, the situation in the Upper Basin continues to worsen with harmful agricultural business practices.
Steve Pedery, the organization's conservation director, said the most recent delay is proof that a new discussion process is needed or the river will never be restored.
Oregon Wild said it is also concerned with the tentative dam removal timeline. The November agreement called for dam removal to begin no sooner than 2020 with a feasibility study to be conducted before a 2012 deadline. Since independent studies regarding economic and ecological rationale behind dam removal have already been done, Oregon Wild said the additional study and delayed discussion is “worrisome.”
”It is time to hold PacifiCorp accountable instead of letting them pull the strings while everyone holds their breath for six years,” Pedery said in a press release. “If I had a dollar for every time I've heard backers of this deal say that a final agreement is 'right around the corner,' I'd have enough money to pay for dam removal myself.”
According to the DOI press release, Kulongoski and Schwarzenegger said they are satisfied with the discussions and optimistic that they will come to an end by summer.
A PacifiCorp spokesman said the organization would not comment further on the issue.
In the press release, CEO Greg Abel of PacifiCorp asked for patience as the groups work through a complex process.
”The passionate environmental and economic perspectives and diverse cultural heritage that embody the Klamath Basin present an immense challenge to reaching reasonable peace and compromise,” he said. “We remain committed to achieving the best possible balanced and pragmatic outcome for our customers on all sides of these diverse issues.”#
http://www.times-standard.com/ci_12729893?IADID=Search-www.times-standard.com-www.times-standard.com
Feds threaten to seize Angel Island, Mt. Tam
San Jose Mercury News-6/30-09
By Paul Rogers
The federal government is threatening to take possession of several of California's most prominent state parks - including Angel Island and Mount Tamalpais - if Sacramento lawmakers close them to balance the budget.
That's the message from the National Park Service, which also has told Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that California will be blocked from receiving future money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the leading federal source of funding for parks, if it closes state parks now.
The warnings came in a letter June 8, obtained Tuesday by the Mercury News, from John Jarvis, the Pacific regional director of the National Park Service to Schwarzenegger.
In May, the governor proposed closing 220 state parks to save an estimated $143 million. The state is facing is $24 billion deficit.
With the warnings, the National Park Service has now waded into Sacramento's budget stalemate, arguing that California has more to lose if it closes state parks than it will gain in savings.
"We understand there is an economic crisis and cuts will be made in things. We are not unrealistic," said David Siegenthaler, a National Park Service manager who helped draft the letter.
"But we think there must be ways to keep these parks open, even if it means with reduced hours and services. That's better than closing them."
Schwarzenegger this week said he will veto a budget plan passed by the Assembly that would impose a new $15 annual surcharge on vehicle registration to keep the parks open, and allow all California residents free entry. The charge would raise $363 million a year, supporters said, more than twice the amount needed to save parks.
However, the governor considers the $15 a tax.
"The governor has been very clear that he will not support additional tax increases," said Lisa Page, a Schwarzenegger spokeswoman.
Of the warnings from the National Park Service, she added: "The governor understands there are consequences to these difficult cuts, but with a $24 billion deficit, there are no good options."
National park leaders contend that California would be violating the terms of two laws if it closes state parks.
First, the state has received $286 million since 1965 from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. Created by President Lyndon Johnson, the fund collects royalties from offshore oil drilling and uses them to buy land for national parks, forests and wildlife refuges. The fund also issues grants to state and local parks to pay for everything from land acquisition to new trails, visitor centers and rest rooms.
Parks that receive the funds are required to remain open to the public. California has received Land and Water Conservation Fund money for 69 of the 220 state parks that Schwarzenegger has proposed to closet.
State parks that have received the federal funding include Henry Coe, Fremont Peak, Big Basin Redwoods, Castle Rock, A-o Nuevo, Bodie Ghost Town, Mono Lake, Andrew Molera, Humboldt Redwoods, Point Lobos, Hearst San Simeon State park, Anza-Borrego Desert, Sutter's Fort, Mount Diablo and Fort Ord Dunes.
Federal law does not allow the government to demand repayment from California if the parks are closed, but it can shut the state off from future funding, Siegenthaler said.
The second law California would be violating, he said, is a 1949 statute that created the federal Lands to Parks Program. That law allows surplus government property, such as old military bases, to be transferred to state parks.
But it also requires the parks remain open to the public in perpetuity. California has six state parks that were former federal property transferred under the law.
If the governor closes the parks, the feds will take the lands back, Jarvis warned. What happens then is unclear. They would likely be transferred as surplus property to the federal government and be offered to federal agencies, universities, even private developers.
The parks are: Angel Island, a former immigration station in San Francisco Bay; a beach and parking lot at Point Mugu State Park near Malibu; the summit of Mount Diablo in Contra Costa County, which was once a Naval microwave relay station; four miles of sandy state beaches at the former Fort Ord near Monterey; Point Sur in Big Sur; and Border Fields, a 418-acre state beach on the San Diego-Tijuana border.
Parks advocates said they are heartened that the federal government is stepping into the debate.
"This is a heads-up that the closure of parks isn't so easy. It's a shot across the bow that there are serious complications here, as if the public outcry were not enough," said Elizabeth Goldstein, executive director of the California State Parks Foundation.
Goldstein's group has been studying whether to launch a campaign to put the $15 vehicle license fee on the November 2010 ballot. It would require two-thirds approval if placed on by the initiative process and a simple majority if the Legislature puts it on.#
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_12727914?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com
Bulgarians arrested in Covelo-area raid
Ukiah Daily Journal-7/1/09
The remote area where a total of five men were arrested was known to authorities to be the site of what the Sheriff's Office described as a large commercial marijuana grow, a report from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office stated.
Sheriff's Lt. Rusty Noe said that Bulgarians and Russians have been known to come to this area before in order to grow marijuana.
The location near BLM and U.S. Forest Service land was discovered last year and seen again in helicopter flights this year.
Radoslav Ivkov Ayvazov, 29, Petko Petkov, 48, Martin Kamenov Dzaynelev, 28, and David Dzaynelev, 35, were arrested on suspicion of growing marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and possession of a gun during a felony crime, according to the Sheriff's Office.
According to the Sheriff's Office, Petkov resided in Concord, Martin Dzaynelev and David Dzaynelev in Walnut Creek and Ayvazov had a Covelo address. All four were booked into county jail on $45,000 bail.
The Sheriff's Office also awaits word from Immigration authorities to see if any immigration holds are placed.
John Henry Ross, 60, of Covelo, was walking down a trail nearby and was also arrested on marijuana charges. Ross is not affiliated with the Bulgarians.
He was arrested on suspicion of growing marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and charges of having a gun during a felony crime and being a convicted felon in possession of a gun, the Sheriff's Office stated.
Ross was booked into county jail on $50,000 bail.
Contributing to the eradication of plants and the arrest of the five men were the Sheriff's Office, the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service .#
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_12729251
Mixing socialist and capitalist approaches to fishery management
The Christian Science Monitor-6/30/09
By Moises Velasquez-Manoff
Last week, the New England Fishery Management Council approved 19 community-based sectors to be run by fishermen. In New England, 12 of the 19 ground fish stocks – bottom-dwelling fish such as cod and haddock – are overfished. Sectors are supposed to help end the overfishing.
Sectors are a kind of catch-share system. That means fishermen get a percentage of the year’s total allowable catch (TAC). If scientists set the TAC at 100 tons, say, and you own 10 percent, you can catch 10 tons that year. But in sectors, that allotment – the 10 percent – goes to a group rather than an individual. The group then breaks it up among members.
The National Marine Fisheries Service has yet to approve the sectors, and the proposed sectors, which would go live in 2010, are voluntary. (The Magnuson-Stevens Act says overfishing must end by 2010.) Beginning in 2012, boats that choose to remain outside the sectors will also operate under total allowable catch, to keep things fair.
Here’s what’s so interesting about the sector idea: It mixes socialist and capitalist approaches to fishery management. The fishermen now “own” a share of the sea, a solidly corporate proposition. That theoretically is an incentive for stewardship. If fishermen can tread lightly and fish in ways that continue to grow the stock, that 10 percent allocation will be worth more fish next year. Greed, or at least self-interest, becomes the impetus for conservation.
In studies, catch-share systems have proven effective at halting, and even reversing, overfishing. Indeed, the most successfully managed fisheries – in New Zealand, Alaska, and Iceland, among others – operate on catch-share systems. The key components are hard caps on what can be caught and tradable fishing privileges to catch those fish.
But here’s what’s slightly socialist about sectors. They’re kind of cooperatives. That’s new for fishermen in New England, most of whom are accustomed to going it alone.
Still, it’s a significant step. For New England, probably the United States’ most contentious fishing council – 400 years of fishing history (and baggage), longer than any other US region – the proposed sectors are a radical departure from the “days at sea” management system.
In that plan, fishermen can fish only on certain days. So they raced to fish, not taking care to tread lightly. They could haul in only a certain number of fish per trip. On days when they caught more, they discarded (wasted) the excess. By most accounts, these so-called indirect controls didn’t work very well for fish or fishermen.
The new sectors are designed to address these problems – to halt overfishing and rebuild fish stocks.
So here’s a question: Who cares? Does any of this really matter to anyone besides fishermen?
Here are some highlights from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s most recent assessment of world fisheries:
• Fisheries supply at least 15 percent of the animal protein consumed by humans.
• They provide direct or indirect employment for nearly 200 million people worldwide.
• They generate $85 billion (US) annually.
• 28 percent of the world’s fisheries stocks are currently being overexploited or have collapsed.
• 52 percent are fully exploited.
But here’s the bigger issue: How fisheries are managed is a nice litmus test for how we’re faring as we confront a larger question. Can we learn – and what does it take – to manage natural systems sustainably?
Historically, we’ve gotten so-called ecosystem services (like fish) for free. We pay nothing except for the cost of harvesting them. That holds true for myriad services – clean water flowing from healthy, intact ecosystems; wood from forests; carbon stored in wetlands; and so on.
But if we degrade ecosystems, we have to assume the cost of delivering that service. We end up paying for what we once got free. That’s what a fish farm is. That’s also why New York City labors so diligently to protect its forested watershed. Imagine having to do all that forest does to New York’s water – clean, filter, purify – ourselves. (And we do do some of it.)
Here’s an idea of what we lose just with fisheries. The World Bank’s Sunken Billions report estimates that the world has loses $50 billion yearly in potential profit to fishery mismanagement. Over the past three decades, that’s $2 trillion lost to world Gross Domestic Product.
So we can look at fishery management as a small case – and it’s really not that small considering that oceans cover 70 percent of the planet – of the greater sustainability question.
One more analogy to belabor this point: Scientists often characterize sustainability as learning to live off the biosphere’s interest without digging into its principal. If we cut into the principal, yes, we can live like kings for a while. But eventually, we spend it all. When that happens, not only do dividend payments stopped, it may be impossible, at least on time scales humans care about, to reaccumulate the principal and reestablish the trust fund.#
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