Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 25, 2009
3. Watersheds –
State seeks to close Sacramento River stretch to sturgeon fishing
Sacramento Bee
Ocean salmon season looms
Recreational season to last just 10 days
Crescent City Triplicate
More tests planned for Warm Springs Dam
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Possible slide areas assessed after summer fires
Redding Record Searchlight
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State seeks to close Sacramento River stretch to sturgeon fishing
Sacramento Bee-8/25/09
By Matt Weiser
Another of Northern California's native fish could become contraband for anglers next year as officials mull over more drastic steps to protect wildlife amid a growing water crisis.
The California Department of Fish and Game proposes a ban on sturgeon fishing in more than 80 miles of the Sacramento River, between Redding and Butte City.
This has never been done before, and the prohibition appears likely to join the ongoing ban on salmon fishing as another unfortunate first.
Sturgeon don't enjoy the celebrity status of salmon but are a major sporting attraction because no other freshwater fish matches their size: Some sturgeon exceed 6 feet in length and 300 pounds.
The goal of the closure is to protect green sturgeon, one of the world's oldest living fish species. A distinct subpopulation that breeds in the Central Valley joined the federal Endangered Species List in 2006 as "threatened."
Since then, green sturgeon fishing has been allowed only for catch-and-release. It has remained legal to keep white sturgeon – an even bigger relative that's not imperiled.
Because anglers use similar gear and tactics for both species, the state now proposes to ban all sturgeon fishing on a stretch of the Sacramento River that is important habitat for green sturgeon.
"I think it's pretty asinine," said Richard Peeples, owner of the Tackle Box fishing store in Chico. "It's going to hurt us just like every little thing they take from us hurts us. They make a closure and they never open anything up."
The problem, said Fish and Game environmental scientist Steve Baumgartner, is some anglers continue to target green sturgeon simply for thrills. He and other experts fear this will harm the species.
"You can definitely harm a big species like that by repeatedly catching and releasing it, exhausting it and so forth," Baumgartner said. "It's more and more evident our protections have been inadequate to this point."
The proposed closure area contains habitat believed to be more important for green sturgeon than for white sturgeon. It contains a number of deep holes, known to fishermen, where green sturgeon rest on their upstream spawning run.
The goal, said Baumgartner, is to create a refuge for green sturgeon. Other species could still be caught in the closed area, such as striped bass. Elsewhere, white sturgeon could still be caught, and catch-and-release of green sturgeon would still be allowed.
In data gathered from survey cards returned by anglers last year, about half of all green sturgeon caught in the Central Valley were caught in the proposed closure area.
"We're trying not to impact the white sturgeon anglers while protecting the green sturgeon," Baumgartner said.
Sturgeon are one of numerous species harmed by the state's water infrastructure.
The giant fish once spawned far up into the Pit River on the flanks of Mount Shasta. Completion of Shasta Dam ended that in 1945. Yet legal battles continue as regulators walk a tightrope to protect wildlife and simultaneously provide enough water for a thirsty state.
The National Marine Fisheries Service this year imposed new flow rules in the Sacramento River to protect sturgeon and salmon. Water agencies promptly challenged these rules in federal court.
Anglers like Peeples say white sturgeon are common in the proposed closure area, and being unable to catch them will be a hardship.
A better strategy, he said, would be to close fishing only when green sturgeon are usually present – typically late summer and fall. White sturgeon, in contrast, are usually in the river in late winter.
Lots of his customers want to keep catching white sturgeon because it's great to eat. Many also make their own caviar from sturgeon roe.
In comparison, Peeples called green sturgeon a "trash fish" no one wants to keep because it isn't as tasty. Yet he agreed that some anglers continue to fish green sturgeon just for the thrill.
"I've heard of people going out and hammering the green sturgeon," Peeples said.
Bob Boucke, owner of Johnson's Bait & Tackle in Yuba City, said Fish and Game should simply step up its enforcement to prevent anglers from targeting green sturgeon. This could also help control sturgeon poaching for a caviar black market that has proliferated in recent years.
"It's because a few people insist on catching the green sturgeon," Boucke said. "They've been told not to do that and they just keep on doing it. They're catching great big fish and having a good ol' time."#
http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/2136126.html?mi_rss=Our%2520Region
Ocean salmon season looms
Recreational season to last just 10 days
Crescent City Triplicate-8/22/09
By Kurt Madar
The North Coast is gearing up for a recreational ocean salmon fishing season for the first time in two years.
Starting next Saturday, Aug. 29, and running through Monday, Sept. 7, recreational ocean salmon fishermen will be allowed to catch two salmon daily of any species other than coho.
According to the California Department of Fish and Game Web site, the minimum size fish is 24 inches.
Local officials and fishing-related business owners are already seeing a little more action as the season nears.
“Harbors all along the North Coast are experiencing an increase in calls for slips,” said Crescent City Harbormaster Richard Young. “We are definitely expecting larger numbers than last year at this time.”
Young said the 10-day season is “a lot better than no season.”
He can thank a larger-than-average Klamath River chinook run, according to California Fish and Game biologists.
“We are predicting 131,000 to 139,000 3-year-olds in the Klamath,” said fisheries biologist Sara BorokBorok. “If you consider that the average for the last 29 years was 121,000, this is a slightly higher run than normal.”
Even the Coast Guard is ramping up for the upcoming short season.
“Group Humboldt Bay is prepared for a large increase in maritime activity in the area due to the salmon season bringing in many boats from outside the immediate area,” a Coast Guard press release states.
The Coast Guard requests that boaters file a float plan with a family member or friend who is ashore.
“A good float plan includes a description of the vessel, names of the crew, a list of safety equipment on board, your destination and time of arrival at the fishing grounds and your ultimate destination,” the Coast Guard advises.
Added to the recreational ocean fishing is a large allocation of adult salmon for in-river sport fishing. Sport fishermen are allowed to take 3-year-old fish.
“We have a record level allocation for this season on the Klamath,” said Fish and game senior biologist Larry Hanson. “The in-river sport fishery has been allocated 30,800 fish and the tribes have been allocated 30,900.”
According to Leonard Carter of Englund Marine Supply Co, recreational fishermen have just starting getting salmon in local rivers.
Carter said that river fishing is currently allowed on the whole Klamath River and just in the mouth of the Smith River.#
http://www.triplicate.com/20090822106772/News/Local-News/Ocean-salmon-season-looms
More tests planned for Warm Springs Dam
Santa Rosa Press Democrat-8/24/09
By Bob Norberg
A series of new tests are planned for Warm Springs Dam, where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is trying to determine why a monitoring well showed an unusual increase in groundwater.
“It is still somewhat of a mystery,” said Mike Dillabough, the Corps division chief of operations. “To quote one of the guys with a Ph.D. from Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, ‘It’s a curiosity.’”
Dillabough stressed there are no concerns for the safety of the dam that forms Lake Sonoma, a source for water and recreation and a flood-control project for the Russian River.
“The face is absolutely good. There are no signs of any seepage of water on any part of dam, no signs of dampness except those we’ve known about for years and years,” Dillabough said. “It is monitored and photographed and we are walking it daily.”
The Corps will be planting electrodes into the face of the dam and using electrical currents to detect any water flow, Dillabough said.
Those tests are being devised by geophysical research scientists from UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Livermore Laboratory.
Dillabough said they will also drill additional monitoring wells and install more piezometers, which measure the pressure of the core.
The dam is already fitted with 194 different physical and electronic monitoring devices.
On July 21, a monitoring well on the face of the dam 700 feet from the top detected an increase in groundwater. It was the only monitor that has shown any unusual measurement.
A chemical analysis found that it was groundwater and not water from the lake behind the dam.
The reading has spurred the Corps to intensify its monitoring and to bring in experts to try to determine what was happening, even though they do not believe there is a safety risk.
The compacted earth dam was built 25 years ago, at a cost of $330 million. The dam is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers and operated by both the Corps and the Sonoma County Water Agency.#
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090824/ARTICLES/908249942
Possible slide areas assessed after summer fires
Redding Record Searchlight-8/25/09
By Dylan Darling
Wiped by wildfire of the tangled plants that bind the earth together, steep slopes around the north state are primed to slide as the rainy season approaches.
Before the storms come, scientists are scanning the terrain, gauging the intensity of the fires and the characteristics of the land.
There are ways to try to stop landslides before they happen - including helicopters dropping mulch and bulldozers ripping in contours to redirect water - but they're expensive, so they are used sparingly, said David Young, regional soil scientist for the U.S. Forest Service in California.
"It depends on what is at risk," he said. "If there is a school at the bottom of a slope, you are going to do a lot more than if there is just a stream."
Private, state and federal scientists are just starting their analysis of the north state's more recent fires - the Coffin Fire near Lewiston and the Hat Creek and SHU Lightning complexes near Burney. They've found signs that there will be slides, but none yet that will put highways, homes and other property in immediate danger.
After beginning his assessment of the Chalk and Goose fires, Brad Rust, soil scientist for the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, said rocks will roll onto forest roads along the Pit River Canyon from fire-scarred slopes once the rains come. But he has yet to find any major slides in the making.
"I don't see it being an extraordinary hazard," he said.
Land and debris slide hazards caused by wildfires last year in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area prompted park officials to close many of its popular trails during the rainy season.
"You can't do anything to stop them, you just make sure people are out of the way," said Jim Milestone, Whiskeytown's superintendent.
Most the trails will stay open this year, with the exception of the Kanaka Peak Trail because it is being rerouted, he said.
Even if it's untouched by fire, much of the north state's steep terrain west of Redding is ready to slide, said Mike Wopat, senior engineering geologist with the California Geological Survey. Many of the mountains in Whiskeytown are formed primarily by decomposed granite.
"They are like a big sand pile really, and very easily erodible," Wopat said.
What holds them together is the web of roots from trees and bushes.
Once a fire takes those away, the potential for a landslide remains while the roots rot.
"The worst risk is in eight to 10 years," Young said, "if you have a really wet winter."#
http://www.redding.com/news/2009/aug/25/possible-slide-areas-assessed-in-wake-of-summer/?print=1
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