[env-trinity] Young fish die as water laws go unenforced

[Dan Bacher]

Hey, but you got to admit, it was a hell of an article!

Thanks
Dan
On Jul 18, 2008, at 12:46 PM, Tom Stokely wrote:

> My apologies for the rather untimely article.  Somebody sent it to  
> me and I failed to notice that the date was June 22, 2001.  It's  
> very old news.
>
> Regretfully,
>
>
> Tom Stokely
> Principal Planner
> Trinity Co. Dept of Long Range Planning and Natural Resources
> PO Box 1445
> 60 Glen Rd.
> Weaverville, CA 96093-1445
> 530-623-1458, Extension 3407
> FAX 623-1646
> tstokely at trinityalps.net or tstokely at trinitycounty.org
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Sari Sommarstrom
> To: Tom Stokely ; Trinity List
> Sent: Friday, July 18, 2008 11:35 AM
> Subject: Re: [env-trinity] Young fish die as water laws go unenforced
>
> Why did this 2001 old article get sent out today??
>
> At 10:30 AM 7/18/2008 -0700, Tom Stokely wrote:
>
>> http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/06/22/MN158255.DTL
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Young fish die as water laws go unenforced
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Ranchers' cooperation threatened
>>
>>
>>
>> Glen Martin, Tom Stienstra, Chronicle Staff Writers
>>
>> <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft- 
>> com:office:smarttags" />Friday, June 22, 2001
>>
>> Irrigation by ranchers is decimating salmon and steelhead  
>> populations on California's second biggest river system, and  
>> Department of Fish and Game officials     acknowledge they are not  
>> implementing a tough state law that could stop the diversions.
>>
>> Ranchers have diverted most of the flow of the Scott and Shasta  
>> Rivers in Siskiyou County to irrigate alfalfa fields and pastures,  
>> leaving thousands of young salmon and steelhead without enough  
>> water and facing imminent death.
>>
>> State game wardens generally are disposed to citing the diverters  
>> under Fish and Game Code 5937, which requires dam owners to  
>> maintain water in state streambeds sufficient to keep fish healthy.
>>
>> But agency officials say they are being told not to cite offenders  
>> out of concern that cooperative restoration projects between the  
>> state and ranchers on the Scott and Shasta Rivers would end  
>> instantly if the law were enforced.
>>
>> The controversy points out difficulties with cooperative programs  
>> between government agencies and private parties. Though such  
>> agreements can help resolve thorny environmental problems, they  
>> may also inhibit agencies from cracking down on private sector  
>> partners.
>>
>> Warden Renie Cleland said he was told to back off from citing  
>> ranchers on the Scott and Shasta rivers.
>>
>> "This has gone all the way to Sacramento," said Cleland. "It's  
>> extremely politically sensitive. I was told to take no enforcement  
>> action on it. These fish are dying. We've got five or six thousand  
>> steelhead trout dead on the Scott, and (dead juvenile steelhead)  
>> everywhere on the Shasta."
>>
>> MAJOR KLAMATH TRIBUTARIES
>>
>>
>>
>> The Scott and Shasta are major tributaries of the Klamath River,  
>> which is second only to the Sacramento River in its dimensions and  
>> the number of fish it supports.
>>
>> The Klamath and its tributaries once supported hundreds of  
>> thousands of chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead trout.  
>> Their numbers began declining in the mid-20th century from dams,  
>> agricultural irrigation and timber harvesting. By the mid-1980s,  
>> only a few thousand fish were left -- mostly on the Scott and      
>> Shasta.
>>
>> During the past decade, efforts to screen agricultural pump  
>> intakes, reduce soil erosion, restore riparian forests and  
>> transport fish trapped in "dewatered" streambeds have bolstered  
>> the fish populations somewhat.
>>
>> WATER RIGHTS FROM THE 1930S
>>
>> But conflict between environmentalists and ranchers over  
>> diversions has simmered for years. Ranchers exercising water  
>> rights adjudicated in the 1930s typically lower the rivers through  
>> irrigation during the summer.
>>
>> This year, a severe local drought has greatly increased the degree  
>> of the problem. The Scott has been sucked dry, and the Shasta  
>> reduced to a trickle at its juncture with the Klamath.
>>
>> Temperatures in the river have reached or exceeded the level  
>> considered lethal for salmon species, which favor cold water.  
>> Thousands of fish have died, and thousands of others face imminent  
>> death, making the pumping a clear violation of Code 5937.
>>
>> "Everything has died," said Fish and Game Captain Chuck Konvalin  
>> of the Scott River. "The system has been dried up." Konvalin, who  
>> heads a team of wardens who operate in the north state, says their  
>> superiors are reigning them in.
>>
>> "This thing is out of whack," said Konvalin. "I get my orders."
>>
>> Gary Stacey, a fisheries program director for Fish and Game who  
>> oversees projects in the Klamath area, said enforcing Code 5937  
>> would "slam the door" on meaningful restoration programs along the  
>> Scott and Shasta, which cost $25 million a year.
>>
>> "All our current programs depend on landowner cooperation," he  
>> said. "That would all stop immediately if we pulled the trigger.  
>> And the process involved in filing and prosecuting a case like  
>> this could take years -- years the fish don't have.
>>
>> "By taking strong law enforcement action, we could simply be  
>> assuring that the (fish) populations would wink out."
>>
>> COOPERATIVE EFFORTS
>>
>>
>>
>> Ranchers confirm they would scrap all cooperative ventures with  
>> the state if they were cited by game wardens, and say they are  
>> guaranteed diversion rights by court rulings made decades ago.
>>
>> Gary Black, who diverts Scott River water to irrigate alfalfa and  
>> wheat on his 240-acre farm, said ranchers would respond to  
>> voluntary incentives to improve fish populations but would resist  
>> government fiat.
>>
>> "We're looking for win-win situations," said Black, who helps  
>> direct a local resource conservation district that promotes fish- 
>> friendly agricultural methods. "I've worked with more than half  
>> the farmers in the Scott Valley. Everyone is willing to do their  
>> part for fishery protection -- the question becomes how far is too  
>> far."
>>
>> Still, "flows remain the number one issue, and this is a good time  
>> to sit down and talk," Black said. "That will work better around  
>> here than getting out the citation book."
>>
>> E-mail the writers at glenmartin at sfchronicle.com and  
>> tstiesntra at sfchronicle.com.
>>
>>
>>
>> This article appeared on page A - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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