<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"><div class="moz-forward-container"><h1 id="articleTitle" class="articleTitle entry-title"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="5">Here is my comment on this article:</font></h1><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; ">Good article on a wonderful conference. I must not have been clear in my remarks. I had meant to say that the "paper water" in Central Valley Project (CVP) water contracts and Trinity River water permits held by the Bureau of Reclamation should be eliminated. There is much more water promised than can possibly be delivered. The Bureau's permits for the Trinity River contain a minimum instream flow of 120,500 acre-feet per year, but the fishery flows required under the 2000 Trinity River Record of Decision are 594,500 AF. The difference of 474,000 AF of water that is promised to both fish and CVP water contractors is the "paper water" that should be eliminated in Reclamation's water rights and contracts. There is still some water surplus to the needs of the Trinity River that could be delivered to water contractors.</span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; "><br></span></font></div><div>Tom Stokely<br>Water Policy Analyst/Media Contact<br>California Water Impact Network<br>V/FAX 530-926-9727<br>Cell 530-524-0315<br><a href="mailto:tstokely@att.net">tstokely@att.net</a><br>http://www.c-win.org</div><h1 id="articleTitle" class="articleTitle entry-title"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="5"><a href="http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_22113587/fish-lost-and-found-among-talks-at-aqualliance">http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_22113587/fish-lost-and-found-among-talks-at-aqualliance</a> </font></h1><h1 id="articleTitle" class="articleTitle entry-title">Fish lost
and found among talks at AquAlliance conference</h1>
<div id="articleByline" class="articleByline">By <span class="author vcard"><span class="fn">HEATHER HACKING-Staff
Writer</span></span><span class="source-org vcard"></span></div>
<div id="articleDate" class="articleDate">Posted: 12/03/2012
12:03:35 AM PST</div>
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<span fd-type="start" fd-id="default"></span>CHICO — While much
of the discussion at AquAlliance's water conference Thursday and
Friday was about major waterways and big-picture fish concerns,
it was the lesser-known places for fish and critters that Paul
Maslin was asked to explore.
<p>In recent year Maslin has worked with the Big Chico Creek
Ecological Reserve, but in the 1990s he was a professor at
Chico State University and studied seasonal streams. </p><p>It was 1994 when the winter-run salmon was listed as
endangered, and salmon suspected to be winter-run were spotted
in Mud Creek. </p><p>Maslin reported the findings to the Department of Fish and
Game and began a research project with help from four
students. </p><p>The conclusion was that wildlife happens, even in a place
thought to be just a ditch. </p><p>The group looked at creeks, many which seasonally ran dry, in
33 tributaries leading to the Sacramento River. Many were
considered drainage canals by local property owners. </p><p>Over four years, the study found fish in such waterways as
far as 12 kilometers (about 71Ž2 miles) from the river. </p><p>The numbers were "trivial" compared to the number of fish on
the river, but the results also indicated the fish were fatter
when compared to fish in other waterways, Maslin said. DNA
samples also confirmed they were winter-run fish. </p><p>Maslin said his group documented about two dozen fish
species, and more than 90 percent of them were native. </p><p>What was also fascinating were the species of chorus frogs,
Western toads and spadefoot toads that reproduced in these
areas. </p><p>Insects were also found to be "specialists" of perennial
streams, creatures that have a short lifecycles and can snap
back after dry waterways are refilled. </p><p>"Organisms find a way of using available habitat by having a
lifecycle with resting eggs or being migratory," he explained.
</p><div> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p>Looking back </p><p>Other very timely topics were explored at the conference,
which had about 75 attendees Thursday at Sierra Nevada Brewing
Co.'s Big Room. </p><p>Some of the speakers talked about historic bad decisions
along waterways that contributed to problems with fish and the
environment today. </p><p>Felix Smith had a career of 35 years as a Fish and Wildlife
biologist and was involved with public trust issues long
before </p><p>major decisions on Mono Lake. </p><p>The public trust doctrine is the source of many lawsuits, and
includes litigation to protect species and resources for the
public. </p><p>Smith also talked about decisions made in the 1950s to divert
water from the San Joaquin River. </p><p>"We got a memo that Fish and Wildlife Service could not
protest for the needs of salmon on the San Joaquin River
because all of the water was necessary for ag," Smith said. </p><p>Half a century later, billions of dollars are proposed to
reintroduce salmon and habitat along that waterway. </p><p>Smith went on to describe what he considers other public
trust violations he witnessed during this career, and said
there are no "statute of limitations" for filing suits for
past violations. </p><p>He now advocates corrections to past damage to wildlife,
proof that corrections are working, and continued monitoring.
</p><p>Tom Stokely, of California Water Impact Network, talked about
a "trail of broken promises" on the Trinity River. </p><p>In the 1960s water from the Trinity River was diverted to the
Sacramento River, and at that time local county leaders were
promised that local demands would be met and fish would not be
harmed, Stokely said. </p><p>The Whiskeytown Lake dedication included a visit by President
John F. Kennedy. The dam was lauded for preventing the waste
of water by letting water run to the sea, Stokely said.<br>
</p><p>Almost immediately after dams on the Trinity River were
built, sediment filled pools, and temperatures became harmful
to fish, he continued. </p><p>Work began in the early 1970s to talk about increased water
flows, but then the state experienced severe drought and the
topic was stalled, he said. </p><p>Lawsuits and laws followed for decades, and in 2000, with a
lot of effort by the Hoopa Valley Tribe, it looked like things
were on the road for improvement, he said. But currently
biological opinions have been going back and forth. </p><p>What needs to happen, Stokely said, is for water deliveries
that include water from the Trinity to be eliminated. Also,
storage in the Trinity system needs to be set at a point that
can withstand a drought, or fish will die, he said. </p><p>The topics were part of a discussion on how to move forward
on these issues in the future. </p><div> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p>Staff writer Heather Hacking can be reached at 896-7758, <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:hhacking@chicoer.com">hhacking@chicoer.com</a>
and followed on Twitter @HeatherHacking.</p>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Barbara Vlamis
Executive Director
AquAlliance
P.O. Box 4024
Chico, CA 95927
(530) 895-9420
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.aqualliance.net/">www.aqualliance.net</a>
PRIVILEGE AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law as confidential communications. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication or other use of a transmission received in error is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, immediately notify us at (530) 895-9420.
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