Category Archives: Fish

Fish, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

State Seeks To Close Stretch Of American River To Fishing

Spawning salmon and steelhead trout already have a perilous journey to return to their birthplace to lay eggs. Now with many Northern California streams and rivers running very low due to the lack of snow and runoff, state wildlife officials are instituting or requesting emergency stream closures.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is seeking to close the American River from Nimbus Dam to the SMUD power lines over the river at Ancil Hoffman Park until April 30. The department will make its request to the Fish and Game Commission at the group’s Feb. 5 meeting.

CDFW has already acted on its authority to close south central coast streams to fishing from Dec. 1 through March 7 after determining stream flows are inadequate to provide fish passage for migrating steelhead trout and salmon. The affect waters are:

1. Pescadero Creek and all anadromous reaches of San Mateo County coastal streams normally open for fishing, from Elliot Creek through Milagro Creek.

2. The San Lorenzo River and all its tributaries, as well as all anadromous reaches of coastal streams normally open for fishing in Santa Cruz County from the San Lorenzo River on North through Waddell Creek.

3. Aptos and Soquel Creeks (Santa Cruz County).

4. The Pajaro River and Uvas, Llagas and Corralitos Creeks (Santa Cruz, Monterey and Santa Clara counties).

5. The Carmel River and those sections of San Jose, Gibson, Malpaso and Soberanes creeks west of Highway 1.

6. The Big Sur River and those Big Sur area streams from Granite Creek to Salmon Creek west of Highway 1.

7. The main stem of the Salinas River below its confluence with the Arroyo Seco River and the Arroyo Seco River (Monterey County).

Additionally, CDFW will ask the commission at its meeting to extend the following river closures from Jan. 31 to April 30:

1. The main stem Eel River from the paved junction of Fulmor Road with the Eel River to the South Fork Eel River.

2. The South Fork of the Eel River downstream from Rattlesnake Creek and the Middle Fork Eel River downstream from the Bar Creek.

3. The main stem Van Duzen River from its junction with the Eel River to the end of Golden Gate Drive near Bridgeville.

4. The main stem Mad River from the Hammond Trail Railroad Trestle to Cowan Creek.

5. The main stem of the Mattole River from the mouth to Honeydew Creek.

6. The main stem of Redwood Creek from the mouth to its confluence with Bond Creek.

7. The main stem Smith River from the mouth of Rowdy Creek to the mouth of Patrick Creek (tributary of the Middle Fork Smith River); the South Fork Smith River from the mouth upstream approximately 1,000 feet to the County Road (George Tyron) bridge and Craig’s Creek to its confluence with Jones Creek; and the North Fork Smith River from the mouth to its confluence with Stony Creek.

CDFW is also going to seek approval to

1. Close the Russian River main stem below the confluence of the East Branch of the Russian River until April 30.

2. Extend of low flow restrictions angling closures for the north coast and central coast areas (above San Francisco Bay) through April 30.

4. Close all portions of any coastal stream west of any Highway 1 bridge until April 30.

More at News10.net >>>

Fish, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

How Much Water Do Californians Use And What Does A 20 Percent Cut Look Like?

This is not a good time to be an umbrella merchant in California.

2013 was one of the driest years on record in the state. And January  – usually among the wettest months — has failed to provide any relief. With the precipitous drop in reservoir levels, Gov. Jerry Brown recently declared a statewide drought emergency, calling this “perhaps the worst drought California has ever seen since records began being kept about 100 years ago,”

The declaration outlines 20 different drought condition measures, one of which calls for the Department of Water Resources to execute a statewide conservation campaign, urging residents and businesses to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 20 percent.

But that begs two important questions: how much water does the average Californian actually consume and what would a 20 percent reduction look like?

It’s a hard figure to quantify, and estimates vary widely. For one, while indoor residential water use is relatively steady throughout the state, outdoor use — primarily for landscape irrigation — varies dramatically, with homes in arid inland regions consuming significantly more water than those in coastal areas.

“There are large variations across the state,” notes Peter Bostrom from the California Department of Water Resources. “Outdoor use could be 25 percent [of a household’s use] in Santa Cruz  and 80 percent is Coachella … 15 percent of users account for 60 percent of overuse in landscape irrigation.”

Additionally, estimates are typically represented as gallons per capita per day (gcpd), in which water use in each of the state’s 10 hydraulic regions is divided by population (see map at right). These calculations, however, generally factor in each region’s total water consumption, which includes residential water use as well as commercial and industrial uses.

Among the best ways to get a handle on your own household’s water consumption is by scrutinizing your water bill, which usually includes the number of gallons used that month. Additionally, a new state website provides a calculator for estimating your personal water.

An often-cited 2011 study of California single-family water consumption estimated that the average California household used more than 360 gallons of water per day. To put that in perspective, the typical office water cooler holds 5 gallons, or about 1.4 percent of the study’s estimated daily average household use. Given that figure, the average house in California would need to use 72 fewer gallons a day to meet the 20 percent reduction goal.

More at KQED.org >>>

Fish, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Environmentalists Urge Protection Of Salmon During Drought

Environmentalists are urging the state and federal governments to take action to protect migrating salmon as river levels drop during the drought.

In a letter this week, four environmental groups are calling for more young salmon to be trapped and shipped around the dangerous Delta, rather than leaving the fish in the low streams to fend for themselves on their journey to the ocean.

The groups are asking for a meeting with the federal departments of Commerce and Interior, and with the state Natural Resources Agency, to devise a plan to protect the fish.

“All four of these Chinook runs are in immediate peril due to the drought and a large percentage of the 2013 production may be lost if no action is taken,” the environmentalists write.

More at RecordNet.com >>>

Fish, News from Other Watersheds, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Drought May Already Have Killed Off Central Coast Coho Salmon

As wildlife managers fret over the effects of the ongoing drought on California’s fish, some are saying that a particularly vulnerable population of salmon may already have been wiped out by the drought.

According to reporter Peter Fimrite in the San Francisco Chronicle, coho salmon cannot spawn in coastal creeks along the coast between San Francisco and Santa Cruz County because water levels are too low.

Stafford Lehr, chief of fisheries for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told Fimrite that the news for Central Coast coho salmon may be very bad indeed. “The Central Coast coho could be gone south of the Golden Gate.”

Coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, generally mass just offshore before spawning season, where they wait for winter rains to fill creeks sufficiently to allow them to swim upstream. This year, those rains never came, and the coho have been unable to make it past the sandbars at the mouths of their home creeks.

One watershed north of the Golden Gate does have enough water in it for coho to have made it upstream, reports Fimrite: the Lagunitas Creek watershed, home of the state’s largest run of wild, non-hatchery-raised coho. The Marin Municipal Water District has been stepping up releases of water from Kent Dam to help the coho out.

But even in Lagunitas Creek and its tributary San Geronimo Creek, biologists have only counted 57 of the gravel bed nests, or “redds,” in which female salmon lay their eggs. That’s not a record low: the disastrous 2009 spawning run consisted of just 26 redds. But it is down by half from last winter’s count, and well below the thousands of redds generally found in the watershed in the 1940s.

Coho that spawn in creeks between the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz and Punta Gorda in Humboldt County are considered a distinct population, called the Central California Coast Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. With the legal status of a distinct species, the Central Coast Coho ESU is listed as Endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.

A coho’s typical lifespan is three years from hatching to spawning. Most coastal streams will thus have three distinct cohorts of coho salmon that call it home. Young fish may stay in their home streams for up to a year and a half before heading downstream and out to sea. If the drought keeps fish that hatched last winter from reaching the ocean in addition to barring this year’s cohort from heading upstream to spawn, creeks between San Francisco and Santa Cruz stand to lose two of those three cohorts.

More at KCET.org >>>

Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Roseville Turns On Auxiliary Well Water Pumps

The City of Roseville began pumping water from wells Monday in an effort to preserve the water levels in Folsom Lake.

Roseville gets its water here at Folsom Reservoir, which is now at just 17 percent of capacity.

Several weeks ago, Roseville, the City of Folsom and the San Juan Water District asked the Bureau of Reclamation to reduce water flows from Folsom Dam to preserve more water for the drier months to come.  It agreed and reduced flows into the American River.

To make up the difference, Roseville is firing up its four auxiliary well water pumps to feed into the city’s water system, something that reserved for emergencies or during extreme drought conditions.

The pumps will be phased in and will eventually provide one half to a third of all water used in Roseville. Some residents  may notice more hard water stains on showers, faucets or other water fixtures. It may also taste different, even though it will be treated.

“But when all is said in done, it’s safe for drinking and meets all federal water standards,” Sean Bigley, government relations analyst with the city, said Monday.

Well water is not a concern for Roseville resident Shelby Jones, who is just moving back from Sacramento where she says tap water is harsher.

“If it’s just a smidgen better than Sacramento we’re not going to have a problem,” Jones said.

Roseville’s largest well water pump located  in the northern part of the city, capable pumping out 2,600 gallons of water a minute. It will operate only a few hours a day to start, and stay on longer in coming weeks.  Pumps this large use up loads of electricity and there are other operational costs.

More  at Fox40.com >>>

Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

California Drought Loosens Some Environmental Rules

The American River during the 1977 drought, when freshwater flows were drastically low. (Photo: CA DWR)
The American River during the 1977 drought, when freshwater flows were drastically low. (Photo: CA DWR)

Governor Jerry Brown is calling for water conservation as the primary strategy against California’s record drought, but his emergency declaration on Friday also opened the door for weakening some environmental rules.

State regulators can now relax water quality standards, allowing rivers and estuaries to be saltier and warmer, as they try to manage the state’s limited supplies.

The change is making some fishing and environmental groups wary, who fear that wildlife concerns will come second to the needs of parched cities and farms.

“There will be some tough choices coming down the road on how we balance protections for the environment and water supply,” said Doug Obegi of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “There’s just no getting around it in critically dry years like this one.”

The change focuses on water quality control plans, like the one for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the hub of the state’s water supply. The plan assures that a minimum amount of water is released from dams, so freshwater is provided for downstream water users and wildlife, including salmon.

“This year, everybody is going to feel some pain”

“They’re minimum standards for protection of the estuary and they really are minimums,” said Obegi.

Under the drought declaration, regulators can “consider modifying requirements for reservoir releases or diversion limitations.” Dam operators may ask to reduce releases to keep water in the reservoirs, so it can be used later in the year. That could violate water quality standards in rivers below the dams.

“It’s critical that we really maintain those minimal protections so that we don’t further exacerbate the precarious nature of our native fisheries,” says Obegi.

“The rivers are going to be super warm and super low,” says John McManus of the Golden Gate Salmon Association. “Salmon are going need to help because we’ve got tens of thousands of jobs hanging in the balance that depend on California salmon runs.” Several fishing groups are concerned that young salmon released from hatcheries won’t survive the dry conditions.

More at KQED.org >>>

Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

California Drought: Jerry Brown Declares Emergency, Asks Public To Ration Water

Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday officially declared a drought emergency in California, asking residents to voluntarily reduce their water use by 20 percent and committing to bolster the state’s dwindling water supplies with better management and federal assistance.

The order, announced at a news conference at the governor’s San Francisco office, comes as the state is gripped by a third consecutive year of dry weather.

Rivers are running low. Snowpack is meager. And communities across California are worried about having sufficient water for homes, businesses and farmland. The dry weather also has increased the threat of wildfire, with record acreage burning this month, including a 1,700-acre fire that continues to char the hills above Los Angeles.

With the emergency declaration, Brown said he would make it easier for communities to transfer water from wetter parts of the state to dryer areas. He also said he would seek federal assistance, though he didn’t detail that effort.

“We are in an unprecedented and very serious situation,” Brown said. “It’s important to awaken all Californians to the serious matter of drought and the lack of rain.”

More at SFGate.com >>>

Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Sacramento Council Votes To Enact Severe Water Rationing

Faced with historically low water levels on the American River and a long-range forecast providing little relief, the Sacramento City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to enact severe water rationing on residents and businesses, while also boosting enforcement efforts against water scofflaws.

The council approved what city officials described as a “stage 2 water shortage plan,” requiring those who live and work in Sacramento to reduce their water use by between 20 percent and 30 percent.

Amid a sharp increase in the number of resident complaints against those violating winter outdoor watering restrictions, the city also plans to dispatch a task force of monitors to patrol city streets and enforce those rules. To assist in that effort, city officials said they would launch a $200,000 public outreach campaign to persuade city residents and businesses to cut back on water consumption.

“We’re the river city and yet here we are having to make very difficult decisions,” said Councilman Allen Warren.

Tracking the city’s precise water use could be difficult in the short term. With less than half the homes in the city using water meters, officials said they would not use those devices to track consumption and penalize metered homeowners and businesses that do not cut water use by 20 percent.

“It’s not our intent to treat those with meters differently than those without,” said Dave Brent, the director of the city’s Department of Utilities.

Instead, Brent said the city will increase its efforts to enforce winter outdoor watering restrictions that prohibit outside irrigation during the week. The city will also enforce regulations that also ban the use of water to wash sidewalks and driveways, demand that parks and cemeteries reduce watering and require residents washing automobiles at home to use buckets, not hoses.

Repeat offenders could face fines up to $1,000.

More at ModBee.com >>>
Fish, Rafting, safety, Water, Wildlife

Whitewater Rafting To Continue Despite Dry Winter

Some rafting companies say despite the dry winter, whitewater river rafting conditions in the south and middle forks of the American River should be relatively normal this year.

That’s because of an arrangement between recreational companies and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

SMUD has agreed to release water flows for hydro-electric generation at times when rafters are out on the water, primarily on the weekends.

Scott Armstrong owns All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting.

On Capital Public Radio’s Insight today, Armstrong said weekday rafting could be a little too calm…

“…There will be water on weekends, there’ll be water at good flows. It’ll be a little bit less than it has been in the last couple of years. But because of the agreement and because of what SMUD has to release anyway for hydro-power, we will have good recreational flows.”

~Scott Armstrong, All-Outdoors California Whitewater Rafting

Armstrong predicts flows will be strongest from mid-June through Labor Day Weekend.

From CapRadio.org >>>

Fish, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Mandatory Water Conservation For Sacramento?

City staff says low levels at Folsom Lake on the American River, and a Sacramento River water treatment plant that’s offline, created the need for mandatory conservation.

Jessica Hess with the City says a declaration on Tuesday night by the council would trigger a mandatory 20-percent reduction in water use by everyone in the city.

“We estimate that 20-percent reduction for most single-family residences is gonna come to about 84 gallons per day,” she says. “And that’s really something that folks can achieve by making small and simple changes to what they do every day.”

The City says there are many ways businesses can help conserve.

“We’d like them to consider things like asking customers regarding serving water before they serve it” Hess says. “We’re also asking them to consider things like when they wash the sidewalks out in front of their businesses to limit that to what’s really necessary for public health and safety.”

Hess says people at home can limit the use of bathroom faucets and save up to two-and-a-half gallons per minute.

Running a full load of laundry can save up to 50 gallons of water.

Many people can hit the target by reducing lawn watering to one day-a-week.

“We are down to a one day-a-week watering on Saturday or Sunday only,” says Hess. “So if our inspectors are out and see someone watering on a weekday, they’ll be stopping to first educate and then to  provide a notice of violation.”

Hess says fines could reach $1,000 for multiple offenses.

Folsom is already under a mandatory 20-percent reduction order.

San Juan and Sacramento County water districts are still asking for voluntary conservation.

More at CapRadio.org>>>