Category Archives: Salmon

Fish, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Report: California Has A Long Way To Go On Water Conservation

As California slips into summer amid the worst drought in a generation, state residents, as a whole, have done relatively little to cut their water use, falling well short of the 20 percent target set in Gov. Jerry Brown’s emergency drought declaration in January.

Between January and May of this year, California as a whole cut its water use 5 percent compared to the same period over the preceding three years, according to data released Tuesday during a meeting of the State Water Resources Control Board. The figures were drawn from a survey of water agencies across the state conducted by water board staff. The survey was sent to 443 water agencies but completed by only 270, representing about 25 million retail water customers.

Max Gomberg, a senior environmental scientist for the board, said water use actually increased statewide in January, a month that is normally the state’s wettest but instead proved to be extraordinarily dry. During February through April – months immediately following the governor’s drought declaration – there was no significant conservation. Water use statewide was essentially the same in those months as the prior three years.

Only in May did conservation seemingly take hold, with water agencies in aggregate reporting a water savings of 25 percent. That seems encouraging, but it was before the hot months of summer when water demand typically peaks.

“Nevertheless, it’s a promising sign that the May usage went down,” Gomberg said.

The state water board met Tuesday to begin discussing whether more statewide conservation measures are needed. They invited a number of local water agency officials to provide input. Those officials said it’s difficult to impose blanket conservation goals because each region of the state is different, with different water needs. Nevertheless, they all said they are striving to meet the 20 percent target.

The state’s data showed that the best conservation progress occurred among water agencies in the Sacramento Valley region, which reported a 10 percent savings from January through May. The worst was along the Central Coast and in the San Francisco Bay Area, which reported zero and 2 percent conservation, respectively.

“The customers have stepped up, is really what it comes down to,” said John Woodling, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Water Authority. “If you drive around this region, the lawns are brown and yellow. The lawns aren’t lush and green like they used to be.”

Other water agencies told the board that progress may appear small because they have been working hard for years to reduce water consumption as a general practice to manage water resources for the long term.

More at MercedSunStar.com >>>

Read more here: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2014/06/17/3703789/report-california-has-a-long-way.html#storylink=cpy
Fish, Salmon, Wildlife

Fish Eacuated From American River Hatcheries Due To Drought

The drought is forcing state officials to evacuate rainbow trout and steelhead fish from two hatcheries on the American River amid concern the water will become warm enough to kill the fish in coming weeks.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife on Tuesday will use tanker trucks to remove about 1 million trout from the American River Hatchery. From there, they will be planted throughout the state as usual – mostly in Sierra Nevada lakes – but at a much younger age and smaller size.

The department also will release 430,000 Central Valley steelhead from Nimbus Hatchery into the American River – about six months earlier than usual. These fish will also be smaller than usual, which means they will be less likely to survive to adulthood, said William Cox, hatchery program manager for the department.

Water temperatures of 78 degrees are considered lethal to rainbow trout and steelhead. Cox said temperatures in the American River are projected to become that warm later this summer because there is so little mountain runoff, and because Folsom and Nimbus reservoirs are already so depleted. They have no reserve of cold water to help fish survive.

The water doesn’t have to get that warm before the fish are harmed. They’ll begin showing signs of stress and disease once water temperatures reach 65 degrees.

Cox said the plan to evacuate the hatcheries resulted from difficult choices that began in January when it became clear a severe drought was taking hold in the state. The goal is to give the fish more options to survive and avoid “major losses” that could occur if they were held in the hatcheries.

“We wouldn’t want to let these fish just sit there and cook,” Cox said.

So far, no other state hatcheries are being evacuated. However, state and federal officials earlier this year took extraordinary measures to protect some 12 million hatchery salmon from warm water temperatures and low river flows throughout the Sacramento Valley. Most of those Chinook salmon made their downstream migration in tanker trucks on the highway, rather than the Sacramento River, as a means to assure that more of them can survive the drought.

More at SacBee.com >>>

 

Fish, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

American River Flow To Rise For Salmon

Water flows in the American River are scheduled to increase through the Sacramento region starting tonight to help salmon and steelhead.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates Folsom and Nimbus dams on the river, will maintain the increased flow for three days to help juvenile steelhead and Chinook salmon migrate downstream, and to help improve in-river conditions for young steelhead.

The flow will gradually increase from the current 500 cubic feet per second starting at about 9 p.m., and will reach 1,500 cfs by 11 p.m. Flows will remain at that level until early Friday morning, when the volume will be gradually reduced to 800 cfs.

More at Modbee.com >>>

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2014/04/22/3303052/american-river-flow-to-rise-for.html#storylink=cpyM

 

Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

On Northern California Rivers, Good Forecast For Summer Rafting

The story of this summer’s prospects for rivers, rafting and trout fishing might sound like a yarn right out of the “Outdoors Department of Yer Eyes Ain’t Foolin’ Ya.”

For the American and Tuolumne rivers, NorCal’s top rafting rivers, the forecasts look great.

What? Aren’t we in the worst drought in a gazillion years? Isn’t the snowpack (and the melt-off to come) about 30 percent of normal in the high country? And won’t the rivers be rendered into trickles by July?

Well, in many cases, nope.

In a reversal of what is logical thought for many, conditions and flows on several rivers will be spectacular into summer for rafting, fishing and camping. And no, yer eyes ain’t foolin’ ya.

It’s a surprise twist to the way things work in California, even in a drought.

It rained enough in February and March to replenish, in part, several watersheds and reload many of the smaller, high-country reservoirs. Enough, that is, for water managers to release water from them and make their deliveries this summer.

The timing of the flows has been worked out to benefit recreation. So when those water deliveries are made, rafters will have a chance to float on them.

One of the best examples is the San Francisco Water Department, which met with outfitters last week to work out flow regimes out of Hetch Hetchy and Cherry reservoirs for the Tuolumne River.

Everybody wins.

“Despite a historic drought in California, we’re fortunate to have a number of rivers that get water from upstream reservoirs,” said Nate Rangel of California Outdoors, a trade association that represents California’s river outfitters. “That means we’re going to have great water all summer long.”

“On the Lower American River (below Folsom Lake and Lake Natomas), the Bureau of Reclamation is tied into the federal water project and they have to deliver water,” said Randy Calvin of River Rat Rafting in Fair Oaks. “It will run right past where we rent rafts and give people a chance to float down the river on it.”

More at SFGate.com >>>

Events, Fish, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Nimbus Hatchery Offering Presentation On Drought, Salmon

The public is invited to a free presentation May 3 at Nimbus Hatchery on how California’s drought is affecting salmon and steelhead populations in the American River.

The event is offered by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which operates the hatchery, one of five in the Central Valley that produce most of the salmon caught by commercial and recreational anglers in the state.

Rob Titus, a senior environmental scientist at the department, will discuss the state of salmon and steelhead runs and the challenges the drought poses to their survival. He’ll also outline actions the agency is taking to protect these fish and improve their survival. Forest Williams of the Sacramento County Water Agency will then describe ways the public can reduce water use and lessen human impact on the river.

Both speakers will take questions from the audience.

The event begins at 11 a.m. May 3 in the hatchery visitor center. No advance registration is required. The hatchery is at 2001 Nimbus Road in Rancho Cordova.

More at SaccBee.com >>>
Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Complaint Alleges American River Flows Too Slow, Warm In Sacramento Area

The federal government’s operation of Folsom and Nimbus dams is harming fall-run Chinook salmon and steelhead in the American River, several environmental and fishing groups allege in a complaint filed this week with the state.

The groups are urging the State Water Resources Control Board to amend the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s permits to require colder and faster river flows from the two dams. The board has authority over water rights issued to the Bureau of Reclamation, as well as responsibility for protecting public trust resources, including fisheries and water quality. The board first issued operating permits for the dams in 1958.

“We’ve got to have a guaranteed higher flow, and there have to be modifications to Folsom Dam that will allow them to tap the coldest (water) pool in the reservoir,” said Stephen Green, president of Save the American River Association. “When temperatures are high and flows are low, we know that fish are being killed, and it’s not just this year. It’s been going on for decades.”

The other groups involved in the complaint are the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Save Our Streams Council and the Public Trust Alliance.

The water board is reviewing the complaint, which was received on April 4, said spokesman George Kostyrko. If it decides the complaint has merit, it could be scheduled for a hearing or further investigation.

“It is still early in the process, so we haven’t arrived at that, or any conclusions yet,” Kostyrko said via email.

Reclamation officials said they haven’t reviewed the complaint yet and had no comment.

Reclamation’s permit with the state allows it to reduce flows in the lower American River, which cuts through the Sacramento area, to as low as 250 cubic feet per second under certain conditions. Such flows were reached earlier this winter because of the drought, and may occur again this summer and fall. The complaint alleges this is insufficient to support healthy fish life, and should be raised to at least 750 cfs, Green said.

More at SacBee.com >>>
Bike Trail, Events, Fish, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Volunteers Will Clean Up American River Parkway This Weekend

It’s going to be a beautiful weekend, and you can get out and enjoy the weather while helping the American River Parkway Foundation with its  “Spring Clean Up.”

Sacramento County Supervisor Susan Peters says the clean-up is an important activity.

“The annual effort helps maintain the American River Parkway as a sustainable, natural resource for everyone to enjoy,” she said.

It’s not too late to join in tomorrow morning.

“It’s very easy to sign up if you go to the website of the American River Parkway Foundation, it’s ARPF.org,” she said.

More at KFBK.org >>>

Fish, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Recent Rain, Snow Bring Surge Of Water To Folsom Lake

After days of rain in the Valley and snow in the Sierra, California reservoirs are getting a much needed surge of water.

In the last seven days, Folsom Lake has risen 4.34 feet, according the California Department of Water Resources statistics.

As of midnight Wednesday, Folsom Lake’s surface elevation was 409.42 feet.  The lake hit its lowest point this season in early February when it was at 357.06 feet, according to the state’s data exchange.

Even with the surge of water, Folsom Lake remains just 45 percent of capacity and 69 percent of normal for this date.

More at KCRA.com >>>

Bike Trail, Fish, History, Rafting, safety, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Outdoors: Wealth Of New Information In American River Guidebook

american_river_cover500

A ceramist by profession, and by passion, Eric Peach often leaves his home studio in Auburn to venture down into the American River Canyon, looking for inspiration in the rushing white water, the winding trails, the abundant wildlife and bountiful flora of a thriving ecosystem.

You can see the result in his works, ranging from playful river otters to fish sculptures to those psychedelically hued fire belly newts.

But you can also see Peach’s love for the American River and its foothills in bookstores and at outdoor retailers. The third edition of “The American River: Insider’s Guide to Recreation, Ecology and Cultural History of the North, Middle and South Forks” ($24.95, Protect American River Canyons, 416 pages) recently was released, all proceeds going to the nonprofit Protect American River Canyons, the organization that sponsors the American River Confluence Festival and other fundraising events.

Peach, 64, and wife Paula enlisted no fewer than 44 writers and editors, and 30 photo and graphics contributors, to completely revamp the second edition, published a decade ago. This time around, 15 trails were added, as were scores of new and updated rafting routes, including a new stretch from the confluence down to Rattlesnake Bar. There’s also a complete digest of plants and trees, birds, reptiles and mammals, as well as an exhaustive history of the area, from the Indian settlements up to the now-revived attempts to dam the river.

More at SacBee.com >>>
Fish, Salmon, Water, Wildlife

Trucking Of Sacramento River Salmon Starts Monday

More than 12 million juvenile hatchery salmon will get a truck trip downstream starting Monday to help them circumvent the harmful effects of drought on the Sacramento River.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the plan Friday, as a way of bolstering survival rates for the fish. The Sacramento River, compromised by California’s persistent drought, is too low to provide adequate food and protection from predators, potentially jeopardizing a crop of fish that supports the state’s commercial and recreational salmon fishing industries.

Agency spokesman Steve Martarano said it will take 22 days to transport all the fish in tanker trucks from Coleman National Hatchery near Red Bluff. The first salmon will be trucked in a trial run on Monday, with additional shipments continuing Tuesday, if all goes well. Each delivery will deposit the fish back into the Sacramento River near Rio Vista.

Each truck holds about 2,800 gallons of water and 130,000 salmon smolts – juveniles 4 to 6 inches long – and is climate-controlled to maintain a water temperature between 55 and 60 degrees.

The agency owns only two such trucks, so it will borrow five from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The state agency also plans to truck its salmon production from four hatcheries, including Nimbus Hatchery on the American River, starting April 4.

More at ModBee.com >>>

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2014/03/21/3252063/trucking-of-sacramento-river-salmon.html#storylink=cpy