Eel River Reporter 2013

VOLUME XV, Fall 2013

THE EEL RIVER REPORTER A Publication of Friends of the Eel River

BALANCING THE RUSSIAN RIVER ON THE BACK OF THE EEL RIVER

COHO, CHINOOK, AND STEELHEAD (OH MY!)

WATER DIVERSION ENFORCEMENT SPAWNS COMMUNITY EDUCATION

WIYOT TRIBE STUDIES ANCIENT LAMPREY

www.eelriver.org2 2013 • Vol. XV Fall

E E L R I V E R R E P O R T E R 3www.eelriver.org

FRIENDS OF THE EEL RIVER Arcata Office at 1385 8th Street

PO Box 4945Arcata, CA [email protected]

ph.707-822-3342Website: www.eelriver.org

Staff ExEcutivE DirEctor

Scott Greacen [email protected]

Bay arEa DirEctor DaviD Keller

[email protected]

aDministrativE DirEctor alicia Hamann

[email protected]

Board of directorSnaDananDa

Founder

Pete nicHolS

Chair

maGGy Herbelin Vice Chair

Jim lamPort

Treasurer

SamantHa Kannry

DaviD Keller

ernie merrifielD

Pamela netzow

cover art courteSy of miKe Guerriero

Dear Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Balancing the Russian River on the Back of the Eel . . 5-7

Wiyot Tribe Studies Ancient Lamprey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9

Coho, Chinook and Steelhead (oh my!) . . . . . . . . . . 10-11

Searching for Sturgeon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Water Diversion Enforcement Spawns Education . . . . . . 15

Table of Contents

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in the top of the mainstem Eel, locked away behind the Scott Dam for a century. PG&E plans to seek relicensing by a 2022 deadline.

FOER is strongly opposed to granting another 50 year license to the Potter Valley Project. The dams should come out, not least because a fish-killing dam that produces only a relatively tiny 9 megawatts of power should be replaced with more sustainable generating capacity.

However. Before we can begin negotiating dam removal, we need to address our own relationship with the river. The marijuana industry in the Eel River watershed has exploded over the last decade, bringing a host of problems not generally forseen before Proposition 215 more or less decriminalized marijuana cultivation in California.

Two critical areas are water diversions and sediment impacts. Our fish need cold, clean water. They don’t need sediment smothering their spawning beds, impairing feeding, and promoting algal growth. After the summer of 2013, when the driest January-June in memory was compounded by unreported diversions from springs, creeks, and the river itself, it is clear the marijuana industry has exceeded the dry-season carrying capacity of the watershed.

The momentum is running in the wrong direction, but a sea change is at hand. The damage being done by too many too-big grows in too many sensitive places has provoked outrage, from right to left, among citizens and policy makers, environmentalists and the timber industry. The challenge now is to harness an industry that has been allowed to run wild.

The problem is not the weed itself, but the conditions in which it is grown. The gap between federal prohibition and state

Friends of the Eel River has been working for nearly two decades now to protect and restore our great river and her incredible fisheries.

Some of you know the Eel River and its rugged coastal mountains intimately. Others will pick this publication up as you visit the North Coast on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the redwoods. Many, like me, have chosen to live in this emerald corner of the continent because it is not only lovely, but rich in wild places and wild things.

In this issue of the Eel River Reporter, we bring you a few stories from across the watershed of people working to figure out what our fish need and make sure they get it.

Salmon get a lot of the attention, of course. Coho, or silver, salmon are the focus of the Salmonid Restoration Federation’s work to protect streamflows in Redwood Creek on the South Fork Eel. FOER board member Samantha Kannry and I review salmonids across the watershed, including chinook salmon and both winter and summer-run steelhead. We’re also happy to spotlight the work the Wiyot Tribe has taken on to help equally important, though less well-known, species like the Pacific lamprey and green sturgeon. The more we learn about complex systems like the Eel, the clearer it becomes that all the parts matter.

In a watershed as big as the Eel, no one group can do everything that needs doing. FOER’s niche is to serve as forceful advocates for the river ecosystem and its fisheries.

One big change we’re after is seeing the two fish-killing dams of the Potter Valley Project (PVP) decomissioned and removed. Recovery demands we reopen the high-quality spawning habitat

decriminalization leaves a huge grey area where the most aggressive actors set the bar. What results is a race to the bottom. What we need, and are finally in a position to achieve, is regulation: a sensible set of rules for marijuana cultivation could nearly eliminate these problems in short order.

California is gearing up to legalize marijuana by ballot, following the leads of Colorado and Washington. It is vital that local governments, especially the counties of the Emerald Triangle through which the Eel River flows, seize this window of opportunity to define conditions in which marijuana can be grown without harm to children, consumers, and the environment. What’s crucial is for local government to define acceptable practices, both so responsible growers know where they stand and so law enforcement can shut down operations that flaunt the code.

Please join us to help our fish, our forests, and the watershed that weaves them together, recover from the ill-considered impacts of the 20th Century – and the 21st. Your support helps insure we’re there to give clear voice to the needs of the river, the watershed, and the future.

Scott GreacenExecutive DirectorFriends of the Eel River

Dear Friends,

Scott Greacen with Dan Rather on the South Fork Eel River.

FO

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staff ph

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Balancing the Russian River on the back of the Eel River

The people and agencies who manage the Russian River have been using water diverted from the Eel River to mask problems in the Russian River for decades. The Russian River is over-appropriated, meaning that during the dry season the amount of water used from the Russian River exceeds the natural inflow of its tributaries and watershed. As a result, both rivers suffer real damages. Agricultural, municipal and recreational users of the Russian River watershed have come to rely on the plumbing that transfers Eel River water into the Russian River’s East Branch at PG&E’s Potter Valley Project (PVP). FOER’s work is to end the abuse of the Eel River as the bandage for the Russian, and to get both rivers on the path to sustainability, recovery, abundance and restoration.

California’s State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), the agency that allocates surface water rights, in 1986 set minimum dry season flows for the Russian River through an order called Decision 1610 (D.1610). [See figure one: Russian River Water System, on page 7 for the existing and future proposed flow requirements.] The flows were intended to prevent dewatering of the Russian River, improve habitat, flows, water quality and temperatures for salmon and

By David Keller, Friends of the Eel River Bay Area Director

steelhead. In large part, the flows were calculated to use Eel River water stored in, and then released from, Lake Mendocino – the Army Corps of Engineers’ flood control reservoir on the Russian River just northeast of Ukiah. After salmon in both the Russian and Eel watersheds were listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, it became clear that the flows set by D.1610 were a factor in the species’ decline.

The problems with D.1610 flows were disclosed in two Biological Opinions (“BiOp”) issued under the Endangered Species Act: one for the upper Eel River and one for the Russian River. Both were produced by the federal National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Both BiOps mandate changes in seasonal minimum flows previously required under D.1610. The Eel River BiOp increased flows in the Eel downstream of the PVP diversion to improve fishery and water conditions, and significantly reduced flows diverted to the Russian River.

The Russian River BiOp found that existing minimum flow requirements were too high, and so “negatively affect the ability of salmon and steelhead populations to survive and recover in the Russian River watershed.” The BiOp states that, “high water velocities associated with the project’s

artificially elevated summer flows and stream channelization greatly limit the quantity and quality of juvenile salmon and steelhead rearing habitat in Dry Creek [the location of Warm Springs Dam and Lake Sonoma] and the upper Russian River,” and disrupt the formation of the lagoon at the mouth of the Russian River estuary. (NMFS, RR Biological Opinion, Sept. 24, 2008, p 243)

The Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) is charged with implementing D.1610. To reduce impacts on Russian River fisheries, SCWA is now required to apply to the SWRCB to revise D.1610. SCWA has started the multi-year preparation of several Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) describing the proposed changes to Russian River flows, alternatives, their environmental impacts and proposed mitigations. The most complex of the documents will be part of SCWA’s application to SWRCB for revisions to D.1610. SCWA’s “Fish Habitat Flows and Water Rights Project” and Draft EIR, now expected in early 2014. This will go through public hearings and result in a Final EIR. The SWRCB will then hold more than a dozen public hearings over the next several years before issuing a new final order for minimum flows in the Russian River.

In the meantime, FOER is working hard to provide new concepts and scientific modeling of storage and flows in the Russian River, so that we are fully up to speed when the DEIR is released. One of FOER’s priorities is that the Russian River must be made whole

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without taking water from the Eel. We are working on hydrologic models without Eel River transfers. We are looking at improvements to fish habitat in the Russian River and tributaries, as well as significantly reducing water demands during the dry seasons. During low flow periods for the Russian River, Eel River water (released from storage in Lake Mendocino) should not be used to increase flows and dilute waters of the lower Russian River polluted by leaky septic systems; sources of pollution must be corrected instead.

We are following changes in grape growing practices to reduce or eliminate the impacts of large frost control pumping and spraying, which have dewatered streams and been documented to strand and kill many juvenile steelhead. We are pressing regulators to identify and eliminate the hundreds of illegal and unpermitted water diversions in the Russian River watershed, which cumulatively lead to demands for additional Eel water to be transferred and later released from Lake Mendocino.

Ultimately, the Russian River cannot be managed solely to optimize water supply and storage for agricultural and municipal users, while depending on the Eel River to bail out the fishery, water quality and public trust disasters resulting from mismanagement of the river. Revisions to D.1610 are a significant and important opportunity to reshape the next 150 years of river management to one of health, sustainability, restoration and abundance.

at shallows moss-greenat rock-shadow green & bubbling bright blue foam-green & the deeper darkest current plunginginto the green of time

at ouzel winging rock- to-rock & I wonder if heknows about the dama dozen miles downstreamthe river made to workfor man

& at once I seeof course he knowsand so does the riverand so do Ieven when I’m gone

see the river in her wild abandonouzel splashingthrough rapidscreationin its joyful dance

damsand manalready forgotten

& I take that riverwith me when I go

Balancing the Russian...

Continued from page 5

looking upstream

- Jerry Martien

Artw

ork courtesy of M

ike Gu

erriero


1


Wiyot Tribe Studies Ancient LampreyBy Tim Nelson and Stephen Kullman, Wiyot Tribe Natural Resources

The river we call the Eel got that name when European newcomers mistook abundant Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) for fish they remembered from the Atlantic. In fact, though lamprey are superficially similar to eels, they could hardly be much more distant in origin. Lamprey are among the last surviving examples of the oldest known vertebrates, recognizable in fossils more than twice the age of dinosaurs like T. Rex.

The sheer number of fish in the river is reflected in the name local native people gave the river – Wiyot, meaning abundance. Today it is the tribe that’s known as the Wiyot, while the river we call Eel carries fewer and fewer gou’daw. Although there has been little concentrated study of Pacific lamprey on the Eel River, locals and native people have observed a steep population decline over the past decades. Once a mainstay of traditional diets for tribes along the river, with higher protein and fat content than even salmon, gou’daw are becoming harder to find and even harder to harvest. Lamprey

were also a major food source for predators from sea lions to bears and raptors, as well as scavengers like green sturgeon. It has been suggested that the abundant lamprey functioned as a buffer, reducing impacts on migrating salmonids.

Responding to the decline in lamprey, the Wiyot Tribe Natural Resources Department has been working to identify and prioritize barriers to lamprey migration. (Unlike salmon, lamprey cannot jump

– but they can climb up a 30’ sheer face using their powerful mouths to cling to the rock.) Unfortunately, we have encountered situations where passage improvements intended for salmonids have unintentionally created barriers to lamprey migration. Fortunately, through better outreach and inter-agency communications, mitigations can anticipate the needs of all species.

The project, funded through a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Tribal Wildlife Grant and conducted in partnership with Stillwater Sciences, includes passage assessments and ammocoete surveys within the Eel River/Van Duzen watersheds. Ammocoete [am-uh-seet] are the wormlike, eyeless and jawless larval stage of the lamprey. They live buried in fine substrate or silt for five to seven years, feeding on tiny bits of organic material they filter from the stream. An assessment can include a full longitudinal profile with survey equipment to model potential passage barriers, lamprey specific spawning and ammocoete habitat assessments, and electrofishing (e-fishing) to determine ammocoete presence.

Young members of the Wiyou Tribe with Pacific LampreyPhotos courtesy of Stephen Kullman

Assessing Pacific Lamprey habitat at Root Creek, tributary to the Van Duzen


While we are still completing data, some patterns are already emerging. We are beginning to be able to characterize Pacific lamprey distribution throughout the system.

Ammocoetes’ long residence in freshwater and their extreme vulnerability to pollution and dewatering may help explain why lamprey numbers have been declining sharply across the West Coast. During the years that pass from the ammocoete to the spawning stage of the Pacific lamprey life cycle, there are numerous threats to the survival of an individual lamprey. The majority of their lives are spent in the river bottom substrate; survival requirements are sufficient water (for oxygenation), suitable sediments (for protection), and food. If these three requirements are met, the survival rate for the ammocoete is high. However, if the area in which the ammocoete is located has been cut off from the river, it can die from either low oxygen levels as water temperatures heat up or suffocation from the pool drying up before rains can reconnect the river system.

Ammocoetes also play an important role in lamprey reproduction. Unlike salmon, lamprey do not smell their way home to the stream in which they hatched. Rather, current research suggests that adult lamprey follow pheromones emitted by ammocoetes. This is a great way to signal the presence of good larval habitat to would-be lamprey parents. But it can mean that a few severe impacts can cut off both the present and the future of a lamprey population.

So what are the real challenges to lamprey success? The big, glaring problem has to do with water quantity. This has been a historically low precipitation year. Combined with an increase in both legal and illegal diversions, many tributaries went

dry. Of the water that is remaining, hot temperatures in combination with high nutrient loads cause blue-green algae blooms that can lead to human and wildlife sickness as well as fish kills.

Besides water quantity and quality, lamprey also have to deal with predation from large, non-native fish called Sacramento pikeminnow. Pikeminnow can grow as large as one meter in length. They

are known to compete with trout and prey upon young salmonids and ammocoetes as well as adult lamprey. Once established, the non-native pikeminnow further depleted already crippled salmonid and lamprey populations, slowing recovery.

So far it appears that Pacific lamprey are holding to stretches of river or tributaries that have adequate

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Coho, Chinook and Steelhead! (Oh my!)By Samantha Kannry and Scott Greacen

The ancient redwood groves that line the lower Eel River and much of its South Fork along Highway 101 may seem markers of a timeless natural order. Indeed, the remnants of the old-growth forest that covered much of the region only two centuries ago are tokens of phenomenal productivity, fed by ancient relationships between forests and fish. Abundant salmon and lamprey carried the ocean’s nutrients upstream, fertilizing forests that maintained the cold, clean water the fish needed.

But even by the standards of one of the fastest-uplifting, least stable watersheds on the continent, the Eel River has seen transformative changes over the last century and a half, changes which have sharply reduced the river’s ability to support the fish that feed the forests.

Each of the salmonidae remaining in the watershed – Chinook, coho, and steelhead – are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Though the last two years’ runs have been encouraging, across the last several decades all show continuing declines. Only winter steelhead seem likely to survive past the middle of this century, unless systematic and coordinated efforts are made to ensure the river’s recovery.

The Eel River historically held some of the largest salmon runs in the state, behind only the much larger Sacramento and Klamath watersheds. One study suggests that, in good conditions, over one million salmonids (800,000 chinook, 150,000 coho and 100,000 steelhead) likely returned to the Eel River. In less abundant years, the total was probably closer to 500,000 fish – though neither figure includes coastal cutthroat trout and smaller runs of chum and pink salmon. (Yoshiyama and

Moyle, 2010) These numbers decreased to around 150,000 fish in the 1960s.

Yoshiyama and Moyle’s estimates – though far from precise and highly variable from year to year – suggest that average runs are now 3,500 adults (1,000 chinook, 500 coho, 2,000 steelhead), representing a 99% decline in overall population size.

While many of the practices that created the most serious impacts – like logging, roadbuilding, livestock grazing, and overfishing – have been reformed, the damage done in the early part of the 20th century was compounded and amplified by truly catastrophic floods in 1955 and 1964. Both moved incredible volumes of sediment off clearcut slopes, leaving much of it in the river or along its banks. It will be the work of centuries of floods to clear this burden, but the river is beginning to recover some of the deep pools and clean gravels that were part of the recipe for salmon abundance.

Making matters worse, water diversions to a Green Rush of marijuana growing are contributing to the threat to listed fish. Steelhead and coho must both mature in fresh water, though coho are even more vulnerable than the tough and resilient steelhead.

January-June of 2013 was the driest on record. Summer arrived with already critically low river levels. Flows kept dropping while temperatures rose rapidly, creating conditions lethal for

fish. By early August of 2013, dozens of coho-bearing streams had gone dry across the South Fork and neighboring Mattole River.

Unfortunately, with the sharp increase in marijuana cultivation in the region, new sources of sediment and water pollution have increased across many areas of the watershed.

Another fundamental issue affecting the health of the watershed and its fishes is the Potter Valley Project. The Potter Valley Project consists of Scott Dam and Cape Horn Dam, located near the headwaters of the mainstem Eel River, and a tunnel diverting water to the Russian River (through Potter Valley). The pending relicensing of the dams and tunnel offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for river advocates to take a huge step toward effective recovery of the Eel’s steelhead and Chinook salmon populations by securing dam decommissioning and spawning bed restoration.

Though they share many characteristics, the Eel’s four major tributaries – the Middle Fork, North Fork, South Fork, and Van Duzen – each have a distinct flavor of topography and vegetation, differences reflected in their native fish populations.

In the South Fork and Outlet Creek for example, coastal fog, the redwoods that need fog drip, cool temperatures and steady moisture have all worked together to create and maintain exceptional coho habitat. Though only holding steady at a few

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thousand spawning adults in recent years, the South Forks’ population of coho remains the largest, most viable, and most important population of coho salmon in California. If coho in the South Fork fails, populations in smaller neighboring watersheds can’t hope to recover.

Fall chinook, though severely reduced in numbers, are still present throughout most of their historic range. In 2012 the California Department of Fish and Wildlife estimated chinook escapement for the upper Eel River at 7,656 spawners, based on a live trap at Cape Horn Dam and ground surveys on the mainstem and its upper tributaries. Though this figure is an encouraging increase relative to the recent past, it does not necessarily indicate a large run in the river as a whole. Tomki Creek, a relatively large tributary of the mainstem Eel just downstream from the lower dam, long supported a Chinook population on par with that using the Van Arsdale fish ladder to pass over the Cape Horn Dam to spawn in the 10 mile stretch between the dams. So far unexplained but clearly low recent returns to Tomki Creek suggest the level of disturbance in similar tributaries across the basin may be preventing Chinook recovery.

Steelhead on the Eel are divided into two main runs, winter and summer. The winter run return from the ocean to spawn in the late fall through early spring. They arrive in freshwater sexually developed. Many return to the ocean after spawning. These winter-run steelhead are the prime targets of fishermen who continue to travel to the Eel for challenging flyfishing.

By contrast, summer run steelhead enter freshwater in late spring through early summer with undeveloped gonads. They proceed upstream through inconceivable obstacles, perfectly timed with the steady melt of upper basin

snowpack. Summer steelhead remain in their freshwater enclaves throughout the summer, bearing up under persistently increasing temperatures and diminishing flows. When the rains return in the fall, they can reach their natal streams to spawn and in many cases return to the sea.

Two runs of summer steelhead still persist on the Eel, in the Middle Fork and the Van Duzen. An additional summer run is known to have been extirpated from the North Fork. (These two runs represent the southernmost extent of the summer steelhead life history pattern and some of the largest

steelhead observed, averaging 28-36 inches, with many individuals over 40 inches.) Middle Fork Eel summer steelhead have been monitored consistently since the mid-1960s through annual dives of the 26 miles of refugia, and additional dives on less populated upper reaches. The average has been around 780 adults, with a high of 1550 in 1987. 2012 saw a recent high of 1,191 individuals. The Van Duzen summer refugia has been monitored far less consistently, with an average over the last five years of around 150 fish.

Though winter and summer steelhead appear to have distinct life-histories on the Eel, with geographically separate spawning areas, NMFS listed the fish as a single Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). Arguably, Eel River winter and summer-run steelhead are more closely related than are their cousins in other rivers. Given their low

population size and sharply restricted habitat, if summer-run steelhead were considered separately from more abundant winter run fish, they would almost certainly have to be considered “endangered” under the federal ESA (at risk of extinction in the next century) rather than threatened (at risk of becoming endangered in the next century).

Comprehensive spawning surveys and life-cycle monitoring are not now being conducted in the Eel, resulting in incomplete data sets for population estimates. Long overdue investments in monitoring and restoration may finally

be on the table. The Eel River Forum, a multi-stakeholder group convened by California Trout, is pressing forward with proposals for joint state and federal action. After decades of effort, the successful implementation of major projects that will restore vital estuarine habitat in the lower river has given the river’s advocates hope that persistence will yield rewards across the whole watershed.

The Eel presents a picture of mixed peril and promise. The watershed remains the best prospect for large-scale salmon habitat restoration and recovery in California, and a keystone for the success of salmon in neighboring watersheds as well. The next decade will present a series of choices that may yet still lead to a lasting, biologically effective recovery for much of the watershed and many of its imperiled native species.

“I have yet to encounter a river system as beautiful and varied as the Eel River. In a single tributary one may encounter numerous worlds. The diversity of the system is staggering. Perhaps it is their relative scarcity that makes these wild salmon and steelhead so special, but I am convinced the peerless character of this landscape is embodied by these unique fish”

- Ethan Bertz, lifelong resident, fisherman, and explorer of the Van Duzen and Eel River watersheds


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Ph

oto courtesy of E

than

Bertz.


Searching for SturgeonThe Wiyot Tribe is developing its capacity to renew

its traditional role as stewards of natural resources. We were recently awarded grant funds through the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) Species Recovery Grant to Tribes to complete, with assistance from Stillwater Sciences, a three-year study of Eel River ba’m, green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris).

The goal of this project is to determine the current status and population of origin of North American green sturgeon in the Eel River. Given that the Eel River is one of the larger rivers in California and had an apparently large and important historic spawning run, this project will help bridge a data gap for North American green sturgeon, and provide a more accurate assessment of potential threats to reproduction and recovery. The actual status of green sturgeon in the Eel River remains ambiguous. Official designations consider the spawning run lost, yet sightings still occur annually.

According to NOAA’s recovery planning document for southern Distinct Population Segment (DPS) green sturgeon, “In order to establish a recovery plan for the species, the current status of that species must be understood.” For whatever green sturgeon that still spawn in the Eel River, it is important to determine if they are northern DPS, as presumed without evidence, or if they are southern DPS, or a mix. If they are a mix, then it would be the first documented mixed spawning run.

Another important question is if the Eel River estuary, both the riverine and marine portions, are being used as rearing and feeding habitats for one or both DPSs of green sturgeon similar to nearby Humboldt Bay (mixed), the Umpqua River estuary (northern DPS only), or the Klamath River (mixed in marine estuary, northern DPS only in riverine estuary). Knowledge of spawning timing and location can allow for a more accurate assessment of potential threats to green sturgeon recovery in the Eel River.

The objectives of this project are to determine: the presence, timing, and locations of green sturgeon spawning and holding in the mainstem Eel River; the population of origin (southern DPS vs. northern DPS) of these fish; and the summer residence of green sturgeon in the Eel River estuary (riverine and marine). This project will be conducted from the confluence of the Middle Fork and mainstem Eel River near Dos Rios, to the Pacific Ocean and the near shore marine portion of the estuary over three years.

After reviewing all historical documents regarding green sturgeon, including background scientific data, tribal

oral histories, and ecological knowledge, we will assess the availability of habitat based on current water quality figures. We will survey the mainstem Eel River with a DIDSON sonar camera to search for the presence of green sturgeon. Population(s) of origin will be determined by conducting genetic analysis of eggs collected on artificial substrate mats, and a sonic receiver detection network installed in strategic locations will monitor individuals tagged elsewhere. Ultimately all this data will be used in an effort to protect sensitive green sturgeon spawning and holding areas.

The Wiyot Tribe’s concentration on non-salmonid fish research and restoration on the Eel River in no way is meant to diminish the importance of salmonids; in fact we partner with many other agencies devoted to salmonid restoration. The traditional environmental knowledge of the Wiyot Tribe teaches that all species and components of an ecosystem must be healthy for the system to be healthy, including the human element and the perhaps less glamorous gou’daw and ba’m.

By Joshua Strange, Stillwater Sciences and Stephen Kullmann, Wiyot Tribe

Ba’m, Green Sturgeon, Photo by Thomas Dunklin

Ph

oto courtesy of E

than

Bertz.


Wiyot tRiBe...

Continued from page 9

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water supply and/or little human impact. There is a lot more work to do but as long as the species exists, the Wiyot Tribe’s Natural Resources Department will continue to work towards reviving the run of Pacific lamprey on the Eel River.

The tribe and its partners will soon be starting a new USFWS TWG lamprey project focusing on the lower Eel River and Humboldt Bay tributaries. The goals of this project will be to develop preliminary long-term monitoring and management plans for Pacific lamprey. This will include conducting a creel survey of “eelers” – interviewing fishers and surveying their catch, and identifying reaches for lamprey monitoring.

Ultimately we hope this work will help identify and overcome major limiting factors to Pacific lamprey success in the Eel River.


Water Diversion Enforcement Spawns Community EducationBy Sara Schremmer, Salmonid Restoration Federation

The South Fork Eel River is a crucial link for the survival and recovery of endangered Coho salmon in California. The watersheds of the basin suffer from the legacy impacts of industrial logging, changes in climate, extensive road networks, rural subdivisions, and the cumulative impacts of water diversions. Overall water demands have increased dramatically in recent years. Creeks that once supported thriving salmon populations are now intermittent or completely dry by the end of summer. In 2013, Humboldt County experienced the driest spring season in the historic record, leading to even more perilously low flow conditions for juvenile Coho and Steelhead, which must spend a year in freshwater before migrating to the sea.

In late spring of 2013, spurred by fish kills resulting from illegal and poorly constructed water diversions in both China Creek and Seely Creek (tributaries of Redwood Creek on the South Fork Eel River), the Division of Water Rights of the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) issued notices of “Potential Unauthorized Diversion and Use of Water” and “Failure to File a Statement of Water Diversion and Use in Humboldt County” to dozens of landowners in the China Creek watershed. According to the unofficial California Water Rights Atlas, only two landowners have legally established water rights in the whole Redwood Creek watershed, leaving hundreds more vulnerable to enforcement, especially if their water diversions could harm endangered fish.

Established as a legal means for protecting our rivers as a shared resource and public trust value, water diversion permitting requirements

have existed in California for many years, but have not been enforced in Humboldt County until recently. Prior to the enforcement sweep, many landowners were not aware they had to report their water diversions and register their storage water rights to comply with state water law and avoid potentially onerous fines.

To help inform residents about water rights and responsibilities, Salmonid Restoration Federation and Friends of the Eel River hosted a Water Rights Education Forum on Thursday, July 11, 2013 at the Beginnings Octagon in Briceland. Speakers at the forum included Jane Arnold, water specialist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Matt McCarthy with the Division of Water Rights, and Tasha McKee from Sanctuary Forest. Approximately 170 landowners were in attendance, with KMUD broadcasting the proceedings live on Redwood Community Radio. (Visit http://ht.ly/mSo4W to listen to recordings of the broadcast).

The Water Rights Forum provided a crucial opportunity for residents to ask clarifying questions about the steps necessary for filing their water rights,

and enabled agency representatives to explain why compliance is beneficial to both fish and property owners. Filing for a water right and registering water diversions offers the dual benefits of increasing the water security of a property, while helping to quantify the amount of water being allocated for beneficial use in the watershed. This information is crucial to protecting instream flows sufficient to maintain our salmon and steelhead.

Salmonid Restoration Federation, a non-profit organization concerned with instream flows for salmon, will continue to provide assistance to rural landowners interested in complying with state water law. The Water Rights Education Campaign is an ongoing component of The Redwood Creek Water Conservation Project, a local effort initiated in 2012 to address low flows that affect residents and fish. Information about the Redwood Creek Water Conservation Project and the Water Rights Education Campaign—including a Know Your Water Rights brochure with a step-by-step guide for coming into compliance—are available on SRF’s website at www.calsalmon.org.

Pannelists and Residents at the Water Rights Educational Forum in Briceland

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Eel River Reporter 2013