[env-trinity] Klamath Issues - Capital Press and USBR Press Release

Tue Feb 13 10:55:57 PST 2007

WATERSHED PLANNING:

Scott River Water Trust seeks to help fish, farmers; Program leases water
rights from growers

Capital Press - 2/9/07

By Elizabeth Larson, staff writer

ETNA - In Northern California a unique effort is under way - possibly the
first of its kind in California - that seeks to enhance fish migration by
keeping more water in local streambeds.

The Scott River Water Trust is a developing program that leases and/or
purchases water historically used for agriculture and pays willing water
right holders to leave the water in the stream for threatened coho salmon.

The idea behind the water trust was first discussed a decade ago, said
project consultant Sari Sommarstrom. Then the coho salmon, which spawns and
rears in the river, was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered
Species Act. Finally funded in 2002, the water trust program is a project of
the Scott River Watershed Council and the Siskiyou Resource Conservation
District, with the California Department of Fish and Game initially funding
the effort.

The Scott River is one of the Klamath River's four major tributaries. The
river runs through Siskiyou County's Scott Valley, a largely agricultural
area.

Sommarstrom said the water trust's goal is to improve streamflow for salmon
and steelhead at critical periods within the Scott River watershed. The
trust proposes to do that through compensating willing water-right holders -
in particular, farmers and ranchers who use the water for irrigation and
stock watering - to forego using some of their water.

"It's a community idea that developed due to a combination of proactive
nature and upcoming regulatory requirements," said Gary Black, a SRCD senior
project coordinator who has been instrumental in putting the water trust
together.

The flows of the Scott River and its tributaries are snowmelt-driven. In the
spring, Black noted, "there's more than enough water for fish and farms,"
but as the snowmelt tails off, supplies become tough in the late summer and
fall. "The issue of late summer competition between fish and ag is pretty
significant," he said. 

Water needs for the fish are most critical in late July, August and
September, Sommarstrom said, when fish species such as coho salmon and
steelhead are rearing their young in the streams. In years when fall rains
are delayed, she said, even the fall chinook salmon have not had enough
water for spawning in October.

Black said the water trust wants to focus on short-term water leases with
water users to improve fall and summer flows. The typical lease, he said,
would be 60 to 90 days in duration during those times.

Sommarstrom said if a water user agreed to divert less stream water for
irrigation, the water trust would fully compensate him for production loss.
Likewise, the trust would help ranchers get alternative sources of water for
watering livestock during the post-irrigation season.

Determining water value is important, Sommarstrom said. "We don't want to
pay too much or too little for water, just what is fair and reasonable."

Just how much water do the fish need? She suggested the amount could range
from as little as 0.5 cubic feet per second (CFS) and up. "That can make a
big difference in a small creek that's only flowing a half CFS already," she
said. 

Sommarstrom emphasized that the water trust seeks to benefit the fish
without hurting other water users - the farmers and ranchers who are
irrigating their crops of pasture and alfalfa, and watering their livestock.

"We don't want to take land out of production permanently. I know that's
been an issue in some other states," she said.

Black, who is also a rancher in the area, agreed.

"Agriculture is the main economy in this valley and is the only answer to
protect existing open space from development. The intent of the RCD is to
find local solutions that demonstrate agriculture can and will be the best
economy for the environment and community. The water trust is an extension
of that belief."

Even though it's a community-based effort, Black called the response from
both the ag and environmental communities "mixed." While some
environmentalists don't feel it goes far enough, some water users are
concerned about the risk associated with having less water available.

Black said many people think the effort's intent is to increase water flows
into the Klamath River. "That is entirely not the intent and is not
possible," he said.

The trust's water transactions will have "minimal to no influence" on the
Klamath, he said, and its goals include addressing fishery and water quality
issues within the Scott River watershed only.

Water trusts are a new concept in California, said Sommarstrom. "When we are
formalized, we will be the first water trust in California, as far as I
know."

The concept has already been adopted in Oregon, Washington state, Colorado
and Montana, she said.

A critical step in transferring water to instream uses, for the short- or
long-term, is state approval, a process that both Black and Sommarstrom
report has been very slow.

Sommarstrom and Black said that there are already a few instream
transactions before the State's Water Resources Control Board's Division of
Water Rights, which hasn't approved them yet. One of the transactions has
been waiting for approval for 16 months, said Black.

Part of the issue, Sommarstrom said, may be that the instream water transfer
concept is so new to the state that officials don't know how to handle it
and staffing is limited.

"This process is regulatorily strangled," Black said. "The community is
proactively trying to do the right thing for fish and water quality and the
process won't allow us do what agencies and interest groups continually ask
of us."

Going forward, Sommarstrom said, building relationships will be key to the
effort. They're calling this a water trust with a capital T, she said, but
what will be essential is to establish trust - with a small t - within the
Scott River watershed community. 

KLAMATH RIVER:

Klamath Basin Dam Removal Will Restore Habitat for Endangered Fish

News Release, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation - 2/6/07

Contacts: Jeffery McCracken, 916-978-5100

In a major step toward recovering endangered fish in the Klamath Basin,
Interior's Bureau of Reclamation has awarded a nearly $9 million contract to
remove Chiloquin Dam, which would open 80 miles of spawning habitat on the
Sprague River in southern Oregon.

"In cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Reclamation awarded
the contact to the Slayden Construction Group of Stayton, Oregon, on
February 5, 2007," said Kirk Rodgers, Regional Director of Reclamation's
Mid-Pacific Region. "The removal of Chiloquin Dam and construction of a new
pumping plant for delivery of irrigation water represents another major
milestone in President Bush's commitment to Klamath Basin restoration."

"Restoring access to this habitat on a tributary above Upper Klamath Lake
will enable the endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers to migrate
upstream to historical spawning areas in the Sprague River watershed," said
Steve Thompson, Manager of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
California/Nevada Operations Office.  "This is a significant step in helping
to restore the traditional fishery for the Klamath Indian Tribes, which have
reserved fishing rights in the area."

Chiloquin Dam, 220 feet wide and 11 feet high, is located on the Sprague
River about 30 miles north of Klamath Falls, Oregon.  The dam was built by
the U.S. Indian Service in 1914 to divert water for use by the Modoc Point
Unit of the Klamath Indian Reservation.  Ownership of the dam was
transferred to the Modoc Point Irrigation District in 1973. The project will
also construct a new pumping plant on the Williamson River to provide an
alternate means to deliver irrigation water to the Modoc Point Irrigation
District.

In June 2005, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a Biological Opinion
supporting the Bureau of Indian Affairs' proposal to remove the dam.  In
September 2005, the BIA completed an Environmental Assessment which analyzed
the environmental impacts of the various alternatives. 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs' proposed construction schedule will be carried
out over 2 years.  During the first phase, the new pumping plant will be
constructed from July to December 2007.  During the second phase, the dam
will be removed from July 2008 to December 2008.  

The contractor is expected to start on-site mobilization in May 2007.  Under
an agreement, Reclamation will serve as the contracting entity and provide
construction management services to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Byron Leydecker

Friends of Trinity River, Chair

California Trout,Inc., Advisor

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 ph

415 383 9562 fx

 <mailto:bwl3 at comcast.net> bwl3 at comcast.net

 <mailto:bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org> bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org
(secondary)

http:// <http://www.fotr.org> www.fotr.org

http:// <http://www.caltrout.org> www.caltrout.org 

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