[env-trinity] Young fish die as water laws go unenforced

[Tom Stokely]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/06/22/MN158255.DTL
Young fish die as water laws go unenforced
Ranchers' cooperation threatened
Glen Martin, Tom Stienstra, Chronicle Staff Writers

Friday, June 22, 2001

Irrigation by ranchers is decimating salmon and steelhead populations on California's second biggest river system, and Department of Fish and Game officials acknowledge they are not implementing a tough state law that could stop the diversions. 

Ranchers have diverted most of the flow of the Scott and Shasta Rivers in Siskiyou County to irrigate alfalfa fields and pastures, leaving thousands of young salmon and steelhead without enough water and facing imminent death. 

State game wardens generally are disposed to citing the diverters under Fish and Game Code 5937, which requires dam owners to maintain water in state streambeds sufficient to keep fish healthy. 

But agency officials say they are being told not to cite offenders out of concern that cooperative restoration projects between the state and ranchers on the Scott and Shasta Rivers would end instantly if the law were enforced. 

The controversy points out difficulties with cooperative programs between government agencies and private parties. Though such agreements can help resolve thorny environmental problems, they may also inhibit agencies from cracking down on private sector partners. 

Warden Renie Cleland said he was told to back off from citing ranchers on the Scott and Shasta rivers. 

"This has gone all the way to Sacramento," said Cleland. "It's extremely politically sensitive. I was told to take no enforcement action on it. These fish are dying. We've got five or six thousand steelhead trout dead on the Scott, and (dead juvenile steelhead) everywhere on the Shasta." 

MAJOR KLAMATH TRIBUTARIES
The Scott and Shasta are major tributaries of the Klamath River, which is second only to the Sacramento River in its dimensions and the number of fish it supports. 

The Klamath and its tributaries once supported hundreds of thousands of chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead trout. Their numbers began declining in the mid-20th century from dams, agricultural irrigation and timber harvesting. By the mid-1980s, only a few thousand fish were left -- mostly on the Scott and Shasta. 

During the past decade, efforts to screen agricultural pump intakes, reduce soil erosion, restore riparian forests and transport fish trapped in "dewatered" streambeds have bolstered the fish populations somewhat. 

WATER RIGHTS FROM THE 1930S 

But conflict between environmentalists and ranchers over diversions has simmered for years. Ranchers exercising water rights adjudicated in the 1930s typically lower the rivers through irrigation during the summer. 

This year, a severe local drought has greatly increased the degree of the problem. The Scott has been sucked dry, and the Shasta reduced to a trickle at its juncture with the Klamath. 

Temperatures in the river have reached or exceeded the level considered lethal for salmon species, which favor cold water. Thousands of fish have died, and thousands of others face imminent death, making the pumping a clear violation of Code 5937. 

"Everything has died," said Fish and Game Captain Chuck Konvalin of the Scott River. "The system has been dried up." Konvalin, who heads a team of wardens who operate in the north state, says their superiors are reigning them in. 

"This thing is out of whack," said Konvalin. "I get my orders." 

Gary Stacey, a fisheries program director for Fish and Game who oversees projects in the Klamath area, said enforcing Code 5937 would "slam the door" on meaningful restoration programs along the Scott and Shasta, which cost $25 million a year. 

"All our current programs depend on landowner cooperation," he said. "That would all stop immediately if we pulled the trigger. And the process involved in filing and prosecuting a case like this could take years -- years the fish don't have. 

"By taking strong law enforcement action, we could simply be assuring that the (fish) populations would wink out." 

COOPERATIVE EFFORTS
Ranchers confirm they would scrap all cooperative ventures with the state if they were cited by game wardens, and say they are guaranteed diversion rights by court rulings made decades ago. 

Gary Black, who diverts Scott River water to irrigate alfalfa and wheat on his 240-acre farm, said ranchers would respond to voluntary incentives to improve fish populations but would resist government fiat. 

"We're looking for win-win situations," said Black, who helps direct a local resource conservation district that promotes fish-friendly agricultural methods. "I've worked with more than half the farmers in the Scott Valley. Everyone is willing to do their part for fishery protection -- the question becomes how far is too far." 

Still, "flows remain the number one issue, and this is a good time to sit down and talk," Black said. "That will work better around here than getting out the citation book." 

E-mail the writers at glenmartin at sfchronicle.com and tstiesntra at sfchronicle.com. 



This article appeared on page A - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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