Contact: David Katz, TU California Director, 707.543.5877 Chuck Bonham, TU California Counsel, 510-528-4164 Roger Foote, 707 462-5734/Park Steiner 707 462-5110, Peregrine Audubon Society

NEWS RELEASE: October 28, 2004

Conservation Groups Petition State Water Board to Address Water Usage from Rivers in Northern California

Trout Unlimited and Audubon Society say that current system is dysfunctional and negatively impacts water users and fish and wildlife alike

Santa Rosa, Calif. -- Two California conservation groups have asked the California State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) to address the inadequate regulation of water withdrawals in streams from San Francisco Bay north to the Mattole River.

"This petition was filed to bring some sense of consistency and wise management to the use of water from northern California's streams and rivers.  It is designed to move a process forward that will, in the long term, benefit both the region's communities and those species that depend on adequate flows in those waters," said Chuck Bonham, TU's California Counsel and Director of its California Water Project.

There are roughly 276 applications for new water rights pending before the Water Board in watersheds in the north coast communities.  Many of these are in the Russian River and Navarro River watersheds.  The number of total pending applications in total in all of Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Humboldt counties could be even higher.  Records also show that there are at least 1,406 existing water diversions within the Russian River watershed in just Mendocino and Sonoma counties alone. 

Bonham said currently there is no coordinated inter- or intrastate agency policy or procedure to deal with the onslaught of applications or for making complicated water allocation decisions that adequately consider demand while balancing the needs of fish and wildlife.  Consequently, many of the water right applications have been before the Water Board for more than 10 years without a single final agency decision. 

David Katz, TU's California Director, said the petition asks the Water Board to lead a workshop process to create a system whereby order and balance will be brought back to the water allocation process. "One of the reasons why we pursued this approach rather than legal action is because we believe that, with the leadership of the Water Board, the stakeholders should be able to develop workable solutions that address water demand and the needs of fish and wildlife.”

The organizations say they welcome all legitimate stakeholder views and their participation; including landowners, farmers, water agencies, local, state and federal agencies, environmentalists and people who want to protect fish. 

“Clearly, water allocation decisions matter to the entire community.  The solutions to these problems are well within the administrative discretion of the relevant agencies and local authorities, and we are confident that lasting, stakeholder-driven solutions can be found for fish and the broader community,” said Roger Foote, President of the Peregrine Chapter of the National Audubon Society, in Mendocino County.

California's north coast counties were once home to vibrant populations of native steelhead and coho salmon populations, all of which are in dramatic decline.  The fisheries are now subject to the Endangered Species Act because of their threatened status.  Today, coho salmon populations are estimated at only 6-15 percent of their abundance during the 1940s, and coho abundance has declined at least 70 percent since the 1960s.

“We owe it to the next generation to bring more focus and thought to our water management decisions and systems in our north coast counties.  That goal should be common to everyone and is really nothing more than requesting good government and a vision to achieve it,” said Bonham.

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Get PDF of SWRCB Notice and petitioners' written statement at 3/17/05 workshop

Trout Unlimited is the nation's largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization with approximately 130,000 members nationwide, including 10,000 Californians.  The organization works to protect and restore California's salmon and steelhead resources in streams along the northern coast.  Its members are involved in dozens of on-the-ground restoration projects and partnerships with agencies and stakeholders in the state. 

National Audubon Society's Peregrine Chapter of Mendocino County was founded in 1982 and it works to actively promote the preservation of birds, wildlife and their natural habitats in Mendocino.  Peregrine has more than 200 family and individual members in the county, and is part of the National Audubon Society structure of 500 chapters and 550,000 members nationwide.  Peregrine has worked over the last twenty years on local community based efforts to implement habitat conservation and restoration projects in Mendocino County.

For Immediate Release: October 1 , 2004

Trout Unlimited Applauds Decision of Governor Schwarzenegger to Sign Measure to Protect Northern California Streams

Albany, CA -- The decision of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign legislation yesterday designed to protect northern California streams will have significant positive affects on the health of fragile salmon and trout population in the state, according to the conservation organization Trout Unlimited.

The legislation, AB 2121, requires the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to produce guidelines and principles to maintain instream flows in coastal streams in northern California from the Mattole River to San Francisco Bay and streams entering northern San Pablo Bay.  Presently, the SWRCB does not have the administrative tools necessary to adequately determine how much water should remain instream for salmon and steelhead.

“The decision of the Governor to sign AB 2121 demonstrates his commitment to helping to protect salmon and trout populations in northern California.  We share his clear belief that some semblance of order is necessary to make sure that the region's streams are not sucked dry, the fate that has met many streams and rivers throughout the West,” said Chuck Bonham, the director of Trout Unlimited's California Water Office, which was instrumental in designing and passing AB 2121.

Bonham said the legislation was necessary because there are approximately 276 applications pending before the SWRCB for new water permits.  Without guidelines, the Board has no way to determine whether enough water is available to permit new diversions and how much is needed for threatened salmon and steelhead populations. 

In addition, many of the pending applications have been stuck in an administrative limbo.  The Board has not acted on many of them in the last decade and most have been pending for at least five years. 

“The process is clearly not working – a problem that will hopefully be remedied by the Governor's signature on AB 2121,” Bonham said.

AB 2121 requires adoption of guidelines for the SWRCB before January 1, 2007.  It gives the Board the discretion to develop and adopt guidelines that include reasonable flexibility.  Most importantly, the Board will have the discretion to receive stakeholder input.

Dateline: September 13, 2004

TU responds to federal hatchery policy and proposed listing decisions

In June, NOAA Fisheries released its hatchery policy and updated listing proposals for 27 salmon and steelhead in the West. As expected, the policy and the proposed decisions blur the important distinctions between hatchery fish and wild, native salmon, and the differences between rainbow trout and migratory steelhead. In a further step, NOAA Fisheries proposes to maintain Endangered Species Act protection for all 27 species (or ESUs). But because of the proposed hatchery policy, the protections include over 70% of the hatchery populations and all rainbow trout below artificial barriers – fish that in most cases few people would say need protections.

The proposed listing determination confirms what Trout Unlimited and others have been saying all along, that the wild fish up and down the coast are still in peril.   There is no getting around the evidence that the future for salmon and steelhead is bleak and they need help to recover.  However, the proposed hatchery policy is in essence a Trojan horse that will undoubtedly weaken, or worse undermine, the listings in the near future.

The proposed hatchery policy has two basic flaws. First, it ignores the volumes of peer-reviewed and other science that identifies biological (genetic and behavioral) differences between hatchery and wild fish.

Second, the proposed hatchery policy makes it easier to delist salmon and steelhead simply because of the hatchery populations. The proposed hatchery policy allows the agency to substitute concrete raceways for clean flowing rivers. The ultimate question is how much? The agency has said that a population of 100% hatchery fish is not recovery. But they have also said, in an abrupt about face and in complete contradiction to the law, that fish don't have to be completely recovered in wild to take them off the Endangered Species Act. This subjective standard has very little to do with biology and very much to do with politics. TU is very skeptical that the 27 species of salmon and steelhead will remain protected for long. They are also applying this same logic to resident rainbow trout with regards to steelhead protections.

The most frustrating aspect of these proposed policies is that the agency had a choice to do it the right way. Contrary to NOAA's public statements, a judge did not tell them to lump hatchery and wild fish. In fact, the judge told them that they could separate hatchery and wild fish into different ESUs and just list the wild fish. The conservation community, lead by TU, asked the agency to do just that in a number of listing petitions. In the proposals, NOAA Fisheries denied the petitions with little to no explanation.

The main purpose of the Endangered Species Act is to provide a means to protect threatened and endangered species in their natural ecosystems. The NOAA proposals are a far cry from that purpose and will have a potentially devastating effect on salmon and steelhead management and their habitat in the West.  In the worse case scenario, delisting of these fish for the wrong reasons could result in their ultimate extinction.

We still have a chance to change the course of history. NOAA Fisheries will be accepting comment through October 20th on the proposed hatchery and listing policies. We can avoid the ongoing and expected future litigation if we can convince NOAA Fisheries that this is a bad policy for fish and for us and the right policy is in the hands of their scientists.  NOAA is holding a series of public meeting to get feedback on the policy. We need as many TU members as possible to testify at these meetings.

Wed. Sept. 22nd 6:30-9:30pm North Coast Inn, Arcata, CA
Thurs. Sept. 23rd 6:30-9:30 pm Double Tree Hotel Sonoma Wine Country, Rohnert Park, CA
Tuesday Sept. 28th 6:30-9:30 pm Best Western Hilltop, Redding CA
Tuesday Sept. 28th 6:30-9:30 pm Monterey Beach Resort, Monterey CA
Tuesday Oct. 12th 6:30-9:30 pm Radison Hotel Sacramento, Sacramento, CA
Tuesday Oct 12th 6:30-9:30 pm Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort, Santa Barbara, CA

Contact Kaitlin or David to find out more about what you can do.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             August 18, 2004

SACRAMENTO RIVER WATERSHED PROFILED IN TU REPORT: “SETTLED, MINED AND LEFT BEHIND”

Chronic pollution from abandoned mines merits inclusion in report; Serious ecological and public health impacts cited

Washington, DC – California's Sacramento River basin is one of 10 watersheds included in a report released today by the national conservation organization Trout Unlimited (TU) that illuminates the threats posed by abandoned hardrock mines to drinking water and fisheries throughout the West.

“This watershed is included in ‘Settled, Mined and Left Behind' not because it is the most polluted in the region,” said David Katz, TU California Director,"but because it holds the potential for progress, if people work together to address the long-ignored threats within them.”

“The Sacramento River could again be great,” said David Katz, TU California Director,"but we can no longer abide the insults it suffers from abandoned mines. And we are not talking only about the Iron Mountain site, which is widely known, but the hundreds if not thousands of smaller mine sites whose pollution persistently degrades the watershed.”

In its report, TU points to the significant portion of the 13,500 abandoned gold mines in California that are located in the Sacramento drainage. It explains,"The footprint left behind from so many hardrock mining sites is not subtle. Waste rock, tailings heaps, open pits, and shafts are just some of the reminders. The real problems occur, however, when rainwater and runoff mix with these sites, and then mix with metals and other throwaways from the mining process. The result is acid mine drainage discharging into surface and ground water, often leaving a great deal dead in its wake.”

The TU report also includes Utah's American Fork, Montana's Blackfoot, Colorado's Animas and Upper Arkansas, Oregon's Rogue, New Mexico's Red, Idaho's Salmon, and Washington's Kettle and Methow basins.

“The EPA estimates that 40 percent of the West's headwaters streams are affected by abandoned mines,” said Chris Wood, TU Vice President for Conservation Programs."Abandoned mines are the environmental equivalent of the crazy aunt in the attic – they're a huge problem about which no one wants to talk.”

TU is launching a major effort to clean up abandoned mines identified in the report. 

Trout Unlimited staff in Utah, Colorado and Montana will work with TU chapters, other anglers and local community leaders to help set priorities and secure sorely needed funding.

“Existing laws may actually create a disincentive for private entities such as TU to cleanup abandoned mines, and funding is woefully scarce for restoration efforts,” TU's Wood added."But significant progress can be made when people combine their efforts to restore the health of the lands and waters that sustain us.”

Please note:
“Settled, Mined and Left Behind” can be downloaded in PDF format from www.tu.org.   Hard copies of the report can be obtained by calling 703.284.9427.

Trout Unlimited is North America’s leading cold water fisheries conservation organization, dedicated to the conservation, protection and restoration of trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. The organization has more than 130,000 members in 450 chapters in North America. To learn more about TU, please visit: www.tu.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 25, 2004

NOAA AWARDS OVER $240,000 TO TROUT UNLIMITED

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a $241,250 grant to Trout Unlimited as part of a multi-project cooperative partnership to restore coastal and river fisheries habitats throughout the coastal United States. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The funding supports the creation of a three-year partnership between Trout Unlimited and the NOAA Restoration Center for habitat restoration projects that benefit commercial fisheries resources and recreational sportfish. The partnership will involve citizens working on local habitat restoration projects that benefit cold-water fisheries. Examples of projects include placing wood in spawning areas to allow resting habitat for spawning fish and removing out-dated dams to allow fish passage in freshwater spawning and rearing habitats.

“This partnership between NOAA and Trout Unlimited is a great example of a federal to local initiative that is critical to restoring important fisheries along our nation’s coasts,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “NOAA and the Bush Administration are working to improve the understanding of our environment and to strengthen local and regional initiatives in habitat restoration, protection and fishery development.”

This new partnership continues efforts that started in 2001. NOAA and Trout Unlimited have worked together to implement restoration projects on both a watershed scale and through Trout Unlimited’s Embrace-A-Stream program which funds Trout Unlimited chapters to implement restoration projects locally. Embrace-A-Stream projects have been funded in nine states, while watershed scale efforts have been implemented directly by Trout Unlimited in Maine and California.

“Trout Unlimited is extremely pleased in renewing our partnership with NOAA. In our previous collaborations, we've shown that we can make significant habitat improvements on a watershed-scale. We're looking forward to expanding our efforts with NOAA in restoring Atlantic and Pacific salmon and the fisheries that they support,” said Joe McGurrin, Trout Unlimited director of resources.

The NOAA Restoration Center uses a community-based restoration program to work with organizations and governments to support locally driven habitat restoration projects in marine, estuarine and riparian areas. NOAA funds on-the-ground habitat restoration projects that offer educational and social benefits for citizens and their communities and provide long-term ecological benefits for fishery resources. Since 1986, over 800 projects in 26 states have been implemented using NOAA funding and leveraged funding from national and regional habitat restoration partners. For more information on the Community Restoration Program, please visit: www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration.

Each year, NOAA awards approximately $900 million in grants to members of the academic, scientific and business communities to assist the agency in fulfilling its mission to study the Earth’s natural systems in order to predict environmental change, manage ocean resources, protect life and property, and provide decision makers with reliable scientific information. NOAA’s goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 34 years.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. To learn more about NOAA, please visit: www.noaa.gov

Trout Unlimited is North America’s leading cold water fisheries conservation organization, dedicated to the conservation, protection and restoration of trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. The organization has more than 130,000 members in 450 chapters in North America. To learn more about TU, please visit: www.tu.org

CSERC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 1, 2004   

ATTN: Environmental Editor/Reporter

Contact:
Chuck Bonham, California Counsel, Trout Unlimited: (510) 528-4164
John Buckley, Director, Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center: (209) 586-7440
Kelly Catlett, Hydro Policy Advocate, Friends of the River: (916) 442-3155 ext. 223
John Gangemi, Conservation Director, American Whitewater: (406) 837-3155
Jon Tremayne, Pacific Gas and Electric Company: (415) 973-5930

PUBLIC COLLABORATIVE GROUP SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES 4 YEAR EFFORT TO PROTECT AND RESTORE STANISLAUS RIVER

Stockton, CA - Conservation organizations, two electric utilities, resources agencies and other stakeholders have reached a landmark agreement that protects and restores the Stanislaus River and will ultimately lead to better conditions for wild trout, other aquatic species, and recreation, while continuing use of the river for hydropower generation and consumptive water supply.

The Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center (CSERC), Trout Unlimited (TU), Friends of the River (FOR), and American Whitewater (AW) joined with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Tri-Dam Project, the U.S. Forest Service, Tuolumne Utilities District and other stakeholders in agreeing to a final consensus-based package of natural resources conditions for PG&E and Tri-Dam's new federal licenses for their existing hydroelectric projects on the Stanislaus River, in the Central Sierra. Other state agencies like the California State Water Board and California Department of Fish and Game were instrumental in providing needed technical advice and expertise. The conditions were sent today to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), along with a formal request that FERC evaluate and adopt these natural resources conditions in new federal licenses for the hydroelectric projects anticipated to be issued early next year.

Over the course of nearly 200 days of meetings spread over four years, stakeholders representing a broad array of interests labored through dense technical studies and often emotional negotiations. "It is amazing what parties can accomplish when they focus on mutual gains, and much credit goes to PG&E and Tri-Dam for committing to a collaborative process," said CSERC's John Buckley.

 The Stanislaus River is one of the Central Sierra's most remarkable rivers. It is home to a state recognized wild trout fishery, and is a recreational destination for countless Californians. PG&E and Tri-Dam own and operate six large hydro dams and associated reservoirs spread across the Middle and South Forks of the Stanislaus River above New Melones Dam. These facilities largely control the streamflow in the river.

"Quite simply, by listening to and working with PG&E and Tri-Dam, the stakeholders produced a durable and comprehensive consensus package that we hope FERC will adopt since the needs for power generation and water supply, as well as ecological resources are met," said Chuck Bonham of Trout Unlimited.

The package of natural resources conditions which was agreed upon and sent to FERC includes: (1) an overall increase of minimum base streamflows; (2) an adaptive management plan to provide substantially increased streamflows in spring months for river restoration purposes like gravel and sediment movement; (3) a commitment to construct a screen to prevent fish entrainment at Sand Bar Diversion Dam; and, (4) increased recreational opportunities. "The complexities of two licensees and four simultaneous relicensing proceedings on the same river was an unprecedented challenge, but we all remained focused on reaching balanced, consensus solutions to resource issues, and we achieved something we can all be proud of," said David Moller PG&E's manager of hydro relicensing.

"The collaborative process clearly produced a win-win agreement, which meets stakeholders' fish, wildlife, and recreation goals while allowing PG&E and Tri-Dam to continue project operations in a beneficial manner," said Kelly Cattlet of Friends of the River. The settlement agreement will be submitted to FERC along with a request that it form the basis of PG&E and Tri-Dam's new hydro project licenses. "We hope that FERC approves these conditions because the agreement truly reflects stakeholder interests, which makes for a robust and durable package in all regards," stated Steve Felte of Tri-Dam.

California faces more relicensing of existing hydroelectric projects than any other state in the next decade. Over the next 15 years, hydroelectric project licenses covering approximately 150 dams will expire in the state. Trout Unlimited, Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, Friends of the River, and American Whitewater are members of the California Hydropower Reform Coalition, which was formed by conservation and recreational organizations in response to the numerous FERC relicensings in California. 

Trout Unlimited is the nation's leading coldwater fisheries conservation organization. CSERC works to defend the environment across the central region of the Sierra Nevada. Friends of the River is California's leading statewide river conservation organization. American Whitewater is the nation's largest whitewater boating organization.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 26, 2004

PacifiCorp Offers Little for Klamath Salmon

Portland, Oregon – On Tuesday, PacifiCorp submitted an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a new license for its Klamath River hydro project that proposes no significant measures to help recover beleaguered salmon runs. PacifiCorp, a wholly owned subsidiary of the multi-national power company Scottish Power (SPI - NYSE), operates a five-dam project with a capacity of 151MW that provides no flood control or water supply function.

The Klamath River used to be the third greatest salmon-producing river in the lower 48 states. Today, two salmon species are extirpated from the river, one is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and two others have been reduced to 10% of historic numbers.

“Since 1918, PacifiCorp’s dams have totally blocked salmon from reaching more than 150 miles of historic habitat. The company is requesting that they be allowed to continue to stand squarely in the way of salmon recovery for another 50 years,” said Steve Rothert of American Rivers.

For three years, conservation organizations, Native American tribes and federal and state agencies have invested countless hours in meeting with the company urging PacifiCorp to consider providing some form of fish passage, which could include trapping and hauling in trucks, fish ladders, fish lifts or even dam decommissioning. While modeling efforts are not yet completed to determine fish production potential above the dams, biologists familiar with the upper basin believe at least 100 miles of habitat would support salmon today. Yet, PacifiCorp’s application proposes no fish passage facilities.

“Federal law requires PacifiCorp to strike a balance between profit and river protection. This application appears to protect profit but not salmon restoration,” said Chuck Bonham of Trout Unlimited.

The submittal of PacifiCorp’s application begins a two-year process in which FERC will weigh the company’s proposal against the body evidence detailing project impacts and the potential for river restoration. Agencies, tribes and the public have an opportunity to submit further information on the project for consideration by FERC.

“We look forward to working with PacifiCorp and other stakeholders to strike a true balance between hydropower and salmon restoration”, said Curtis Knight of California Trout.

By March 2006, FERC must make a final determination on whether and under what conditions it will issue a new operating license.