As a precursor to possible legislation, lawmakers reviewed the impact of marijuana farms in the state on rivers and fish. At a hearing at the State Capitol, members of the State Senate Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture heard from a wide range of experts on the extent of problems in the state. “Marijuana is literally sucking rivers dry,” said Mike McGuire, a Healdsburg Democrat and committee member, adding that the pot growers have a disregard for the environment in favor of personal profit. (See “The Good Fight” column in the July/August 2017 California Fly Fisher for information on water demands.)
Environmental problems with pot farms documented by state agencies include clear-cutting trees, constructing illegal dams, diverting large amounts of water from streams, creating illegal campsites, building unlawful roads, abandoning barrels of chemicals, and polluting rivers and streams with trash and toxic materials. In addition, the pot growers sometimes threaten outdoor enthusiasts who inadvertently wander near their growing sites.
At the hearing, lawmakers reviewed the extent of grow operations and the problems created by the 50,000 small pot farms in the state. Problems resulting from the sites are more pronounced along California’s North Coast and especially in Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity Counties — the area known as the Emerald Triangle, the largest cannabis-producing region in the world. DeWayne Little of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) enforcement team said several major rivers are at or near historic lows, including the Van Duzen and Eel Rivers and Redwood and Trinity Creeks. His team hypothesized that these reductions in water are being caused by illegal diversions by grow operations, new and poorly constructed ponds, and improper road construction. Chuck Bonham, director of CDFW, has said that the water diversions could exacerbate a decline in runs of coho salmon and steelhead, which have been struggling to recover from the 2014 drought that caused a 95 percent mortality of salmon in the Sacramento River.
A seven-member team from the State Water Board visited nearly 100 grow sites and issued one fine for $300,000, five cleanup and abatement orders, and a number of minor violations notices, said Thomas Howard, executive director of the board. Reuters News Service reported that some officials say grow areas are comparable to Superfund sites, and they estimate cleanup could cost $100 million, which might be a conservative estimate.
As the hearing was underway at the capitol, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) released a report saying that thousands of acres of California wildlife habitat along rivers have been turned into toxic waste dumps by illegal marijuana farming. According to the USFS, federal lands in the state contain 731,000 pounds of solid fertilizer, 491,000 ounces of concentrated liquid fertilizer, and 200,000 ounces of toxic pesticides as the result of pot-growing operations. The data were collected by USFS staff members, who documented the impact of marijuana-growing areas after visiting the sites. The recent USFS findings show that the forests contain 41 times more solid fertilizers and 80 times more liquid fertilizer than was found when the USFS investigators did a prior survey in 2013. Use of any chemicals in national forests is against federal law, because pesticides have killed sensitive species, and fertilizers can cause algae blooms and bacteria problems in rivers and streams. Some chemicals are so toxic that a quarter-teaspoon can kill a bear.
As reported by Reuters, USFS data show that because of the expense and danger of cleanup, there is a backlog of 630 illegal marijuana farms awaiting restoration in California. Cleanup involves removing the marijuana plants and restoring land, which often means hauling toxic materials out of remote forest areas. And many more grow sites exist on private land than on USFS land, governmental officials have said.
Californians legalized recreational marijuana use with the passage of Proposition 64 in November 2016. Marijuana is illegal under federal law, causing a challenging situation for law enforcement.
The McCloud–New Zealand Fish Connection
It’s a small world indeed. The solution to restoring the endangered salmon in the McCloud River may be found on the other side of the world, in New Zealand. Members of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe of California have been working to restore the river’s wild, genetically pure strain of winter-run chinook salmon, whose numbers have plummeted. Some time ago, the tribe was contacted by a New Zealand professor who asked, “We have your fish. Do you want them back?” In the late 1800s and early 1900s, salmon eggs were taken from the McCloud and sent to rivers around the world, including New Zealand. The tribe has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $85,000 to hire staff and a biologist and to pay for administrative and other costs of bringing the salmon from New Zealand to California. They are also raising $25,000 to pay for tribal youth to take part in the salmon restoration effort.
State Budget Has Mercury Cleanup Funds
California’s 2017–2018 state budget, which was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, contains $14.16 million to protect water quality and to abate mercury contamination left over from historic mining activities in the Sierra Nevada. The budget contains $6.16 million to fund a project by the Nevada Irrigation District at the Combie Reservoir on the Bear River. The work involves removing and treating mercury-laden sediment that has accumulated behind the dam. The budget also appropriates $8 million to implement a remediation plan being developed at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park in Nevada County.
Proposed Sportfishing License Changes
Senate Bill 187, introduced by Senator Tom Berryhill, R-Modesto, would change the way the one-year period applies for sportfishing licenses for those 16 and older. Under SB-187, the sportfishing license would run a full year rather than the remainder of the calendar year after the date of purchase. Assembly Bill 478, introduced by Assembly Member Marie Waldron, R-Escondido, would raise the age when a sportfishing license is needed from 16 to 18, encouraging young people to fish. Both measures are working their work through the legislative committee process.
Santa Maria River Lawsuit to Protect Steelhead
Conservation groups have sued a water district over operation of the Twitchell Dam on the Santa Maria River in Southern California for failure to support steelhead migrations. Attorneys for Los Padres Forest Watch and San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper are arguing in court that the dam’s owners are not protecting the steelhead. Dams must be operated in a way that protects and sustains downstream fish, according to the California Fish and Game Code. The Santa Maria, like many Southern California rivers, is dry much of the year. On average, the wide, sandy channel lacks water 90 percent of the time, and some dry periods have stretched to three years.
CalTrout Opposes Federal Resolution on Managing Water
California Trout has sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose a resolution overhauling the way water is managed in the state. House Resolution 23, which is sponsored by Representative David Valadao (R-Hanford), would rewrite aspects of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA), which was approved after lengthy negotiations and which protects and restores the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and its extensive watersheds. The CVPIA was signed into law in 1992 and includes 10 areas of protection, including providing 800,000 acre-feet of water annually for fish and wildlife.
In a letter to Congress and its own members, CalTrout said it strongly urges them to oppose HR-23 because it is “gutting critical environmental protections” by overriding the Endangered Species Act and threatening endangered fish. CalTrout said HR-23 would eviscerate the 1992 CVPIA’s 10 broad areas of protection, which mandate in-stream flows to benefit salmon and which fund habitat restoration projects that help to mitigate the adverse effects of the Central Valley Project and its water diversions. The resolution would result in “increasing the risk that winter-run Chinook salmon and other native fish species are driven extinct,” the CalTrout letter said.
Delta Tunnel Lawsuits
The latest version of the California water wars is heating up. That’s because the list of public and private agencies opposing Governor Brown’s proposal to build two 40-foot-wide tunnels to divert water around the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta is growing. The Delta encompasses 1,100 square miles in five counties, supports a $5 billion agriculture industry, and supplies water for 25 million Californians.
Sacramento County is the latest agency to sue the state over the negative impact on fish and wildlife by the $16.7 billion project. Under the governor’s proposal, which has been called “California WaterFix,” the underground tunnels would divert Sacramento River water to the export pumps at Tracy. The county’s lawsuit, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, joins others filed by the Placer County Water Agency, the Cities of Stockton and Antioch, and a coalition of commercial fishing groups.
Specifically, the suit says the project’s plans violate the California Environmental Quality Act by “rendering almost 700 acres of county farmland unusable” during the 13-year construction period. After construction is complete, the suit argues that water flowing through the Delta will be degraded, further threatening fish and wildlife.
These latest lawsuits are the second round to be filed challenging the project. The first round of suits was filed in June after federal officials said the proposal would not jeopardize endangered smelt and chinook salmon. Following that ruling, lawsuits were filed by the Golden Gate Salmon Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Defenders of Wildlife, and The Bay Institute. These suits argue the project violates the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
The latest suits have been filed as the state’s most powerful water agencies set a deadline for a decision on whether they will pay for the two tunnels. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will vote in September on whether to pay for its portion of the project. The decision will come following more than a decade of planning and studies costing nearly a quarter of a billion dollars.
California is Angling Hot Spot
A recent survey by the American Sportfishing Association found that California ranked in the top three in the nation as a recreational angling hot spot. The state was given that ranking because it has 2.7 million anglers. Texas was first, in the ranking with 3.1 million anglers, and Florida came in second with 2.73 million. Angling in California generated $2.31 billion in sales, which also landed the state third place nationally, according to 2011 data. Florida led with $4.06 billion in sales, followed by New York at $2.41 billion.
Northern Pike Caught in Nevada Lake
Nevada game wardens are trying to figure out how northern pike got into Comins Lake, a popular fishing location near the Great Basin National Park. The Nevada Department of Wildlife is offering a $10,000 reward to help arrest the lawbreaker. The reward money has been donated by several sporting groups. According to the department, the lake was well on its way to becoming a prime fishery after being stocked with largemouth bass and brown and rainbow trout.
An angler caught the pike in the remote lake and reported it to wildlife officials. Since that initial report, five more pike have been caught.
Pike were illegally planted in and successfully eradicated from California’s Lake Davis in 2007 following extensive poisoning operations. No pike have been caught in that lake since then.
Safe Boating Exam, Certificate
What is a strainer in a river? Is it (a) the rock bed; (b) an obstacle the current moves through; (c) an area where the current reverses direction; or (d) a bridge abutment? This is one of some 60 questions boaters must answer correctly to earn a boating safety certificate under a program managed by the California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW). Having a certificate will become a legal requirement as the program is implemented in the next few years. The certificate also could be good for discounts on boat insurance
While boaters can take the safety exam now, the DBW won’t issue official boating safety cards to those who pass until January 1, 2018. On that date, persons 20 years of age and younger must hold a card in order to operate a motorized vessel on state waterways. Each year after January 2018, an older age group will be added to those who are required to possess a valid card. By 2025, all persons who operate a motorized vessel on California waters will be required to have one. Once issued, the card remains valid for a boat operator’s lifetime. For more information, go to http://dbw.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=29373. (The answer to the question above is (b). According to one boating safety course book, “a strainer is an obstacle that the current flows through. Willows, fallen trees or brushy plants are common examples.” Not to brag or anything, but this writer received a passing score of 57 out of 60 on the exam.)
Record Crappie Caught at Castro Valley’s Lake Chabot
A record black crappie weighing 2.34 pounds was caught in mid-August by an angler using an undisclosed lure (presumably not a fly). He had rented a boat and was fishing between Coots Landing and Alder Point. After catching the record fish, he released it back into the lake.
Lake Chabot is a 315-acre impoundment in Castro Valley that is stocked with trout and catfish. It also is known for its bass and crappie. More about the lake’s fisheries and boat rentals can be found at lakechabotrecreation.com.
