Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to state that the State Water Board instructed staff to collect information on the flows and to make new emergency regulations for flows on the Scott and Shasta Rivers, the Water Board did not set minimum flows during the Aug. 15 meeting.
Last week, the state Water Board heard a petition to retain minimum water flows for the Scott River, a key Klamath tributary. The petition was brought by the Karuk Tribe, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and the Environmental Law Foundation. The board eventually directed staff to develop new emergency regulations as interim measures for flow minimums and get more information for “longer-term solutions” according to a summary sent by Ailene Voisin, information officer for the State Water Board.
The petitioners argue flows must be maintained to protect endangered salmon.
The meeting went late into the night and saw public commenters who traveled hours to Sacramento to speak.
“This is the first time that provision has been used to ask for a flow regulation, it’s really a result of nothing else working,” noted Craig Tucker, a natural resources consultant for the Karuk Tribe. He said that, in his mind, this is the best outcome of the petition.
The petition was filed in May and centered around an expected end to emergency drought minimums. The lapse began on Aug. 1, with water levels in both rivers dropping below these minimums since. In a presentation, water board staff noted that around Aug. 10, water levels on the Scott River dipped below the emergency drought minimums. On the Shasta River, flows immediately dropped below the minimum after the regulation expired.
At the meeting, Nathaniel Kane of the Environmental Law Foundation said he would like the board to move as fast as possible because of the water levels.
Some at the meeting asked instead for regulation to be set locally. Theo Johnson, who presented on behalf of the Scott Valley Agriculture Water Alliance, said awareness has grown in the area in the past couple of years, noting a letter had recently circulated among landowners that made up most of the irrigated acreage of the area, and said that local water reduction efforts have been made during recent years. Another person said there was a lack of data for fish counts and asked the board to wait until appropriate studies were completed before making the regulation.
Others who advocated for the regulation noted the importance of flows for fish health and spoke of the cultural importance of fisheries for nearby tribes and fishermen who are seeing a year with abysmally low salmon counts and a closed salmon fishery in California. The petition argues that agriculture, primarily the growing of alfalfa in Scott Valley, is taking too much water and causing the river to run dry. Tucker said that salmon are teetering on the brink of extinction and said that water users have had decades to take action, noting that this is not the first time this issue has been flagged.
“In front of us now we have the opportunity at restoration of the third largest salmon fishery on the West Coast. And while dam removal is a huge step towards restoration, improved water quality and quantity are necessary,” said Paul Robert Wolf Wilson during public comment.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife asked for similar action for the Shasta River, and the two issues were considered together in the meeting
“We are very pleased that the Water Board heard our concerns and is taking decisive action,” said Russell “Buster” Attebery, Karuk Tribal chairman, in a prepared statement. “I feel like the voice of tribal people is finally being heard.”
Sage Alexander can be reached at 707-441-0504.
