State water board will hold hearing on Karuk and PCFFA petition to set minimum flows for Scott River
Happy Camp, California – Responding to a petition by the Karuk Tribe and a commercial fishing group to set and enforce a minimum flow standard for the Scott River, the State Water Resources Control Board has set a public hearing for August 15, 2023 in Sacramento.
The Tribe and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) filed the petition on May 23. They are represented by the Environmental Law Foundation.
The Scott River, a major tributary of the Klamath River, is habitat for fall-run Chinook, coho salmon, steelhead and Pacific lamprey. The fish have been hard hit by irrigation diversions that routinely dry up the river every summer, leaving the fish in stranded pools and prevent them from migrating upriver to the spawning grounds.
The Scott supports most of the remaining ESA listed Southern Oregon-Northern California Coho left in the world, according to the Tribe.
“Historically, the Scott River Valley contained a wetland complex engineered by beavers that caused it to be called Beaver Valley by settlers,” said Craig Tucker, a natural resources consultant for the Karuk Tribe. “It had a lot of physical characteristics that make it an ideal place for coho. The river was channelized and diked, but the majority of coho remaining in the Klamath remaining use the Scott at some point in their life history.”
The petitioners say they are attempting a new approach at regulating instream flows by petitioning the State Water Board for a rulemaking process.
“The petition is brought under the Petition Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and article I, section 3 of the California Constitution, both of which permit citizens to petition the government for redress of grievances,” said Tucker. “Upon receipt of such a request, the agency has 30 days to either schedule the matter for a hearing or deny the petition in writing, with reasons given for any such denial. If adopted, this would be the first permanent year-round stream flow regulation that has been established in this manner.”
The same process was used to regulate winter diversions in the Russian River watershed a few years ago.
“If this works, I hope it sets a precedent that can be applied to streams all around the state,” said Tucker.
“California native fisheries are in trouble,” emphasized Tucker. “We’re going to lose fish populations all over the state in our lifetime if we don’t figure out a way to keep water in our rivers.”
Troy Hockaday, Karuk Tribe Council Member and traditional dip net fishermen, emphasized the key role the Scott plays in stopping the extinction of coho salmon in California.
“The fate of this population of coho salmon depends on whether or not we keep water in the Scott River,” said Hockaday. “If we don’t act immediately, we could see this run of coho salmon disappear from the earth in a few short years.”
The Karuk Tribe doesn’t have federal fishing rights at this time, but has a permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to take salmon in traditional dip nets below Ishi Pishi Falls on the Klamath.
In August 2021, the State Water Board adopted an emergency regulation implementing drought emergency minimum flows for the Scott and Shasta Rivers. The Board re-adopted the emergency regulation in June 2022. The current emergency regulation expires on August 1, 2023.
The current petition is aimed at making flow protections for imperiled salmon permanent. The flows are based on the best available science, including recommendations by CDFW biologists, according to Tucker.
“Even in wet years like this one, summer flows in the Scott are much lower today than they were in the driest of summers before the expansion of groundwater pumping which began in the 1980s,” commented PCFFA Director Glenn Spain in a press statement. “Dewatering streams like the Scott is a key factor in the decline of California’s salmon fisheries and it has cost commercial salmon fishing families thousands of jobs.”
A dramatic increase in unregulated groundwater pumping since 1980 has left the Scott River bone dry in long stretches in most summers, “creating a crisis for salmon and the communities that depend on them for culture, subsistence, and jobs,” according to the petitioners. They said the water is “used almost exclusively to grow alfalfa.”
Scott Valley water rights were defined in a 1980 adjudication. However, the petitioners noted that most of the Valley was not included in the decree and thus, most of the water use there is not regulated at all.
“The adjudication failed to include most of the land in the valley where all the new wells were drilled,” explained Spain. “If you visit the Scott River in the late summer, you will find a dry riverbed surrounded by emerald green fields of alfalfa. Farmers literally pump the river dry, leaving fish stranded in puddles.”
Karuk Council Member Kenneth Brink highlighted the current crisis in salmon populations on the Klamath and Sacramento River watersheds that resulted in the closure of salmon fisheries in the state this year.
“Look at what is happening to California’s fisheries right now,” said Brink. “The recreational and commercial fishing seasons are completely shut down and tribes are choosing not to fish for their own subsistence because our salmon runs are at their breaking point. California must act aggressively to protect what’s left of our native salmon runs before it’s too late.”
The California Fish and Game Commission recently funded $20 million in restoration projects in the Scott and neighboring Shasta River, the petitioners noted.
The Yurok Tribe, CalTrout and Farmers Ditch Company this month signed an agreement that they say “envisions a future where salmon populations and family farms both flourish in the Scott River Valley,” according to a press statement from the Yurok Tribe: kymkemp.com/…
“The Yurok Tribe initiated this unique partnership in an effort to develop cooperative, mutually beneficial solutions that help the Scott River’s salmon runs recover,” said Yurok Tribal Council Member Ryan Ray. “We believe that strong fish runs and resilient ranching operations can coexist in the Scott River Valley. This agreement establishes the necessary framework to make it happen.”
The CDFW is funding the $7 million Scott River Tailings Reach Watershed Restoration Project.
“We applaud California’s effort to fund restoration projects and we earnestly thank participating landowners,” said Karuk Chairman Russell ‘Buster’ Attebery. “But at the end of the day, we must have water in the river for any of this restoration to work.”
Attebery said the Karuk Tribe said it is “committed to restoring the fisheries that sustained their ancestors for countless generations while commercial fishermen want to protect their jobs.”
“The Klamath Basin is one of the most ecologically diverse places in America. It is a complex system that requires care and balance that has not been seen in a long time. The fish have taken care of us through good times and bad times since time immemorial. We are obligated to do the same for them,” concluded Attebery.
The State Water Resources Control Board is now accepting public comments on a Petition for Rulemaking to Set Minimum Flows on the Scott River in Siskiyou County. Written comments must be submitted by no later than 12:00 noon on July 20, 2023.
The State Water Board will hold a public hearing to receive oral comments from interested parties and the general public on the Petition for Rulemaking to Set Minimum Flows on the Scott River. The hearing will be conducted as part of the August 15, 2023, State Water Board meeting.
The location and start time of the Board meeting is: Tuesday, August 15, 2023
9:30 AM, Joe Serna Jr. CalEPA Headquarters Building Coastal Hearing Room
1001 I Street, Second Floor Sacramento, CA 95814.
The agenda for the Board meeting will be available on the Board’s 2023 Board Schedule/Calendar webpage no later than August 4, 2023.
VIDEO AND TELECONFERENCE PARTICIPATION
The public hearing will occur with an option for the public to participate in person or remotely. For information on how you may watch or actively participate in the meeting remotely, go to: www.waterboards.ca.gov/…
