September 2004 Conservation Notes
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San Joaquin Dam Ruled Illegal
I was going to comment in this space that August has been a slow month for conservation news. However, at the end of the month, a U.S. Federal Judge ruled that the U.S. government has illegally dried up California's second biggest river, the San Joaquin. The judge wrote in his ruling that "The Bureau [of Reclamation], by its own admission, releases no water for preservation of native fish." As a result, a large portion of the San Joaquin River is mostly dry from the Friant Dam to the point where the Merced River enters the San Joaquin. Plans for restoring the river are still to be determined, and you can be sure that the Central Valley irrigators will fight this tooth-and-nail.
You can read the details yourselves in this LA Times article or in the Sacramento Bee write-up. Thank you to all the PFF'ers who brought this major conversation ruling to my attention.
Salt Water Sport Anglers Catch More Than Thought
Although anglers are famous for their ability to over-exaggerate their catch, a new study in the journal Science reports that recreational fishermen landed 5 percent of fish over the last 20 years, and 23 percent of certain groups of fish whose numbers are shrinking. These percentages are higher than researchers originally expected. The New York Times summarizes the findings in this article.
CA DFG Releases Final Report on 2002 Klamath Salmon Kill
On 1 August, the DFG released its final report on the fateful 2002 salmon kill on the Klamath River. Primary blame for the disaster was placed on insufficient water releases from the Iron Gate Dam, resulting in warm and unhealthy water conditions for the fall-run chinook salmon. They also concluded that the number of fish killed may actually be as high as 80,000, substantially higher than the 34,000 originally estimated to have died. Summary and links to other refernces, including the final report, can be found at the Fish Sniffer conservation web page (look about 1/2 way down the page, number 10:01/02).
Tight Lines!
Rodney