Public Trust Recommendations and The
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WINTER 2011 VOLUME 24, NO. 4 PACIFIC FOCUS San Joaquin Restoration ...................... 6 Opportunity on the Tuolumne River ...... 7 Deschutes Basin Assessment .............. 8 Frogs That Go With the Flow .............. 10 Bringing Spring Runoff Back ...............11 Restoration on the Trinity.................... 12 Signing River Hazards ........................ 14 2012 Symposium - In The Field .......... 18 RMS Chapter News ............................ 20 A Midwest Floating Classroom! .......... 22 Allocation Permits - A Parody ............. 25 RMS Enters Amicus Brief ................... 29 San Joaquin River looking north. Photo: Deanna Lynn Wulff Public Trust Recommendations and the Delta — Water, Conflict and Conservation by Deanna Lynn Wulff California’s Chinook salmon came square miles, is home to 750 species to federal and state pumps, which send the back this fall, due in part to good ocean of plants and animals, and is where the water south to farms and cities. conditions and abundant water, but the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers meet To address some of these problems, Delta, the largest estuary on the West and flow into the San Francisco Bay. It is the state government passed the Coast, is in critical condition. “Thirty- also where the state gets two-thirds of its Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform three species are endangered, and likely drinking water. California has more than Act in 2009. It required the State Water to go extinct within the next 25 to 50 1400 dams, a complex interconnected Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to years, if not sooner,” said Dr. Peter Moyle, network of canals, drainage ditches and develop, within nine months, flow criteria Associate Director of the UC Davis Center reservoirs, which divert water from the to protect public trust resources and a suite for Watershed Sciences. “Many of these Delta and move it once it’s there. of native fish. The Doctrine of Public Trust are salmon and trout species, and most of Not surprisingly, the primary reasons suggests that streams, lakes, rivers, the the species are found only in California, for species decline are water diversions Delta and coastal areas are jointly owned so they are part of our heritage. If they and excessive pumping in the estuary. The by the people and should be managed for disappear, they are lost, not only to San Joaquin River has often run dry, and reasonable and beneficial use for all. The California, but to the world, forever.” the Sacramento River, which once flowed board recommended the following Delta California’s Bay-Delta covers 1300 out into the Bay, is used to convey water inflow and outflow amounts: (continued on page 4) Thoughts from an Eddy River Management Society RMS Main Office Risa Shimoda, Executive Director I hope RMS bit of coaching and organizational support PO Box 5750, Takoma Park, MD 20913 Ph / Fax (301) 585-4677 members like for Andrew Maddox as he organized the [email protected] you feel pretty 2011 River Ranger Rendezvous. Trips in [email protected] good about the Midwest, Northwest, Northeast and what we’ve Southeast have offered fun and interesting National Officers accomplished professional education and training op- Steve Johnson, President Stillwater, MN (651) 436-1475 this year. We portunities throughout the year. have experi- RMS has also awakened to a need to Dennis Willis, Vice President Price, UT (435) 650-0850 mented with find new avenues through which we can new media, pursue and sustain our strategic mandate Elaine Mayer, Secretary learned from our experiences and identi- to offer training, certification, and profes- Ocean View, HI (808) 929-8400 fied opportunities to grow while execut- sional networking opportunities for river Lee Larson, Treasurer ing traditional programs. After hunkering managers. Guess what? They are out Sanford, NC (919) 498-1781 down to finish a Strategic Plan, RMS there! Look for announcements in future conducted the Wild and Scenic Rivers issues about the discoveries we are mak- Ex-Officio Advisors Gary G. Marsh Display Photo Contest and produced ing with some regularity that may one day Mountain City, TN (423) 768-3621 banner displays with welcome input from soon diversify our resources in support of Scott Boyer (Logan, UT) and many a RMS’ mission. Randy Welsh Ogden, UT (801) 625-5250 RMS member-photographer. We sup- New RMS Website — We will be ported the production of a first webinar for transitioning soon to a new website that Dave Ryan Missoula, MT (406) 728-4140 the Northeast Chapter and Northern Forest will allow us to provide more informa- Canoe Trail, as well as a second that has tion in a more friendly way to members Ken Ransford Basalt, CO (970) 927-1200 kicked off a workgroup that will develop and visitors. When the new site is live, an aquatic invasives signage system for we’ll send an announcement about the water trail users. site’s resources, ready to assist you in your RMS Listserve: [email protected] Our chapter trips and workshops role as a former, current or future river have crisscrossed the nation! We sup- professional. We believe that the site will Web Page Coordinator Cheston Crowser (406) 273-4747 ported the River Management Workshop become a more frequent friend, and look and 30th Annual International Submerged forward to sharing it with you.t Pro Deal Coordinator Scott Springer (541) 490-5289 Lands Conference driven by the talent and enthusiasm of members from the U.S. Fish Merchandise Coordinator and Wildlife Service, State of Alaska and Risa Shimoda Debbie Johnson (651) 436-1475 RMS Alaska Chapter. We also provided a Executive Director Listserve Archive Volunteer Jennifer MacDonald (541) 822-7234 2011 RMS Board of Directors meeting. Audubon Center of the North Woods, near Sandstone, Minnesota. RMS Journal Caroline Kurz (406) 549-0514 [email protected] RMS is a non-profit professional organization. All contributions and membership dues are tax-deductible. The mission of RMS is to support professionals who study, protect, and manage North America’s rivers. Editorial Policy: Articles are not edited for content and may not reflect the position, endorsement, or mission of RMS. The purpose of this policy is to encourage the free exchange of ideas concerning river management issues in an open forum of communication and networking among the RMS membership. Unless indicated, points of view are those of the author and not RMS. 2 RMS Journal From the President Your board of directors in October especially challenged by invasive plants Restructure the Board? completed work on the River Management and animals, and RMS is going to help Society’s 2012 work plan—it’s on the you gear up to fight off zebra mussels, To most RMS members, what website, so won’t be repeated here—and tamarisk, flying carp and whatever else you see of the organization are there are some great new things happening you may find in or near your favorite river. its networking and educational that I wanted to highlight for you. New initiatives take energy, and we opportunities—the listserve, The next round of FERC dam reli- want to assure our members that these website, symposia, workshops, censing will be starting in the next year efforts won’t take away from the things training and an occasional contact or so, and we want to help river managers you have come to expect from us. We’re with friendly staff. be better informed about post-relicensing putting the finishing touches on plans for a programs. Relicensing often requires utili- great symposium April 24-26 in Asheville, Somewhere behind all that is the ties and other license-holders to perform N.C., and we’re already working on plans machinery that runs things, and that certain studies, etc., and in the past some for a river management workshop in 2013 includes the work of a part-time of that work was a lot sloppier than river and a huge symposium in 2014. You’ll see executive director and a volunteer managers might have liked. We’re going a completely new and more useful website board of directors. The board has to help you get better prepared for the next in coming months. The Journal gets better done some thinking about how round. every issue and that increased excellence it’s organized, and would like Computers are powerful tools if the will continue in 2012. There will be an- to hear from you. There are two right tools are in the box, and what’s miss- other River Ranger Rendezvous in 2012, ways to provide your feedback— ing from the toolbox right now is a really and those events continue to be the best by email to Risa Shimoda good, comprehensive rivers database that field training events possible. It’s going to at executivedirector@river- is the one go-to place for all things rivers. be a great year.t management.org or live and in This will take some time to fund and as- See you on the river - person at the April symposium in semble, but we plan to get a good start in Asheville, N.C. (free pizza for your the coming year. thoughts!). No matter where you go in North America, you find yourself surrounded Steve Johnson Currently, the board consists of by exotic invasive species. Our rivers are Board President four national officers elected by the membership, and eight RMS Board of Directors - Back L to R: Charlie Sperry, Steve Johnson, Elaine Grace, Ken Ransford, Peter chapter presidents elected in their Hark, Mary Crockett, Dennis Willis, Linda Jalbert, Lee Larson. Front L to R: Gary Marsh, Bunny Sterin, respective regions. Melisssa Blair, Risa Shimoda, Jorjena Daly, Robyn Cuervorst. The first question for members concerns those four national officers— president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.