Salmonid Restoration Federation Winter 2008/2009

Th e 72 th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference will be held March 4-7, 2009 in Santa Cruz, California. Th is is the premiereth habitat restoration conference in the Pacifi c Northwest and hosting the conference in Santa Cruz aff ords wonderful opportunities to view projects on the Central Coast and highlight issues that pertain to coastal watershed and cohoElements salmon recovery. of Watershed Restoration Th is27 year the Annual conference will Salmonid feature workshops on Restoration Conference topics including Estuary Restoration, Fish Passage Design and Implementation, Coho Use and Restoration of Off - channel Habitat, Watershed Monitoring and Assessment, Carmel River Estuary Scotts Creek and Sustainable Agriculture: Water Quality and Riparian Habitat Restoration. All day fi eld tours will include tours highlighting Resource Management for Steelhead and will highlight the status of restoration eff orts in Monterey Coho Salmon Conservation in Santa Cruz County: a Tour Bay and adjacent watersheds. SRF has also invited former of San Lorenzo River and Soquel Creek projects; Carmel Assembly member John Laird of the Santa Cruz region. River Restoration Projects; Southern Coho Streams and the NOAA Lab and Broodstock Program; Coho Salmon and Concurrent sessions address biological, policy, Steelhead Enhancement Projects on the Santa Cruz North environmental and physical issues aff ecting salmonids. Coast; Dams and Daylighting: Progress and Opportunities Concurrent sessions include the following topics: Water in San Francisquito Creek; and half-day tours of fi sh passage Diversions & Water Wars in California; FERC Relicensing projects and sustainable agriculture projects in conjunction Restoration Opportunities; Central & South Coast Steelhead: with those morning workshops. Biology, Genetics, and Recovery Strategies; Fire Ecology, Th e Plenary session will feature Dr. Peter Moyle and Forests, and Fisheries; Dam Removal and Modifi cations for Dr. Josh Israel from UC Davis who will discuss the state Salmonid Recovery; Restoration at the Crossroads; Juvenile of California salmonids in California, Mike Furniss from Steelhead and Coho Salmon: Central Coast Habitat and Redwood Sciences Lab who will address climate change and Population Research, Hydrologic and Geomorphic Legacy salmonid recovery, Dr. Astrid Scholz of Ecotrust will give a Issues: Solutions for the Past and the Future; Coho Salmon presentation on how economic challenges in the coastal zone Recovery and Restoration: Putting Th eory into Practice. aff ect salmonids, and Dr. Bob Curry of Watershed Systems To learn more visit www.calsalmon.org

Resource Management for Steelhead and Coho Salmon Conservation in Santa Cruz County Coordinated by Chris Berry, Water Kittelson, Fishery Resource Planner, overall riparian functions, essential Branch of Santa Cruz; and Kristen County of Santa Cruz; this fi eld tour fl ood control activities, municipal will visit the San Lorenzo River and water supplies and lagoon habitats Soquel Creek. Within these two key will be described and illustrated. On watersheds, the County and City of the San Lorenzo River participants Santa Cruz, and the City of Capitola will learn how the City balances fl ood have a long history of attempting to control, water supply, public access balance resource protection, public and steelhead habitat conservation. safety, property rights, and regulatory Participants will learn about managing requirements. Control and management the lagoon for steelhead and utilizing of watershed-wide sediment sources, large woody material and vegetation San Lorenzo River estuary protection of large woody debris and management for fl ood control. Staff Salmonid Restoration Federation was formed Dana Stolzman in 1986 to help stream restoration practitioners advance the art and science of Executive Director watershed restoration. SRF is a statewide non-profi t organization that promotes Dian Griffi th restoration, stewardship, and recovery of California native salmon, steelhead, Bookkeeper and trout populations through education, collaboration, and advocacy. SRF Heather Reese accomplishes its mission by hosting the premier annual salmonid restoration Project Coordinator Happyconference Spawning in various regions Season! throughout California; habitat restoration fi eld Jama Chaplin schools focused on fi sh passage, bioengineering, and erosion control; and Administrative Assistant symposiums regarding Spring-run Chinook and coho salmon recovery eff orts. Board of Directors SRF is a small, grassroots organization with a big agenda. California’s fi sheries are devastated from over a century of unregulated logging and road building, Don Allan, President dam building, rampant development, and loss of freshwater habitat. SRF is Redwood Community Action Agency dedicated to recovering salmonids by off ering aff ordable technical and hands-on Allen Harthorn, Vice-President trainings to the restoration community and educating the public about the plight Friends of Butte Creek of endangered salmon and the need to preserve and restore habitat to recover the Jennifer Aspittle, Treasurer species. SRF realizes that California’s once magnifi cent runs of wild salmon and Stillwater Sciences steelhead will not be saved solely by restoration and education, so we continue Steve Allen (alternate) to advocate for protection of instream fl ows, wild stocks of salmon, key refugia Winzler & Kelly habitats, and increased restoration funding. Don Baldwin (alternate) SRF is excited to be hosting the 27th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference Department of Fish & Game in Santa Cruz, California. Th is year’s conference is entitled, “Elements of Mike Berry Watershed Restoration,” and will address physical elements that aff ect salmonid Department of Fish & Game recovery including fi re ecology, climate change, oceanic conditions, hydrology Sean Carlson and geomorphic response. As you can see, we have a dynamic agenda with Department of Fish & Game outstanding movers and shakers in the restoration fi eld. Leslie Ferguson (alternate) SRF will also be off ering a host of other technical education trainings in 2009 State Water Resources Control Board including the 4th Annual Spring-run Salmon Symposium on the Salmon River, th Jodi Frediani (alternate) the 12 Annual Coho Confab on the Mendocino Coast, a Bioengineering Field Sierra Club School on the Central Coast, and a Roads Maintenance and Erosion Control Joelle Geppert Field School on the North Coast. North Coast Regional Water Quality Despite our scope of work and successful track record of producing aff ordable Control Board trainings for restorationists, this is a challenging time for service-based Josh Israel organizations to stay afl oat. Your membership dues help us advocate for the University of California, Davis livelihoods of thousands of people who have devoted their lives to habitat Dave Kajtaniak (alternate) restoration and Salmonid recovery. Please help us to help the restorationists who Department of Fish & Game help fi sh. Zoltan Matica (alternate) Your contribution enables us to off er eff ective trainings, produce a dynamic Department of Water Resources annual conference, and share information about pressing issues that aff ect Michael Miller (alternate) salmonids and habitat restoration eff orts. Please join Salmonid Restoration Mendocino Land Trust Federation in our eff orts to recover wild salmon and restore watersheds. Will Pier For wild salmon, Sonoma Ecology Center Kent Reeves (alternate) Yolo County Department of Parks & Natural Resources Dana Stolzman, Executive Director Margo Moorhouse Lindsay Creek Watershed Coordinator P.S. Your membership entitles you to two newsletters a year, a substantial discount at our annual conference, and a monthly electronic newsletter with posting Design & Layout by regarding restoration funding opportunities, trainings, and job announcements. Trees Foundation Passenger Pigeons, Dodo Birds…Condors and Coho? Central California Coast Coho Salmon and Our Last Chance to Save Them from Extinction ...... By Charlotte Ambrose, Recovery Coordinator, Santa Rosa, CA

Central California Coast (CCC) with roads, timber harvesting and 5. Control and abate future threats coho salmon are critically at risk conversion, channel modifi cation, to provide for their long term of becoming extinct in the near water diversion and impoundment, survival and recovery future. National Marine Fisheries climate change and agricultural Service (NMFS) listed this species practices.  e top ten priority actions to attain as threatened under the Federal 3. Poor ocean conditions also have these goals are: Endangered Species Act in October a prominent role in the species’  Implement Statewide Coastal 1996. Th e population continued to decline, and are acting in synchrony Monitoring as soon as possible plummet towards extinction, and with poor instream conditions.  Target restoration funds to critical they were relisted to endangered in Coho have evolved under fl uctuating areas and needs (e.g., current June 2005. More recent data reveals a conditions for centuries, but the watersheds with CCC coho salmon continued precipitous decline of CCC rate of change in the freshwater coho salmon. A coordinated, strategic systems (due to human activities) persisting, emphasizing large woody and range-wide eff ort must begin has accelerated habitat impairment debris (LWD) and fl oodplain/off - immediately or we face the loss of an and, thus, population declines. A channel areas) iconic species. Th e dire status triggered year or two of poor marine survival  Improve and enforce water resource a shift in the focus of Federal recovery has diff erent implications for the regulations planning: a shift from recovery to, fi rst, population in a watershed that  Work with key counties on general halting coho’s alarming pace towards produced 200 smolts versus one plans, ordinances and LWD extinction. Th e federal recovery plan producing 20,000 smolts. for CCC coho salmon is targeted retention programs  for public release in March 2009.  e federal recovery plan’s immediate Promote improvements in all local/ Population data and criteria, developed goals for CCC coho salmon are to: State/Federal policies and practices by the NMFS Southwest Fisheries 1. Prevent extinction by protecting for roads Science Center, set the foundation for all existing populations and their  Encourage State Board of Forestry the recovery scenario. To assess current habitats to develop no-take rules or apply instream conditions and threats, data 2. Maintain current populations for a Statewide HCP, provide were gathered from all possible sources and expand them through focused incentives to retain forestlands and willing to provide their information, and prioritized restoration actions in reduce forest conversions including the public, stakeholders and critical areas  agencies (especially the California Conduct outreach on climate Department of Fish and Game). 3. Prevent degradation of existing change and encourage all local/ high quality habitats across the State/Federal planning to account NMFS’ preliminary fi ndings: historical range (especially areas that for anticipated droughts and climate 1. CCC coho salmon populations have supported populations within change the last four generations) are at critically low levels, or no  Create incentives to promote longer exist (e.g., extirpated), in all 4. Restore habitat conditions and immediate species protection and but a few watersheds south of the watershed processes across the range habitat enhancement Navarro River.  Ensure continuous funding for the 2. CCC coho salmon survival CCC coho salmon Russian River through, and between, life stages Captive Broodstock Program are poor due to impaired habitats for  egg survival and emergence, juvenile Immediately create a coho summer and over-winter rearing, strike team to respond to issues, and smolt outmigration. Generally, conduct outreach and develop poor habitats are the result of a multidisciplinary groups to region-wide lack of complex pools/ work on preventing CCC coho off -channel/fl oodplain habitats, extinction and facilitate recovery high summer water temperatures implementation and excessive instream sediment. A juvenile coho Habitat impairment has been linked photo: NMFS Science Center Summer 2008 Page 3 the 11th Annual Coho Confab on the Smith River

Over 100 fi shheads migrated to the pristine South Fork of the Smith River to participate in the 11th Annual Coho Confab this September. Th e Confab is a symposium to explore watershed restoration, learn restoration techniques to recover coho salmon populations, and to network with other fi sh-centric people. To confabulate literally means to informally chat or to fabricate to compensate for gaps in one’s memory. (Not to imply that restorationists are prone to hyperbole when recounting the size of a rescued fi sh, the magnitude of the waterfall coming out of the culvert, Zack Larson led an underwater fi sh identifi cation and snorkeling workshop on the Smith River. or the heroics of a particular restoration all Confab photos by Dana Stolzman job!)Paradise: Th e Confab is an informal gathering of restorationists that allows Ecologist Frank Lake presented on how backcountry road management in participants to learn skills and practices upslope fi re and forest management North Coast Redwoods State Parks and that can be applied to restore habitat in aff ect fi sh by providing a review of tribal rehabilitating watershed function. Rod their home watershed. and scientifi c knowledge about the McLeod of the Mill Creek Monitoring Th e 1 th Annual Coho Confab is eff ects of fi res on fi sheries. Program led a hands-on workshop annually hosted by the Salmonid Th is year’s Confab featured assessing juvenile coho summer Restoration Federation and Trees restoration tours in the Mill Creek abundance estimation in Mill Creek. Foundation. Th is year’s additional watershed, tributaries of the South Additionally, Zack Larson facilitated co-sponsors included the California Fork, Yontucket Slough and the Smith a Smith River fi sh identifi cation Department of Fish and Game, Smith River estuary. Randy Lew of Pacifi c workshop. Antonio Llanos of Mike River Alliance, Smith River Advisory Watershed Associates led a tour of Love & Associates led a tour of fi sh Council, and Cal Trout. road decommissioning and erosion passage projects and co-led a tour of control projects in Dominie and Rowdy Yontocket Slough and the Smith River Creeks. State Park geologist Rocco Fiori estuary with Zack. Other workshops discussed experimental wood loading included instream fi sh identifi cation, designs to enhance stream function and macro-invertebrate sampling and and salmonid habitats. A full-day stream health assessment. tour of Mill Creek restoration projects Each year the Confab is held in a included presentations by Dan Burgess diff erent location on the North Coast. of Rural Human Services who led a Th e 21 th Annual Confab will be held tour of the native plant nursery for Mill near the Big River on the Mendocino Creek restoration, Lathrope Leonard of Coast. Please join us! Redwood National and State Parks who Rich Nelson and Th omas Dunklin preparing wild led a forestry tour focused on restoring Klamath salmon that was generously donated by Yurok tribal members to the Confab. Th e fi sh was late seral forests, and Brian Merrill of smoked on redwood stakes around an alder fi re. California State Parks who discussed

Orientation presentations included opening talks about the signifi cance of the Mill Creek watershed acquisition in protecting and restoring a salmon stronghold, by Grant Werschkull of Smith River Alliance and Zack Larson of the Smith River Advisory Council. Antonio Llanos of Mike Love & Associates giving a presentation Tom Weseloh of Cal Trout discussed on local fi sh passage projects Coho Salmon from State CESA listing before the group departs to check to Local Restoration Projects. Research out the on-the-ground work. Page 4 Salmonid Restoration Federation 27th Salmonid Restoration Conference

Elements of Watershed Restoration

March 4-7, 2009 Santa Cruz, CA Salmonid Restoration Federation’s

American Fisheries Society Cal Neva Chapter; Americorps Watershed Stewards Project; Balance Hydrologics, Inc.; The Bay Institute; Bureau of Reclamation, Central CA Area Offi ce; California Conservation Corps; California Department Fish & Game; Cal Trout; California Hydropower Reform Coalition; City of Santa Cruz-Water Branch; Coastal Conservancy; Coastal Watershed Council; County of Santa Cruz Environmental Health Services; County of Santa Cruz Fish and Game Advisory Commission; Department of Water Resources; D.W. Alley & Associates; East Bay Municipal Utility District; East Bay Regional Park District; Fall Creek Engineering; Greening Associates; Kittleson Environmental Consulting Services; Marin Municipal Water District; NOAA Restoration Center; Northern California / Nevada Council Federation of Flyfi shers; Pacifi c Coast Fish, Wildlife and Wetlands Restoration Association; Pacifi c Watershed Associates; Pacifi c Gas & Electric; Pacifi c States Marine Fisheries Commission; Philip Williams and Associates, Ltd.; Prunuske Chatham, Inc.; Restoration Design Group; San Francisco Estuary Institute; San Gregorio Environmental Resource Center; Santa Cruz Fly Fishermen; Santa Cruz Group of the Ventana Chapter of Sierra Club; Santa Cruz Resource Conservation District; Solano County Water Agency; Sonoma County Water Agency; Stoecker Ecological Consultants; Trout Unlimited; US Fish & Wildlife Service; Winzler and Kelly Co-Sponsors: Searsville Dam Removal: A Unique Opportunity ...... By Matt Stoecker, Stoecker Ecological Consultants and Beyond Searsville Dam

For over a century Searsville Dam caretaker for the dam described that where fi ve streams merged among has had an enormous impact within “salmon” would swim upstream as far as adjacent wetland ponds before squeezing Stanford University lands, the San the dam. Using a pitchfork, the caretaker through a small gorge where the dam now Francisquito Creek watershed, and could spear them below the dam to stands. Restoration of this submerged greater San Francisco Bay estuary. supplement the family’s diet (Liedy valley may provide an extremely valuable Th e 65-foot tall Searsville Dam is 2006). Th e Department of Fish and and needed fl ood control function as a an excellent sediment trap, and since Game also considers the watershed home natural sponge that can soak up winter its construction the reservoir has to one of the key steelhead populations fl ows and releases them gradually while lost over 90% of its original water left on the Central California Coast. providing excellent wetland habitat. storage capacity as almost 1.5 million Th e impassable and obsolete Searsville Managers of ongoing wetland cubic yards of sediment has fi lled in Dam blocks anadromous fi sh and other restoration projects in San Francisco the reservoir. aquatic species from accessing the Bay have expressed a need for millions San Francisquito Creek is home to largest tributary in the watershed where of cubic yards of clean sediment over native rainbow trout still persist. Th e several sensitive species including one the next few decades, and dam removal artifi cial habitat of Searsville Reservoir of the last, wild, self-sustainable runs could provide some of this sediment supports numerous exotic and invasive of threatened steelhead trout in the back to the bay where it was intended to species, including a variety of fi sh South San Francisco Bay. A recent 2007 go before the dam was built. report by the Center for Ecosystem and bullfrogs that compete with and Management and Restoration identifi ed prey upon native species both within Across the country and around the San Francisquito Creek as one of eight the reservoir and downstream where world owners of obsolete dams are now “Anchor Watersheds” for steelhead in they spill over. With the removal of collaborating with local communities and San Francisco Bay, which is “critical” Searsville Dam and elimination of the resource agencies to remove these aging to steelhead recovery. Another recent reservoir’s stillwater habitat, populations structures because of recognized benefi ts, report states that San Francisquito Creek of exotic fi sh would be eliminated or ranging from long-term cost savings, “possibly supported coho salmon” and greatly reduced. eliminated risk, reduced environmental that in the years immediately following Th e reservoir behind the dam also regulatory disputes, improved ecosystem the construction of Searsville Dam the fl ooded a unique “confl uence valley” health, project cost sharing, and in many cases improvements to fl ood protection and water supply operations. Th e removal of Searsville Dam has the potential to provide most or all of these benefi ts to Stanford University as well as the greater watershed and San Francisco Bay. Th ere are many questions to be answered as to the trade-off s, technical design planning, costs, and outcomes Upstream of the dam Corte Madera Creek supports native trout where of numerous dam removal options that steelhead once spawned. could be chosen. Th ese are answers that photo: by Matt Stoecker we can and must pursue.

Conference Facility: City of Santa Cruz: Civic Auditorium Awards: SRF presents awards for outstanding achievements www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us at 307 Church Street in the salmonid restoration fi eld. If you would like to nominate Lodging: SRF has arranged discounted rates at the Best Western someone for the Restorationist of the Year award, the Lifetime and Continental Inn in Santa Cruz, both of which are on Ocean St., Achievement award, or the Golden Pipe award for innovations in walking distance to the conference facility at the Civic Auditorium the restoration fi eld, please [email protected] 200 words in downtown Santa Cruz. describing the nominee’s accomplishments by January 16 , 2009. The Continental Inn at www.continentalinnsantacruz.com, is Cabaret, Poster Session, or Work Trade: to learn more offering rooms for $75 with a continental breakfast. To receive this about these opportunities please email [email protected] rate, please call (831) 429-1221 by February 4 and let them know Scholarship Info: SRF has limited scholarships available. To that you are with SRF. The group rate for the Best Western Inn in apply please please email [email protected] a paragraph by Santa Cruz is $106 for single or double rooms with a full breakfast. February 15 describing how you would benefi t from attending To receive this rate, please call (831)458-9898 by January 24 and the conference.

Logistics let them know that you are with the salmon group. Other Logistical Info: Check out www.calsalmon.org

Page 6 Salmonid Restoration Federation Searsville Dam Removal: A Unique Opportunity ...... By Matt Stoecker, Stoecker Ecological Consultants and Beyond Searsville Dam Individual Registration Form, Please Use One Per Person • Advanced Registration Must Be Postmarked By February 13, 2009 Name:______Phone (work):______Address:______(home):______Email: ______Affiliation:______Please check box if you are a presenter

Advance Late Registration Registration FEE Wednesday, MarchSalmonid 4, 2009 Restoration Federation Conference 1. Estuary Restoration Workshop $552009 $65 ______2. Sustainable Agriculture: Water Quality and Riparian Habitat Restoration $55 $65 ______3. Southern Coho Streams: Research and Recovery $55 $65 ______Training4. Coho Workshops Salmon and & Steelhead Field Tours Enhancement Projects on Santa Cruz County’s North Coast $55 $65 ______5. Dams and Daylighting: Success and Opportunity on San Francisquito Creek $55 $65 ______Thursday, March 5, 2009 6. Coho Off-Channel Habitat Workshop $55 $65 ______7. Watershed Monitoring & Assessment $55 $65 ______8. Fish Passage at Road Stream Crossings: Design, Planning, and Implementation Workshop & Tour $55 $65 ______9. Resource Management for Steelhead and Coho Salmon A Tour of San Lorenzo River and Soquel Projects $55 $65 ______10. Carmel River Restoration Tour $55 $65 ______* Field tours include a bagged lunch and transportation. Please wear clothing, raingear, and shoes appropriate for field tours. Evening: Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival $10 $12 ______

March 6-7, 2009 (includes Friday and Saturday lunch and a copy of the Proceedings) SRF Member (individual membership only) $120 $150 ______Non-member $170 $200 ______Student (with photocopy of student ID) $70 $80 ______

Conference(Preference: Salmon____ Chicken ____ Vegetarian____) $30 $35 ______m New m Renewal Awards: SRF presents awards for outstanding achievements in the salmonid restoration field. If you would like to nominate Individual Memberships: m$35 Alevin m$50 Fry m$100 Smolt m$250 Jack m$500 Spawner someone for the Restorationist of the Year award, the Lifetime Payment Total______Achievement award, or the Golden Pipe award for innovations in the restoration field, please [email protected] 200 words Method of Payment m Check m Money Order m Purchase Order describing the nominee’s accomplishments by January 16 , 2009. SaturdayPurchase Orders Banquet will only be accepted for 5 or more people registering. Each registrant will need to fill out an individual form. Cabaret, Poster Session, or Work Trade: to learn more about these opportunities please email [email protected] m VISA m MasterCard Credit Card#______Exp. Date______Scholarship Info: SRF has limited scholarships available. To Membership apply please please email [email protected] a paragraph by Approval Signature______February 15 describing how you would benefit from attending Mail form and payment to: SRF Conference, PO Box 784, Redway, CA 95560 (Make checks payable to: SRF) the conference. Phone: (707) 923-7501 • Fax: (707) 923-3135 • Email: [email protected] Other Logistical Info: Check out www.calsalmon.org Please Note: We do not give refunds • Receipts provided upon request • This form is available at www.calsalmon.org fi eld tours Wednesday, March 4

Estuary Restoration Workshop Coho Salmon and Steelhead Enhancement Projects Workshop Coordinators: Gillian O’Doherty and Leah Mahan, on Santa Cruz County’s North Coast Tour NOAA Fisheries Tour Coordinator: Kristen Kittleson, County of Santa Cruz This workshop will focus on assessment, planning, Tour Leader: Matt Baldzikowski, Midpeninsula Regional Open and design considerations for estuarine restoration in Space District California. Topics covered will include site evaluation, This fi eld tour will visit a number of successful restoration Workshopsdesign considerations, regulatory compliance, and public Fieldand Tours enhancement projects on the beautiful and rugged outreach. North Coast of Santa Cruz County, including stream Pescadero Marsh Restoration: Identifying Problems and Exploring channel rehabilitation sites in the Waddell, Scott, and San Solutions, Jill Marshall, P.G., San Francisco Bay Regional Vicente Creek watersheds. Water Quality Control Board and Joanne Kerbavaz, Southern Coho Streams: Research and Recovery Tour California State Parks Tour Coordinator: Kristen Kittleson, County of Santa Cruz Estuary Enhancement in the Humboldt Bay Watershed—Can Tour Leader: Sean Hayes, NOAA Fisheries, Carla Moss and Adaptive Management Reduce Design and Permitting Costs?, Dave Streig, Hatchery Managers, and Carlos Garza and Erick Don Allan, Redwood Community Action Agency Sturm, Coho Salmon Broodstock Program Water Quality Dynamics of Pescadero Lagoon and Implications for This fi eld tour will visit sites important to research and Fish Mortality, Rebecca Sloan, TRA Environmental & recovery of coho salmon in Santa Cruz County, which is Assessment of Hydrologic and Geomorphic Constraints on Estuarine the most southern distribution of the population on the Restoration, Conor O’Shea, USFWS Coastal Program West Coast. Tour sites include Scott and Waddell Research Estuarine Enhancement Strategies that Target Nutrient Availability, stations, Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project’s Conservation Hatchery at Big Creek, and NOAA’s Santa Nicole Beck, 2nd Nature Cruz broodstock program and genetics laboratory. Restoration in a Restless Society: Working with Stakeholder Groups in Coastal California, Brannon Ketchum, Point Reyes Dams and Daylighting: Success and Opportunity National Seashore on San Francisquito Creek Tour Tour Coordinator: Matt Stoecker, Stoecker Ecological and Hang Fin! Sustainable Agriculture and Salmonids Beyond Searsville Dam in Surf City, U.S.A Workshop & Tour San Francisquito Creek provides critical habitat to one of Workshop and Tour Coordinator: Kent Reeves, Yolo County the last wild steelhead runs in the south San Francisco Bay. TrainingDepartment of Parks & Resources WorkshopsParticipants will tour the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, The classroom portion of the workshop will address the Searsville Dam, other small dams and fi sh ladders, and challenges of sustainable agriculture with an emphasis Portola Valley’s brand new LEED certifi ed green Town on water quality and riparian habitat restoration in the Center project where we will observe the fi rst year of fl ow Monterey Bay Area. The fi eld tour will visit several farms along the newly daylighted and restored Sausal Creek. and ranches in the region that highlight sustainable practices that benefi t riparian habitat and water quality. Biodiversity and Agriculture, Jo Ann Baumgartner, Wild Farm Participants in the Dam Alliance Removal Tour will visit Developing Healthy Riparian Habitat on Farms for Biodiversity, Stanford Universty’s Sam Earnshaw, Community Alliance with Family private Jasper Ridge Farms Biological Preserve and tour Searsville Dam with Sustainable Grazing for Improving Water Quality and Riparian the preserve director to Habitat, Kent Reeves, Yolo County Department of Parks discuss future challenges & Resources and opportunities with the nearly sediment fi lled Understanding the Environmental Toxicology of Pesticide Exposures reservoir and major to Salmon, Christopher A. Pincetich, Salmon Protection steelhead migration barrier. and Watershed Network (SPAWN) photo: by Matt Stoecker Page 8 Salmonid Restoration Federation Thursday, March 5 Presence and Impacts of Current-Use Pesticides in Coastal Watersheds, Armand Ruby, Coastal Watershed Council Legacy Pesticides in Central Coast Rivers: the Land-Sea Connection, Fish Passage at Road Stream Crossings: Dane Hardin, CCLEAN/Applied Marine Sciences Design, Planning, and Implementation Workshop & Tour Using Watershed Stewardship Planning Efforts in Marin County Workshop Coordinator: Mike Love, Mike Love & Associates to Inform Stormwater Program Activities, Monitoring, and The morning workshop will include a presentation on Watershed Assessment, Terri Fashing, Marin County the newly completed fi sh passage design manual and an Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program overview of regional planning efforts that have addressed Marin County Watershed Stewardship Planning: Getting to Realistic numerous fi sh passage problems in Santa Barbara, Santa Targets and Habitat Goals, Chris Choo, Marin County WorkshopsCruz, and Marin Counties. The afternoon tour will visit Dept. of Public Works and Lauren Hammack, Prunuske retrofi ts of existing road-stream crossings that used different approaches to address passage. Chatham, Inc. California Department of Fish and Game Fish Passage Design How Healthy is your Watershed? Recent Progress on Developing Manual, Mike Love, Michael Love & Associates Indicators of Ecological Health and the Potential Applications in the San Francisco Bay Area and Beyond, Kat Ridolfi , San Restoring Steelhead in Carpinteria Creek, Santa Barbara County, Francisco Estuary Institute Mauricio Gomez, South Coast Habitat Restoration How Monitoring Can Guide us in Urban Watershed Restoration— Seasonal Juvenile Portable Fish Ladder Boxes on Zayante Creek, Developing an Improved Understanding of the Causes of Felton, California—Design, Implementation, and Adaptive Aquatic Life Use Impacts in Lower South San Francisco Bay Operation and Management Plan, Peter Haase, P.E., Fall Salmonid Streams, Chris Sommers, EOA, Inc. Creek Engineering Towards a Comprehensive Monitoring Strategy for the Sonoma Vanquishing Barriers in Marin County—Project Based Experience Valley Watershed, Lisa Micheli, Ph.D., Sonoma Ecology and Lessons Learned From the Field, Kallie Kull, Marin Center County Public Works Fish Passage Program Coho Use of Off-Channel Habitat Workshop Workshop Coordinator: Kit Crump, NOAA Restoration Center This workshop will present examples of coho use of off- Please see www.calsalmon.org for a full list of the tour leaders. channel habitat and restoration techniques that directly support the creation and maintenance of off-channel Resource Management for habitat features as a key recovery action for CCC coho. Steelhead and Coho Salmon Overview of Off-Channel Habitats and their Use by Coho Salmon, Conservation in Santa Cruz San Lorenzo estuary Kit Crump, NOAA Restoration Center County: San Lorenzo River and Soquel Creek Projects Tour History and Coho Use of Off-Channel Habitats on San Vicente FieldTour Coordinators Tours : Chris Berry, Water Resources Manager, City Creek, Mike Podlech, Independent Fisheries Biologist of Santa Cruz and Kristen Kittleson, Fishery Resource Planner, Design Constraints of the Lower and Upper San Vicente Pond County of Santa Cruz Off-Channel Habitat Projects, Brian Hastings, Balance This fi eld tour will visit sites to discuss the complex Hydrologics management issues and corresponding local practices associated with steelhead and coho salmon conservation Permitting Issues Associated with Off-Channel Habitat Restoration within the San Lorenzo River and Soquel Creek, Santa Projects, Jim Robins, Alnus Ecological Cruz’s most heavily urbanized and impacted watersheds. Steelhead and Chinook Salmon use of Two Engineered Side Channels in the Central Valley, a Look at Pros and Cons of Design Carmel River Restoration Tour Training Workshops Implementation, Walter Heady, UC Santa Cruz Tour Coordinator: Michael Wellborn, President, California Coho Use of Off-channel Habitat in the Lower Klamath River, Dan Watershed Network Gale, Yurok Tribal Fisheries Program Tour Leaders: representatives from Philip Williams & Associates, Visions and Goals: Tracking the Success of Off Channel Restoration Ltd., Big Sur Land Trust, Carmel River Watershed Conservancy, for Juvenile Salmonids, Joe Merz, Cramer Fish Sciences Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, Planning and Conservation League Foundation, and Balance Hydrologics Juvenile Salmonid Use of a New, Artifi cial Off-channel Pond in The Carmel River tour will focus on restoration efforts the Scott River, Siskiyou County, Mark Pisano and Mary current, past, and future to improve the opportunities for Olswang, California Department of Fish and Game the native steelhead trout and will include presentations Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Workshop on fl ooding and drought regimes, dams and channel constraints, river mouth manipulations, as well as recent Workshop Coordinators: Armand Ruby, Coastal Watershed fi res and resulting sediment issues. Council (CWC) and Chris Choo, Marin County Department of Public Works Salmonid streams are subject to a variety of stressors, from water qualit y impacts to loss of habitat. This workshop will Pizza & Beer garden 5:30-7pm focus on the methods and results of watershed monitoring 7-9pm at the Civic Auditorium and assessment, and will cover urban, agricultural and rural environments. Summer 2008 Page 9

Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival sessions Friday, March 6 Geomorphic Stability and Fish Passage Potential for the Proposed San Clemente Dam Bypass Channel, Andy Collison, Philip Williams & Associates, Ltd. Status of Restoration Efforts: Monterey Bay and Adjacent Watersheds, It’s About Dam Time! Lessons Learned in Dam Removal, Leah Bob Curry, Ph.D., Watershed Sciences Mahan, NOAA Fisheries Economic Challenges on the Coastal Zone: How Oceanic Conditions Going Tidal—Restoring Natural Hydrologic Dynamics in Point Affect Salmonids, Astrid Scholz, Ph.D., Vice-President, Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California, Brannon Knowledge Systems, Ecotrust Ketchum, Point Reyes National Seashore State of California Salmonids: Reasons for Pessimism, Reasons for Restoration at the Crossroads: PlenaryOptimism, Session Peter 8:30 Moyle, am Ph.D., to noon Fisheries Professor and Challenges & Solutions in the Restoration Field Josh Israel, Ph.D., Geneticist, UC Davis Session Coordinator: Felice Pace, Klamath River Activist Climate Intensifi cation : More Extreme Extremes of Floods, Droughts, Humility or Hubris—Restoration at the Crossroads, Felice Pace Heat Waves, and Windstorms. Evidence, Uncertainties, and Implications for Salmon Conservation, Michael J. Furniss, Restoring Rangeland Watersheds and Endemic Rainbow Trout in Pacifi c Northwest and Pacifi c Southwest Research the Face of Climate Change, Lisa Thompson, Wildlife, Stations, Redwood Sciences Lab, Arcata, CA Fish, and Conservation Biology Department, University of California Davis The California Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead Trout: Coho Salmon Recovery and Restoration: An Epic of Good Intentions, Barbara Stickel, California Putting Theory into Practice &Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead Trout Session Coordinator: Darcy Aston, FishNet 4 C Coordinator Steelhead Restoration on the California Coast: a Common Sense, Restoration of Coho Salmon in California: Where are We and Where Collaborative Approach to Triage, Gordon Becker, Center Do We Want to Go?, Stephen Swales Ph.D., California for Ecosystem Management and Restoration Department of Fish & Game Headwater Tributaries of the Upper Lagunitas Watershed: Important Condors,Friday AfternoonPassenger Pigeons, Concurrent and Dodo Sessions Birds: Central California Coho Spawning and Rearing Habitat?, Paola Bouley, Coast Coho Salmon and our Last Chance to Save them from Salmon Protection and Watershed Network Extinction, Charlotte A. Ambrose, NOAA Fisheries Navigating the Restoration Money Maze: Plotting a Course for Coastal Streamfl ow Stewardship Project: Working with Landowners Funding Support, Mel Kreb and Michelle Rankin, to Protect Instream Flows, Brian Johnson, Trout California Conservation Corps CUnlimited Lagunitas Creek, Long Term Monitoring and Enhancement, Gregory M. Andrew, Marin Municipal Water District Please email [email protected] Barrier Removal and Coho Enhancement Planning in the Lagunitas to sign up for the poster session or call SRF Creek Watershed, Kallie Kull, Marin County Public at (707)923-7501 for more information. Works Fish Passage Program Testing Biologicalonference Effectiveness with the Little Browns Creek Events Migration Barrier Removal Project, Christine Jordan, Five Saturday, March 7 Counties Salmonid Conservation Program Poster Session and Reception 7–10pm Dam Removal and Modifi cations for Salmonid Recovery Central & South Coast Steelhead: Session Coordinator: Matt Stoecker, Beyond Searsville Dam and Biology, Genetics, and Recovery Strategies Stoecker Ecological Consultants Session Coordinator: Dougald Scott, Northern California / The Big Five: Commonalities and Differences among Proposed Dam Nevada Council Federation of Flyfi shers Removals in the California Coast Ranges, Clare O’Reilly, Steelhead Life History Trajectories, Susan Sogard, National University of California, Berkeley Marine Fisheries Service Up Your Creek—Dam Removal and Fish Passage Projects in GeneticsSaturday of Steelhead Morning Populations Concurrent in the Central Sessions and South Coast, Alameda Creek, Jeff Miller, Alameda Creek Alliance Carlos Garza, National Marine Fisheries Service Let the River Run Free : Dam Removal on the Klamath River, Michael The Role of Coastal Lagoons in Steelhead Survival, Morgan Bond, Belchik, Yurok Tribal Fisheries Program University of Washington

Page 10 Salmonid Restoration Federation The Ecology of Steelhead Populations of the Big Sur Coast, Dave Environmental Justice, Culture, and the Role of Tribes in the FERC Rundio, National Marine Fisheries Service Relicensing Process; The Klamath River as a Case Study, Kate The Recovery Status of Steelhead in the South Central and Southern Sloan, Yurok Tribe Environment Program DPSs, Mark Capelli, National Marine Fisheries Service San Luis Rey Watershed Assessment: Steelhead Recovery Planning in Southern California, Dave Kajtaniak, California sessions Department of Fish and Game Hydrologic and Geomorphic Legacy Issues: Solutions for the Past and the Future Session Coordinators: Eric Ginney, Philip Williams & Associates, Ltd. Hydrologic and Geomorphic Impacts of Residential Development on Legacy Roads, John Green, Pacifi c Watershed Associates Adult coho by Morgan Bond Upland Rehydration Strategies: Slow It, Spread It, & Sink It for Juvenile Steelhead and Coho Salmon: Salmon, Brock Dolman, Occidental Arts & Ecology Central Coast Habitat and Population Research Center Session Coordinator: Kristen Kittleson, County of Santa Cruz The Klamath Dams: The End of an Era, Eric Ginney, PWA, Ltd. Steelhead Use of Warm Water Habitat in Central California Coast El Corte de Madera Creek Redwoods Watershed Restoration, Matt Streams, with Management Implications, Don Alley and Baldzikowski and Meredith Manning, Midpeninsula Chad Steiner, D.W. Alley and Associates Regional Open Space District The Grow Zone: Ecology of Central Coast Lagoons, Jerry Smith, Estimation of Passage Flows for Anadromous Fish Through Critical Ph.D., San Jose State University Riffl es in Stevens and Coyote Creeks, Santa Clara County, Snorkel Surveys for Coho Salmon in Santa Cruz and San Mateo California, Shawn Chartrand, Balance Hydrologics Counties, Brian Spence, NOAA Fisheries Long-term Geomorphic Effects of Dams on Rivers in the Central Assessing the Effectiveness of Large Woody Material for Coho Valley of California, Toby Minear, UC Berkeley Salmon Habitat Enhancement, Eric Ettlinger, Marin Fire Ecology, Forests and Fisheries Municipal Water District Session Coordinator: Frank K. Lake, Ph.D., US Forest Service- A Limiting Factors Approach to Conserve Steelhead and Coho in & Pacifi c Southwest Research Station San Gregorio Creek, San Mateo County, California, Neil Wildfi re and Native Fish: Scaling of Disturbance and Population Lassettre, Stillwater Sciences Structure as Context for Restoration and Conservation, Bruce Integrated Watershed Restoration Program: Collaboration for Rieman, Ph.D., USDA, Forest Service Rocky Mountain Conservation, Jim Robins, Principal, Alnus Ecological Research Station Water Diversions and Water Wars in California Improving Our Understanding of Spatial and Temporal Effects of Session Coordinator: Tom Stokely, California Water Impact Wildfi res on Forests, Riparian Zones, and Fisheries in the Network Klamath Mountains, United States of America, Frank K. Lake, Ph.D., US Forest Service Water Wars in California—Is Anybody Winning and Who is Losing?, Tom Stokely, California Water Impact Network Forest Survivorship and Regeneration Following Crown Fires on Three Streams in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California, Will California’s Water Resources: Private Interests in Public Property, C Tara Mueller, California Attorney General’s Offi ce Russell, Ph.D., San José State University Post-Fire Watershed Restoration: Protecting Water Quality, Fisheries, California’s Primary Fishery Resource is in the Modoc Plateau, and Wildlife Resources from Soil Erosion Processes in the Robert R. Curry, Watershed Systems Aftermath of Wildfi re in Santa Cruz County, Rich Casale, New Water Supplies for California—Reliability and Costs—Who USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Pays, Who Wins, and Who Loses, Steve Evans, Friends of onference Events the River The Peripheral Canal: A Breach Of The Public’s Trust and a Restoring Rivers through FERC Hydropower Relicensing Vision for Destruction of the Bay and Delta, Dante John Session Coordinator: Keith Nakatani, California Hydropower Nomellini Sr., Central Delta Water Agency Reform Coalition Fish, Water and Science in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: A Overview of FERC Relicensing, Keith Nakatani, California Crisis is a Terrible Thing to Waste, Christina Swanson, Hydropower Reform Coalition Ph.D., The Bay Institute The Klamath River: Relicensing Process Update and Key Issues, SaturdaySteve Rothert, Afternoon American Concurrent Rivers Sessions The Yuba-Bear: Relicensing Process Update and Key Issues, Jason Rainey, South Yuba River Citizens League Banquet 6:00pm Wild Salmon Banquet Lessons Learned from License Implementation, Dave Steindorf, American Whitewater 7:00pm Awards & Cabaret 8:30pm Dance with Sambada

& Cabaret Basins of Relations: Protecting and Restoring our Watersheds ...... By Brock Dolman, Occidental Arts & Ecology Center’s WATER Institute

Welcome to Planet Water energy and personal needs, as well as the Conservation Hydrology It is the copious presence of water on biological needs of all other terrestrial We are calling our philosophical our blue and white planet that provides and aquatic life forms. Jacques Cousteau and practical responses to the for the fundamental expression of life’s reminds us “not to forget that the water water challenges and opportunities diversity and beauty. Water ripples out cycle and the life cycle are one.” Every before us Conservation Hydrology. and within to touch every aspect of our drop of water is precious! Conservation Hydrology utilizes the lives. Currently and increasingly in the disciplines of ecology, population Watersheds: Our Basins of Relations very near future, there will be nothing biology, biogeography, economics, more valuable than pristine watersheds At the most basic level, a watershed anthropology, philosophy, planning with abundant pure water supplies. encompasses all the land surface area and history, to guide community-based that collects and drains water down to Th e ceaseless fl owing and dynamic watershed literacy, planning, and action. a single exit point. Th e continual cycle Conservation Hydrology advocates that processes of water—the evaporation, of erosive water fl owing over uplifting human development decisions must condensation, transpiration, sublimation, and weathering land has sculpted move from a “dehydration model” to a precipitation and infi ltration that all landscapes into distinct cradle- “rehydration model.” together comprise the water cycle—are like entities known interchangeably truly amazing. Water is a substance that as watersheds, basins, drainages or Slow It—Spread It—Sink It development practices that will protect covers over 70% of Earth’s surface, can catchments. Everyone on the planet lives Th e opportunity before us is to retrofi t water quality and quantity. be a solid ice that fl oats on its liquid in a watershed, somewhere. Everything self, which in turn can evaporate into existing development patterns, and we do for work, play, school, shopping, What You Can Do by Working on the atmosphere as a vaporous distilled design new ones, based on principles of farming, recreation and so on occurs in Water at Diff erent Scales gas, and then can return purifi ed again a watershed, somewhere. Watersheds rehydration and regeneration instead of Watershed issues provide us many to earth as either a solid snow or liquid can be as large as the Mississippi basin, dehydration and degradation. Water is avenues for involvement at multiple rain. Without water there would likely the third largest in the world, which the ultimate resource, not the problem. levels and time scales. Some solutions are be no life on Planet Earth. From this drains 41% of the lower 48 U.S. states Th ankfully at a national level, as part small, and only require making diff erent perspective it may be more fi tting, as into the Gulf of Mexico, or they can of the Clean Water Act, the “pave & choices as an individual or family and suggested by biologist Lynn Margulis, functionally be as small as all the land in pipe paradigm” engineering practices of can be done today in your home or yard. to refer to our home as “Planet Water.” your neighborhood that fl ows from your capturing, concentrating, and conveying Other solutions are more complex, will yard, roof, driveway and streets to the water away from a site as quickly 97% of the world’s water by volume require neighborhood, local community storm drain and on to your local creek as possible are now recognized as is held in the salty oceans and thus is or city level behavior changes and will or lake. disastrously fl awed and hydro-illiterate. undrinkable. Another 2% of the world’s take broad participation over some water is locked up in ice caps and glaciers. Th e old drain-age is now being replaced by a new retain-age. years to successfully implement. Th ere Less than 1% of the world’s water, at any also exists a whole class of democratic one time, is available as fresh water in We’re advocating for a new paradigm opportunities for social policy change lakes, rivers and accessible groundwater of stormwater management based on that must be implemented at the county, for shared use by humans and all other waterspread restoration, with a call to state and national levels to set in motion freshwater dependent beings. As sea slow it, spread it, sink it: Slow the water changes in water security for future levels rise due to global warming, the down, spread the water out, and sink the generations. Th e next section will discuss melting of polar ice caps and glaciers is water into the land. Pract ica l waterspread and off er ideas for how to strategically increasing the percentage of water that is Watersheds at all scales are evolved applications, such as bioswales and increase your participation with water in the saline ocean. As we drain wetlands, living entities whose state of health raingardens serve to biologically fi lter security at the home, community, and clearcut forests, plow soils and pave over provides a comprehensive benchmark stormwater, thus enhancing water national levels. our watersheds we further reduce our for judging the wisdom of our past and quality. Th ese applications can also available 1% of freshwater. Additionally, future land and water use practices. enhance water quantity through Water Conservation: our widespread polluting of aquifers, Watersheds literally underlie all human optimizing groundwater recharge and Choose Not to Use! rivers, lakes and the air dramatically endeavors and form the foundation reducing peak fl ood fl ows. For those Practicing water conservation by reduces the quality of this critically for all future human aspirations and that live in a fl ood plain area these ideas reducing your demands for water is limited clean freshwater available for survival. Watersheds topographically may be more challenging to implement. one of the most powerful acts we can human and environmental needs. defi ne community, and the health of Th orough site-specifi c evaluations of individually and collectively do. Water We must learn how to equitably and your watershed depends on collaborative slope stability, soil porosity, storm event conservation has a cascade of positive sustainably share the remaining 1% relations between neighbors in size, run-off volumes, and amount of eff ects and can aff ect the overall of available global freshwater for all your shared basin. Watershed is the imperviousness are critical. When we quantity and quality of available fresh agricultural, residential, manufacturing, geographic synonym for sustainability. think like a watershed, we can transform water. Every gallon of water you choose Page 12 Salmonid Restoration Federation jurisdictions are ready and waiting to collaborate with these eff orts. In the absence of buy-in and support by the local community it is often impossible to achieve measurable objectives and resource management goals, especially in areas where the majority of the land is in private ownership.

You Can Work for Systemic Political & Policy Changes for Water Security Considering the importance of water, involving yourself in the politics of water resources is critically important. Do you know the members of your local, city, county, or regional water board, Irrigation District, Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors, Drawings by Jim Coleman from “Basin of Relations.” or City Council? State and Federal development practices that will protect not to use equals one gallon not taken legislators? How do they make water quality and quantity. from your river or aquifer. It means one decisions, and have you participated gallon’s worth of electricity to pump it in the democratic process of helping What You Can Do by Working on and chemicals to make it potable are them make decisions? Have you ever Water at Diff erent Scales not needed. It means that one gallon is thought about running for a local offi ce Watershed issues provide us many not being degraded into ‘waste’ water, yourself? avenues for involvement at multiple additionally not needing electricity to levels and time scales. Some solutions are pump it, to treat it and to dispose of it in Ultimately lasting change will have small, and only require making diff erent our environment. Choosing not to use to occur via the arenas of politics and choices as an individual or family and water saves water quantity and quality, democratic decision making. We the can be done today in your home or yard. saves energy, saves money, helps reduce People are responsible for water-sane Other solutions are more complex, will demands on our watersheds and helps to policies and laws through our legislative, require neighborhood, local community mitigate climate change-induced water executive and judicial branches. or city level behavior changes and will stresses by reducing the collective water Metaphorically you could conceive of take broad participation over some footprint of humankind. these three branches as expressions years to successfully implement. Th ere of social sub-watersheds, and at their You Can Organize also exists a whole class of democratic confl uence the expression of health Your Basin of Relation opportunities for social policy change of the ‘mainstream’ is only as good as that must be implemented at the county, We are perched on the tipping point of the health of each contributing sub- state and national levels to set in motion a ‘watershed moment.’ From the global watershed branch. It is our collective changes in water security for future scale to the local scale we are faced responsibility to participate in making generations. Th e next section will discuss with a multitude of issues and decisions sure each branch of our democratic and off er ideas for how to strategically that will determine the future that our structure is adequately crafting mutually increase your participation with water children will inherit. Th e time is now security at the home, community, and for our communities to come together supportive conditions to care for our national levels. to set in motion plans and processes collective water resources. that ensure our watersheds will remain Your Home Basin of Relations is your Water Conservation: healthy in perpetuity. Viewing your living Lifeboat. Th ere are many things Choose Not to Use! watershed as a shared ‘basin of relation’ you can do to help. Together we can Practicing water conservation by allows you and your neighbors to truly make a diff erence. “Yes we can!” reducing your demands for water is defi ne t he bou nda r ies of you r com mu n it y one of the most powerful acts we can and organize around meaningful issues Th is article is an excerpt from the individually and collectively do. Water of true and lasting local social security. 20-page OAEC WATER Institute conservation has a cascade of positive Each process, like every watershed and publication called Basins of Relations: eff ects and can aff ect the overall its associated community, is unique. A Citizen’s Guide to Protecting and quantity and quality of available fresh Often times you will fi nd that certain Restoring our Watershed. Available at water. Every gallon of water you choose local, city, county, state and federal www.oaecwater.org Summer 2008 Page 13 Water Storage Helps Preserve Instream Flows ...... By Eric Goldsmith, Sanctuary Forest

summer stream flows to realize that the calendar is not a Fill and Top Your Tanks Outside have emerged as the most perfect guide to when you should stop the Low Flow Season significantLow obstacle to the recovery of pumping from your creek or river. The As a general rule, you should fill your listed coho, Chinook and steelhead in most important guide is the actual level tank no later than May 31 to ensure the Mattole River watershed. Sanctuary of streamflows at the point where you minimal impacts to flows and optimum Forest, a southern Humboldt County are pumping. water quality. Ideally you should stop land trust, established the Mattole To get more detailed information pumping entirely from August 1 until Flow Program in 2004 with the goal about streamflows and recommended November 15. of restoring healthy in-stream flows for no-pump periods outside the Mattole, Avoid overfilling your tank and fish and people. contact your local watershed group causing significant water losses. Two Early in the program hydrologic and or your nearest Department of Fish recommended methods to ensure water use studies identified that human and Game office, or check the data on against overflow losses are installation use is a significant contributor to low streamflows available through the U.S. of an automatic shut-off valve that flows and is the most controllable factor Geological Survey. turns your pump off when the tank is in restoring in-stream flows. Guided by full, and overflow piping back to the Calculating Your Water Storage Needs these insights Sanctuary Forest actively water source. promotes water storage and seasonal We recommend that every household To protect fish habitat and prevent forbearance of water withdraws as store enough water to last for a dry direct harm to juvenile fish, pumping a cornerstone of the Mattole Flow season stretching three months, or 105 rates should never exceed 5% of the Program. days. streamflows of the water source, and To help landowners develop large • Household water use: 55 gallons per in general pump rates should never go capacity water storage and benefit day (gpd) per person above 11 gallons per minute (gpm), fisheries, Sanctuary Forest developed • Garden water use: 18.5 gpd per 100 which is adequate to fill tanks in an the “Water Storage Guide”. This handy square feet of garden efficient manner. manual is designed to be distributed by • Fire protection water reserve: 2500 Installing and Maintaining water storage retailers with the sale of gallons Fish Screens on Pumps a tank. Sample storage calculation for a All pumps need to be equipped The information and concepts 3-person household with a 1600 sq ft with intake screens to prevent damage contained in the “Water Storage garden: to small fish. The screen openings Guide”, while developed in the • Household water need (Aug 1–Nov must be small enough so that small Mattole, are largely transferable to 15): 17,325 gallons (105 days x 3 fish can’t get sucked into the pump. any watershed. Below is a summary of people x 55 gpd) Additionally, the total screened area the main points of the guide. You can • Garden water need (Aug 1–Oct needs to be large enough so that the obtain a full version of the guide online suction pressure against the screen is at sanctuaryforest.org 15): 22,496 gallons (based on 76 days x 1600 sq ft x 18.5 gpd per 100 sq almost non-existent. It is very important Fish Friendly Water Storage ft; this assumes that households will to clean pump screens regularly to avoid stop irrigating their gardens after clogging. When pump screens become There are four key elements to fish- October 15, which is recommended) partly blocked by debris, the suction friendly water storage: • Fire protection: 2500 gallons pressure on the remaining screen • Calculate your household’s water will be higher, potentially injuring storage needs for the low-flow season. • Total household storage need: 42,321 juvenile fish. gallons (for 3 months) • Fill and top your tank(s) outside of Monitoring Weekly Water Use the low-flow season. This figure represents the household’s • Limit pump rates and use fish required storage for the full 3 1/2-month A water budget is an essential way to screens to protect small fish. dry season from August 1 through ensure that your stored water will last November 15. If you are unable to through the low-flow season, along • Monitor your weekly water use to store enough water for this entire with weekly monitoring of your water meet your water budget. period, make sure at least that you have usage. In its simplest form, a water These guidelines, and other important adequate storage to last through the budget takes your total water storage steps you can take, are explained in the two lowest-flow months of September capacity (excluding fire reserve) and following sections. When we refer to and October—that is, at least 60 days’ divides it by the number of weeks when the “low-flow season,” it is important worth of water. you will stop pumping. By measuring Page 14 Salmonid Restoration Federation your weekly usage you can ensure that loss in the event of leaks is the volume you’re staying “within budget”—and in the small tank. Exposed pipes are a make adjustments if you are not. common cause for major loss of water Th e easiest way to measure usage is to from leaks. Burying your water pipes install a water meter (cost: about $200) will protect them from most animal on the outlet of your tank, and record bites and the elements. usage on a weekly log. Th e water used Optimizing Quality of Stored Water per week is then easily calculated from the log and can be compared with the Th e quality of water from long-term storage in tanks is primarily dependent water allocation to make sure that water Th e Mattole River use is on budget. on the quality of the source water, the tank itself, and the two critical storage fi ght fi re. If this reserve is not kept in a Alternatively, you can manually conditions of temperature and light. separate tank, your larger tank must be calculate your weekly water use by To obtain drinking water quality from plumbed in such a way that the 2500 taking depth measurements of your tank either long- or short-term storage, it and using these to fi gure the change in gallons will not be bled down by other is recommended that both a drinking usage. A 2.5-inch standard male fi re volume. You can reduce water use by up water fi lter and UV purifi cation to fi fty percent during the dry season hose adapter is required for access to cartridge be installed at the drinking this water. by following these tips: water faucet to remove common bacteria • Reduce irrigation water by water- and other organisms. Permits For Tanks and Water Storage effi cient gardening and landscaping techniques: dry farming and drought- Incoming water quality is critical for County installation requirements: resistant plants, drip irrigation, long-term water storage. It is important permits or other requirements also vary mulching, evening watering, avoiding to fi ll the tank when the water source for tank installation within diff erent overwatering. is clear. Filtering the incoming water is counties and for diff erent zones within counties. Call your county • Reduce household water use by best; otherwise, be sure to use a pre- building department to determine using effi cient fi xtures and turning settling tank that allows the clear water the water off except when actually to be pumped from the top while the permit requirements for your location. rinsing dishes, showering, brushing sediment collects at the bottom. In Humboldt County the following general requirements apply: grading teeth, etc. Cool storage temperature is also permit, tank permit for those greater important for water quality, and large Replacing older, standard water than 5,000 gallons, riparian setback tanks keep water cooler than small fi xtures and appliances with newer, requirements. more water-effi cient versions can make tanks. Exposure to light is also a critical a tremendous diff erence in reducing factor for water quality. All sunlight St ate Water B oa rd p er m it s: Ca l i for n i a your daily household water use. must be excluded from the tank because requires an appropriative water right (or “small domestic use appropriation”) for Leak-proofi ng your tank and water sunlight encourages algae growth and water quality deterioration. water that will be stored longer than 30 system is absolutely essential to ensure days. Th e riparian water rights held by that your water lasts through the dry Emergency Water Loss landowners who withdraw water from season. Two methods for leak proofi ng Th e sudden loss of a large portion of a stream that passes by or through their large-capacity water tanks are described property allows only for direct diversion. below. stored water in the midst of the low- fl ow season is a serious problem for any A small domestic use appropriation Option 1: Install a valve manifold on household. But deciding to pump from registration can be obtained from the your tank to limit water loss in the event the stream or river in order to refi ll the State Water Resources Control Board of leaks. Th e manifold divides the tank tank at that point would be potentially (SWRCB) if the applicant qualifi es for into sections so that only one section of devastating for fi sh survival. In that small domestic use as defi ned by the the tank’s capacity can be drained at a circumstance, the most responsible SWRCB. time. It is best to divide your tank into choice you can make is to obtain the Fish and Game Code requirements: a minimum of three sections so that water you need to get through the dry DFG has authority under Fish & Game the maximum loss will be one third of season from a retail water supplier. Code section 1602 to regulate any water your tank. withdrawal that may have an impact on Fire storage requirements Option 2: Alternatively, you can use a fi sh or other aquatic life. According to small tank for all of your water supply Fire protection storage requirements the Code, anyone who undertakes an needs and manually fi ll the small tank may vary by county. In Humboldt activity that might “substantially divert from the large capacity tank as needed. County, homes in State Responsibility or obstruct the natural fl ow of any river, If the small tank is isolated from the Areas for fi re are required to maintain stream, or lake” is required to notify large tank, then the maximum water a reserve of 2500 gallons at all times to DFG of this activity. Summer 2008 Page 15 Salmonid Restoration Federation Non Profi t Org PO Box 784 US Postage Redway, CA 95560 PAID Permit #470 Santa Rosa CA

www.calsalmon.org [email protected]

Featured at the Conference

The Last Descent Red Gold Kathryn Scott, Charlie Center, Scott Ligare Lauren Oakes, Travis Rummel, Ben Knight World Premiere Norcal Premiere

Join a group of world class whitewater kayakers to some Th e headwaters of the worlds most amazing rivers...descending them of the Kvichak and possibly for the last time. Th e Marsyangdi River of Nepal, Nushagak Rivers the Brahmaputra River in India and the White Nile River in Bristol Bay, in Uganda are all threatened or are in the process of being Alaska, are home destroyed by large scale hydroelectric projects. Th e fi lm closes to the two largest in California with the Tuolumne River and the growing remaining sockeye mo v e m e nt to r e s tor e He tc h He tc hy Va l l e y i n Yo s e m it e Nat ion a l salmon runs on Park. (US, 2009, 35min, EA) www.thelastdescent.com, the planet. And www.internationalriver.org at that same spot, mining companies Northern Dynasty and Anglo American have proposed to extract what may prove to be the richest deposit of gold and copper in the world. Th e fi lmmakers spent more than two months in Bristol Bay, documenting the tension between native fi shermen who oppose the dam and mine offi cials who say they will build a ‘clean’ mine that will leave the salmon’s habitat untouched. Th is exquisite fi lm goes beyond the confl ict, off ering a portrait of a unique way of life that wouldn’t exist if the salmon don’t return with Bristol Bay’s tide. Audience Choice Award, Director’s Choice Award, Tellruide MountainFilm (US, 2008, 55min, E) www.redgoldfi lm.com, www.savebristolbay.org