Scott River
Water Trust
seeks to help
fish, farmers
Program leases
water rights
from growers
Elizabeth Larson
Capital Press
Staff Writer
February 9, 2007
ETNA - In
Northern
California a
unique effort is
under way -
possibly the
first of its
kind in
California -
that seeks to
enhance fish
migration by
keeping more
water in local
streambeds.
The Scott River
Water Trust is a
developing
program that
leases and/or
purchases water
historically
used for
agriculture and
pays willing
water right
holders to leave
the water in the
stream for
threatened coho
salmon.
The idea behind
the water trust
was first
discussed a
decade ago, said
project
consultant Sari
Sommarstrom.
Then the coho
salmon, which
spawns and rears
in the river,
was listed as
threatened under
the federal
Endangered
Species Act.
Finally funded
in 2002, the
water trust
program is a
project of the
Scott River
Watershed
Council and the
Siskiyou
Resource
Conservation
District, with
the California
Department of
Fish and Game
initially
funding the
effort.
The Scott River
is one of the
Klamath River's
four major
tributaries. The
river runs
through Siskiyou
County's Scott
Valley, a
largely
agricultural
area.
Sommarstrom said
the water
trust's goal is
to improve
streamflow for
salmon and
steelhead at
critical periods
within the Scott
River watershed.
The trust
proposes to do
that through
compensating
willing
water-right
holders - in
particular,
farmers and
ranchers who use
the water for
irrigation and
stock watering -
to forego using
some of their
water.
"It's a
community idea
that developed
due to a
combination of
proactive nature
and upcoming
regulatory
requirements,"
said Gary Black,
a SRCD senior
project
coordinator who
has been
instrumental in
putting the
water trust
together.
The flows of the
Scott River and
its tributaries
are
snowmelt-driven.
In the spring,
Black noted,
"there's more
than enough
water for fish
and farms," but
as the snowmelt
tails off,
supplies become
tough in the
late summer and
fall. "The issue
of late summer
competition
between fish and
ag is pretty
significant," he
said.
Water needs for
the fish are
most critical in
late July,
August and
September,
Sommarstrom
said, when fish
species such as
coho salmon and
steelhead are
rearing their
young in the
streams. In
years when fall
rains are
delayed, she
said, even the
fall chinook
salmon have not
had enough water
for spawning in
October.
Black said the
water trust
wants to focus
on short-term
water leases
with water users
to improve fall
and summer
flows. The
typical lease,
he said, would
be 60 to 90 days
in duration
during those
times.
Sommarstrom said
if a water user
agreed to divert
less stream
water for
irrigation, the
water trust
would fully
compensate him
for production
loss. Likewise,
the trust would
help ranchers
get alternative
sources of water
for watering
livestock during
the
post-irrigation
season.
Determining
water value is
important,
Sommarstrom
said. "We don't
want to pay too
much or too
little for
water, just what
is fair and
reasonable."
Just how much
water do the
fish need? She
suggested the
amount could
range from as
little as 0.5
cubic feet per
second (CFS) and
up. "That can
make a big
difference in a
small creek
that's only
flowing a half
CFS already,"
she said.
Sommarstrom
emphasized that
the water trust
seeks to benefit
the fish without
hurting other
water users -
the farmers and
ranchers who are
irrigating their
crops of pasture
and alfalfa, and
watering their
livestock.
"We don't want
to take land out
of production
permanently. I
know that's been
an issue in some
other states,"
she said.
Black, who is
also a rancher
in the area,
agreed.
"Agriculture is
the main economy
in this valley
and is the only
answer to
protect existing
open space from
development. The
intent of the
RCD is to find
local solutions
that demonstrate
agriculture can
and will be the
best economy for
the environment
and community.
The water trust
is an extension
of that belief."
Even though it's
a
community-based
effort, Black
called the
response from
both the ag and
environmental
communities
"mixed." While
some
environmentalists
don't feel it
goes far enough,
some water users
are concerned
about the risk
associated with
having less
water available.
Black said many
people think the
effort's intent
is to increase
water flows into
the Klamath
River. "That is
entirely not the
intent and is
not possible,"
he said.
The trust's
water
transactions
will have
"minimal to no
influence" on
the Klamath, he
said, and its
goals include
addressing
fishery and
water quality
issues within
the Scott River
watershed only.
Water trusts are
a new concept in
California, said
Sommarstrom.
"When we are
formalized, we
will be the
first water
trust in
California, as
far as I know."
The concept has
already been
adopted in
Oregon,
Washington
state, Colorado
and Montana, she
said.
A critical step
in transferring
water to
instream uses,
for the short-
or long-term, is
state approval,
a process that
both Black and
Sommarstrom
report has been
very slow.
Sommarstrom and
Black said that
there are
already a few
instream
transactions
before the
State's Water
Resources
Control Board's
Division of
Water Rights,
which hasn't
approved them
yet. One of the
transactions has
been waiting for
approval for 16
months, said
Black.
Part of the
issue,
Sommarstrom
said, may be
that the
instream water
transfer concept
is so new to the
state that
officials don't
know how to
handle it and
staffing is
limited.
"This process is
regulatorily
strangled,"
Black said. "The
community is
proactively
trying to do the
right thing for
fish and water
quality and the
process won't
allow us do what
agencies and
interest groups
continually ask
of us."
Going forward,
Sommarstrom
said, building
relationships
will be key to
the effort.
They're calling
this a water
trust with a
capital T, she
said, but what
will be
essential is to
establish trust
- with a small t
- within the
Scott River
watershed
community. |
