We recently submitted a letter to Chuck Bonham, the director of California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, requesting that his agency provide overdue stream flow studies and minimum flow recommendations to the State Water Resources Control Board. The State Water Board is in turn responsible for managing instream flows and rights to divert water. Maintaining … Read more
This week on the EcoNews Report we discuss how fish are monitored and counted. Our host Alicia Hamann from Friends of the Eel River is joined by Dave Kajtaniak from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Samantha Kannry from TRIB Research. Tune in to learn about the hopeful returns salmon returns on … Read more
July 12, 2018 Gordon Leppig, Senior Environmental Scientist California Department of Fish and Wildlife 619 2nd Street Eureka, CA 95501 RE: Notice of preparation of a DEIR for Ocean Ranch Restoration Project Dear California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Friends of the Eel River writes in support of the Ocean Ranch Restoration Project as outlined in the Notice … Read more
And Big Weed seems nearly as concerned about the loss of coho salmon as the timber industry was. In the last EcoNews, I wrote about the new federal Recovery Plan for coho salmon, and its warning that water diversions and sediment impacts associated with the booming marijuana industry present grave threats to coho recovery in … Read more
Article published on February 19, 2015 by Willits News By: Adrian Baumann Read online at Willits Nets Plans for the multi-agency task force, including the California Water Board and Department of Fish and Wildlife, aiming to regulate marijuana growing in the state continue to evolve. The task force conducted January inspections of marijuana grows on … Read more
By: Scott Greacen Originally published by Econews, June 2014 Serial Variance Requests Reveal Vulnerability of Eel River Fisheries to Demands from Russian River Irrigators The Eel River’s surviving salmonids—chinook, coho, and steelhead—are struggling to come back from near-extinction. Good returns from 2010 to 13, particularly for chinook, felt like recovery might be getting underway. Unfortunately, … Read more
With the Green Rush and the drought colliding this summer, is it too late to save Humboldt’s watersheds? Growers used an illegally dug spring to irrigate their crops at the scene of this marijuana growing operation uncovered by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s office last summer. It’s July 2 and about 18 officials are sitting in … Read more
On March 13, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) announced expedited approval for the installation of storage tanks by landowners who currently divert water from coastal rivers in CDFW regions 1 & 3. Humboldt County and most of the Eel River watershed are … Read more
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, owners of the Pottery Valley Project have requested and been granted permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reduce flows to the main stem Eel River at Cape Horn Dam, from Lake Pillsbury at Scott Dam, and into the East Branch of the Russian River. This is a … Read more