A YouTube video posted yesterday to SFGate.com claimed that the Eel has stopped flowing altogether, which is not strictly accurate. The video above, which was shot this morning, shows that the Eel simply goes underground for a stretch, running beneath the surface of the gravel riverbed before reemerging about 100-200 yards north. Regardless, this is … Read more
BENTON FALLS, MAINE — “Look underneath you,” commands Nate Gray, a burly biologist for the state of Maine. He reaches down to the grate floor of a steel cage perched on a dam straddling the Sebasticook River, and pulls back a board revealing the roiling river 30 feet below. “All you see is fish.” Below, undulating in … Read more
A state appeals court has restored the authority of California water regulators to direct reductions in cold-weather sprays by grape growers and other waterfront farmers along the Russian River that have led to deaths of endangered species of salmon. A Mendocino County judge previously ruled that the state Water Resources Control Board lacked authority to … Read more
By: Scott Greacen Originally published by Econews, February 2014 See detailed timeline of correspondence and media coverage. Utility cites risk of sediment collapse; drained reservoir may run dry. A few people in the Russian River watershed still have a greater claim to the Eel’s water than do the river’s own salmon. After draining its reservoir … Read more
In drought-hit California, marijuana growers are feeling the heat, accused of using too much water for their thirsty plants and of polluting streams and rivers with their pesticides and fertilizers. … Nevedal and other pot backers said the ultimate solution was for Congress to fully legalize the drug, which she said would eliminate the need … Read more
The two dams on the Elwha River in Washington state have been nearly completely removed – the Lower Elwha Dam was removed in 2012, and the remaining 25 feet or so of the Glines Canyon Dam is expected to be gone in September 2014. Incredible changes have taken place in this landscape since the … Read more
Sustaining our ecosystem is like paddling a canoe, Strange, a former river guide, pointed out. “You have to know what happened upstream and where the rapids are, and you have to paddle together, stay balanced, and respect the river.” “Nothing is more scary and sensitive to landowners than questions about their water use,” said Stolzman. … Read more
Learn more about our current drought, its historic and scientific context, the impact on our environment, and how state and federal policymakers are handling the situation. Drought History Graphic reprinted from the North Coast Journal California Drought: 17 Communities Could Run Out of Water Within 60 to 120 Days, State Says Paul Rogers, San Jose … Read more
New research shows that this whale [“southern resident” orcas] population — divvied up into three lively pods — loves to travel, especially in the winter. Last year scientists found that, over the course of just a few months, they cruised from Cape Flattery, at the far northwestern tip of Washington, down along the Oregon Coast … Read more
November 2103 Dear Friends of the Eel River, We’ve come around again to the end of the year. It’s a good time to take stock and look forward. I offer a few thoughts about what lies ahead, in faith you’ll support our work. The Eel River is poised on a tipping point. The sinuous skein … Read more