Op-Ed: Improving salmon and steelhead habitat
How would California stakeholders fare if we were issued a report card on our work to improve salmon and steelhead habitat around the State? By "stakeholders" I mean state and federal agencies, agricultural interests, environmental groups, water agencies, and those involved in water management. The challenge is, of course, incredibly difficult. But recently, several landmark settlements have been developed to improve habitat in our state's rivers, from the Klamath to the San Joaquin. One of these promising habitat enhancement efforts is on the lower Yuba River.
The lower Yuba River runs 24 miles, from the Army Corps of Engineers Englebright Dam to its confluence with the Feather River, near the City of Marysville. Because there are no fish hatcheries on the Yuba, it nurtures one of the last, wild salmon and steelhead runs in California's Central Valley. In late 2009, Gov.Schwarzenegger awarded the Yuba County Water Agency (YCWA) the Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award for our work to develop the Lower Yuba River Accord (Yuba Accord), an imaginative, multi-dimensional settlement agreement approved by state and federal agencies. Several of our partners played an instrumental role in the Yuba Accord's development, particularly Trout Unlimited and The Bay Institute.
The Yuba Accord is improving valuable habitat in the lower Yuba River, one of California's signature salmon rivers. Initiated with Accord pilot programs in 2006 and 2007, a higher instream flow program has been underway to enhance river habitat during the warm summer and fall months. Depending upon whether it's a dry or wet year, up to an additional 170,000 acre-feet of water is dedicated for Yuba River fisheries purposes. This instream flow commitment exceeds any previous state or federal requirement. Every year, the Yuba Accord provides 60,000-acre-feet of water for the State of California to manage in the Bay-Delta ecosystem.
A comprehensive scientific program is also up and running. Based upon a $6 million commitment from YCWA, a "River Management Team" has begun a leading-edge monitoring and evaluation program to study the new instream flows and to better understand the river. Their work includes a riparian and substrate mapping of the river, acoustic tagging and tracking of spring run and fall run Chinook salmon, and a microchemistry life-history analysis of these fish species, to determine their age, origin and health. Biologists will also conduct a Chinook salmon and steelhead redd survey, identifying the location of key spawning areas. Critical information is being developed about the river, its long-term needs and what is necessary to enhance fisheries habitat.
In its 2009 draft Central Valley salmon and steelhead recovery plan, the National Marine Fisheries Service stated that the Yuba Accord will "…considerably improve conditions in the Lower Yuba River." So far, the results are promising. While it is too soon to draw any conclusions from salmon escapement figures (the number of adult salmon that return from the ocean to spawn in their native rivers), the Yuba's escapement seems to have fared better than the entire Sacramento River system during the recent salmon downturn. According to Pacific Fisheries Management Council data for 2009, the Yuba adult escapement as a percentage of Sacramento River total adult escapement increased from 4 percent in 2006 to 18 percent in 2009 — or a 14 percent increase. Also, the Yuba adult escapement has increased over the last two years. We believe the Yuba Accord has something to do with this positive trend.
California is also receiving more water because of the Yuba Accord. Since the 2007 pilot program, YCWA has transferred an average of 110,000 acre-feet of water each year to the Department of Water Resources. Cities, farms and the environment all benefit from these water supplies, particularly in dry years. The revenue from these transfers also helps the Yuba River and our local community. Transfer revenue has enabled YCWA to finance the River Management Team and other important community measures. Last year, YCWA leveraged Accord transfer revenues to finance, with Yuba County, the local $46 million cost-share of the new Feather River setback levee - helping to provide a 200 year level of flood protection for local communities in Yuba County and creating 1,500 acres of floodplain wildlife habitat.
This is the beginning. The challenge for all California stakeholders working to improve salmon and steelhead habitat is to accelerate these measures while also enriching the lives of those in our communities. The Yuba Accord, like many other fisheries agreements, is a terrific step forward. I believe we're off to a great start, worthy of an "A" for effort. And we couldn't make this kind of progress without working well with others.
Tib Belza is chairman of the Yuba County Water Agency's board of directors.
