Feds fault fish plan

The state Department of Water Resources and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. may have to take six additional months to craft a plan to restore salmon habitat on the Yuba River after two federal agencies faulted their proposal.

The National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wlidlife Service described several areas of concern with the Draft Habitat Enhancement Plan for the Yuba and three creeks feeding into the Feather River in Butte County.

Among them are the criteria used to compare the plans to other plans, a lack of proof the plans would succeed and missing explanations of how PG&E and Water Resources would overcome obstacles.

Additionally, some parts of the plan would negatively affect the fall-run Chinook salmon, a fish also considered threatened, according to the Fisheries Service.

PG&E and Water Resources are trying to get Fisheries Service approval for either the Yuba River or "Three Creeks" plan so the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will relicense their power-generating projects on the Feather River.

To implement the Yuba River plan, the two agencies would spend about $20 million creating gravel beds, reconnecting side channels and creating a segregation weir.

Landowners along the river expressed skepticism at a meeting in Marysville last month, saying there was little evidence the plan would increase salmon runs.

"While the proximate cause of the recent declines in fall-run Chinook escapement numbers is believed to be poor ocean conditions, the ultimate cause of the longer-term declines is the loss and degradation of inland, freshwater habitats," the Fisheries Service said in its filing with the commission. "Thus, reducing the area of Yuba River habitat accessible to fall-run Chinook could further exacerbate such longer-term declines."

The Fisheries Service said more consideration should be given to restoring fish habitat on the upper Yuba River, above dams such as Lake Englebright.

Fish and Wildlife said steps to work on the riverbed below Englebright and Daguerre Point dams didn't seem likely to cause as much benefit as the proponents asserted.

"Increasing spawn habitat is an important consideration in conserving all Chinook salmon; however, increasing spawning habitat without a commensurate increase in fish passage may not be expected to attain the numbers put forward in the (plan)," Fish and Wildlife wrote to the commission.

Water Resources officials said they hadn't seen the federal agency filings and couldn't comment.

PG&E spokesman Brian Swanson in Sacramento said the utility had seen comments from the Fisheries Service and others and was working on responses.

Officials with Water Resources and PG&E said they would submit one of the plans in May; it was unclear if that will still happen, given the Fisheries Service recommendation for a six-month extension.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ben van der Meer at 749-4709 or bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com. For more Yuba County news, see Ben's blog "Yuba County Insider" at appealdemocrat.com.