REDWOOD NEEDLES
REDWOOD NEEDLESPresented by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter Newsletter, The REDWOOD NEEDLES
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By Hillary Adams, Navarro Watershed Protection Association
The Sierra Club, along with the Navarro Watershed Protection Association (NWPA) and the California Sportsfishing Protection Alliance, have filed suit against
the State Water Resources Control Board to protect Navarro River water for fish and wildlife. For nearly ten years, residents and groups such as the NWPA have been protesting a rapidly increasing number of applications for vineyard water. USGS Gauge records show that the flow of water in the Navarro has been decreasing at an alarming rate since the 1980's, unrelated to rainfall. Public records prove that several of the tributaries have been sporadically pumped dry. A Division of Water Rights survey of aerial maps conducted in 1997, under public pressure, discovered 130 illegally built reservoirs on the Navarro system. Most of these are onstream reservoirs created by dams blocking Coho and steelhead streams.
The Navarro River was historically renowned for its runs of Coho
salmon and steelhead. Studies undertaken between 1996 and 1998 at the Navarro estuary by Humboldt State University, proved that Coho salmon are nearly extinct and the steelhead count low on the Navarro. Both species have been listed as threatened under the Environmental Protection Act. The Coho were listed in October of 1996, yet the Division of Water Rights has done nothing to stop illegal diversion of water or to fine diverters.
Under state law, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), which oversees the distribution of water throughout the state through its Division of Water Rights, must prove that adequate water is available to protect the health of fish and wildlife before issuing any water permits. The SWRCB has refused to recognize the cumulative effects of the numerous permits, licenses, applications, and new reservoirs, both legal and illegal, on the Navarro as required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Division of Water Rights has ignored riparian diverters, pre-1914 diversions, and new illegal reservoirs built since 1997 in their cumulative total. By isolating each application, they have declared each "insignificant," taking them out of the CEQA purview. Instead of looking at cumulative effects as required under CEQA, they are issuing permits through the process of Negative Declarations, claiming that their methodology proves that there is sufficient water for fish and wildlife.
That methodology is being challenged by the National Marine Fisheries Service, by the NWPA. (for the Navarro) and by Trout Unlimited ( for the Russian River). Both of the latter organizations support a methodology called "Active Channel Flow" as presented by William Trush of the firm of McBain and Trush in Arcata. Nevertheless, SWRCB has gone forward and issued permits on theNavarro. According to a comment issued to SWRCB by the California Department of Fish and Game, one of these permits (a three-fold expansion of a smaller reservoir originally built illegally by Edward Bennett and Deborah Cahn) will not spill in most rain years and will cause harm to fisheries below the dam. If this permit were not contested in court, it would set a precedent for all onstream reservoirs in northern California rivers and streams. The Sierra Club and its allies are challenging the Bennett/Cahn permit. Public trust, cumulative effects, the need for Environmental Impact Reports under CEQA regulations, and the methodology by which water availability is determined by SWRCB are important issues in this litigation. The results will affect all of northern California's coastal rivers and streams.
The attorney for this case is Stephan Volker, previously with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, and now a partner in the firm of Brecher and Volker, Oakland. Mr. Volker is renowned for his knowledge and ability concerning water issues in northern California. The Sierra Club must raise $30,000 this year for the litigation. The Redwood Chapter has begun the process with a gift of $5,000. More is needed immediately. Please join the fight to save the Navarro and all coastal California rivers. Send your contribution to: Redwood Chapter Sierra Club, P.O. Box 466. Santa Rosa, CA 95402. Your gift today could save our rivers for tomorrow.
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