Conservation News
The News for November 2009
submitted by Dennis McVey
The News for November 2009
submitted by Dennis McVey
Here's the latest updates on the condition of our local salmon and steelhead fisheries in regards to the fallout from the Lockheed Fire, the hatchery, the STEP program, and the record breaking rainfall on October 13th.
Rainfall Totals:
Here are the official rain totals for county spots according to the National Weather Service. Aptos: 5.67 inches, Ben Lomond: 10.62 inches, Boulder Creek: 9.72 inches, Corralitos: 7.54 inches, Felton: 6.4 inches, Santa Cruz: 3.16 inches, Scotts Valley: 4.61 inches, Soquel: 3.66 inches, Watsonville: 4.54 inches. (SOURCE: National Weather Service). However, Sentinel weather watchers reported slightly higher totals in some spots, including 11.72 inches in Boulder Creek, 8.3 inches in Scotts Valley and 4.4 inches in Soquel. (Santa Cruz Sentinel - October 14, 2009 edition). According to my sources the San Lorenzo went from 10 cfs to over 5000 cfs in about a 12 hour period. Wow! Now that is a pretty good flush for a first rain of the season! Perhaps it is an indicator of things to come this winter, with a potential El Nino developing.
First Flush Program, Coastal Watershed Council:
Several of the club members also participated in the Coastal Watershed Council's First Flush event. Water samples were taken from various point source sites during the storm event and are being analyzed for contaminants that will impact the bay and the watershed.
Following are some excerpts from the Coastal Watershed Council staff in regards to their "First Flush" program:
"We received record-breaking rainfall for October, and according to the rainfall records, we actually captured the first hour of runoff - the real actual First Flush. This is hugely important, as missing this storm - or getting out there late - would mean that we would have had a large flush of pollutants occur before sampling. " (Armand Ruby, Technical Director, Coastal Watershed Council).
" To All Our Fabulous First Flush Volunteers:
Well the Central Coast was a very exciting place to be in the wee hours of October 13 and no one knows this better than the 40 "BOLD" volunteers (in the words of scientist John Ryan from MBARI) who crawled out of comfy covers at 4 AM to go out in the wild wind and rain and take those little samples of dirty water!!
We are pleased to report that all FF sites (12 storm drains and 3 stream sites) were monitored; all samples arrived in a timely fashion to the lab in Monterey and best, all volunteers stayed safe out there in spite of this being a 50 year record for an October storm. CSD-03, the Auto Plaza and CSD-08, Monterey Ave delivered as expected with big water and a tricky approach. Thanks to the fishermen on those teams (including several from Santa Cruz Fly Fishermen) those sites were handled with care! And several sites exceeded our expectations such as LOSD-05 at 30th Avenue, which was not sampled for the third time series due to unsafe conditions (good call team!). Another surprise, ASD-02, the Seacliff Beach stormdrain (a 36" diameter monster), was gushing so hard that several team members had to go in with chest waders to get close enough to the pipe to sample and their note-taker had to be 25-30' away to avoid being underwater! (This site had not been sampled beforeÉso now we know!) Finally, ASD-01 at Spreckles was monitored just in timeÉas Debbie snapped a picture on her way home Tuesday afternoon and the spot that team members stood in the morning rain was, by then, completely underwater, a small tree had fallen across the cement weir at the sample site and later the road was closed due to a downed tree!
Our sincere thanks go to everyone for your time, effort and amazingly good humor during this important event. We will keep you posted on the lab results as we receive them. And be on the look-out for our volunteer appreciation get-together coming soon."
(Nancy Scarborough, Coastal Watershed Council)
Big Creek Hatchery News:
According to the last contact with Carla Moss there were no fatalities (fish; hooray!) but she did say the fish looked stressed by the water condition. The Monday before the storm event Mike DiCiano and Barry Burt helped transport the captive bred adult Coho salmon and the young of the year that were spawned last season to the NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Services) facility at Longs Marine Lab, in Moss Landing. They also moved the experimental steelhead from the hatchery building over to NMFS as well. The raceway, with approximately 30,000 San Lorenzo steelhead and one doughboy pool of Scott Creek fish, were left to weather the storm. They are planning on planting out the San Lorenzo fish as soon as possible. Getting emergency transport permits from F&G seems to be a lot harder than anticipated. There seems to be some concern with releasing the fish without marking them because it might interfere with ongoing studies. We might have to rally volunteers for a future fin clip.
STEP Program News - from Barry Burt:
"As far as the STEP program goes, the training team has met and plans are to move ahead with the training, hoping that the hatchery will be able to provide the eggs for incubation if the water supply is reestablished. National Marine Fisheries' biologist, Sean Hayes, has offered to help us if we're unable to get our own eggs by possibly supplying us with eggs from the experimental fish at the NMFS facility.
As for the steelhead movement, this year, it was decided to go ahead and seek changes and agreement at Paradise Park to move about 5K fish there. The movement to a pen at Loch Lomond was discounted, certainly, by F&G. The balance of the fish in the raceways would be scheduled for release in small lots - leaving about 5K fish at the Hatchery. (This is my recollection of the discussions and agreements about the Hatchery-raceway fish).
We also included a disclaimer stating that due to the conditions of the ecosystem surrounding the hatchery, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to supply eggs for incubation this year. We also discussed the possibilities of an alternate site for day one's stream activities, given the condition of Big Creek and the sensitivity of the area surrounding the hatchery."
Thank Yous to the SCFF:
We got a thank you letter with literature, a thank you phone call and a "thanks for the Mammoth Fish Out visit" from the Eastern Sierra Land Council; and another thank you letter from the Friends of the River - for our contributions.