While some McCloud residents are delighted by the potential economic boost the water plant might bring, there is growing concern about the impact of such a large facility using so much water. Tourism is a major part of the local economy and continues to expand. One of the major attractions of the area is the world famous McCloud River trout fishery and the scenic Upper McCloud River falls."If Nestle builds this million-square foot plant and ties up all the water, we will go from being a quiet historic lumber town to Nestleville, USA," says a concerned McCloud CalTrout member.California Trout is concerned about the extraction of the water and the potentially significant effects to the aquifer and diminished flows in the McCloud River and its largest tributary Squaw Valley Creek. The impacts of the project on the spring inflows are being assessed through a state and federal environmental review process. California Trout has filed comments on the early phases of this environmental review process to ensure that impacts are fully quantified before the project is allowed to proceed. Streamkeepers Log, Winter 2005
Another Cantara Spill; Still No Safety Measures
It happened again. On January 10, another train jumped off the tracks in the Upper Sacramento River canyon just south of Dunsmuir. Four cars derailed spilling 700 gallons of diesel fuel along the tracks. Fortunately, the Union Pacific Railroad estimates that only 35 gallons of fuel entered the river. It was a dumb-luck miss.
There have been 44 significant derailments since the 1991 Cantara spill that killed 40 miles of the Upper Sacramento River. Yet, no additional precautionary measures have been established since that spill (that's right, nothing has changed except increased train traffic). Derailments continue to pose a serious threat to this famed trout stream, to public safety and, alarmingly, to the state water supply in downstream Shasta Lake.
These recent derailments have exposed the cozy relationship between the railroads and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the agency in charge of safety and oversight. The Sacramento Bee described the FRA as "inept at protecting the public and the environment from negligent rail operations."
California Trout is working with California's federal elected officials and the California Public Utilities Commission on introducing amendment language to the Federal Railroad Safety Act. It's a race against the clock. Odds are another derailment will happen along the Upper Sacramento River before stricter standards can be applied at dangerous sections of track. Until then we rely only on dumb luck. Streamkeepers Log, Winter 2005
Local Salmon Season Opens April 2nd
The salmon season opens April 2 for the Golden Gate Fleet, as well as for anglers out of Monterey, Half Moon Bay and Bodega Bay. What they will find, according to state and federal scientists, is that the ocean is full of fish. Each year, scientists project the number of adult salmon in the area, with the typical forecast about 600,000 to 700,000 salmon. These annual estimates are conservative, and in 13 of the past 20 years, the actual numbers, and the quality of fishing, was better than projected. The lowest forecast for salmon was 452,000 fish in 1992. The highest was just over 1 million in 1998.
Last year, a good year for Golden Gate Fleet, scientists projected 831, 000 salmon, and the actual numbers came in at 871,000. So get this: Scientists are predicting 1.67 million adult salmon on the Bay Area coast this year, a mind-blower. That's right, more than double the number of salmon from last year's forecast, and nearly triple the number of fish seen in a typical year. Tom Stienstra, SF Chronicle 3/20/05
The Fly Shop's Opening Day Party, Friday, April 29th
The Fly Shop (4140 Churn Creek Road, Redding - visible from I5N to the right on the frontage just before town) is celebrating trout season opening day with a party featuring free food (11AM-5:30PM), a Mike Mercer fly tying demonstration (2PM), a Tim Fox fly tying demonstration (4PM), fly fishing industry reps, staff ready to share local knowledge (Hat Creek, Pitt and Fall Rivers and many other nearby streams and stillwaters) and a DFG representative. With free food, great advice and good people this will be enjoyable and enlightening. The Fly Shop press release, 02/15/05