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View Full Version : Dec 14~Hearing~ SFPUC/Calaveras Dam~EIR review~Help restore steelhead 2 Alameda Creek



STEELIES/26c3
12-02-2009, 04:43 PM
I grew up within a 5 minute walk to the Alameda Creek and there I saw my first steelhead... and spent thousands of hours as a boy and later, a young man... exploring that watershed.

So despite that I live here now... Alameda Creek is and will always be near and dear to my heart.

In many ways this small gem is a mirror of the American River where I now thrive. Both watersheds are situated in densely-populated, urban areas yet hold great potential to sustain tons of wildlife and anadromous fish species. Both once held amazing runs of salmon and steelhead. Both have been severely and increasingly altered and denuded to supply water to consumers.

Unlike the American River and the greater, SAC/SJ Delta which it ultimately feeds, however... a major victory has recently been won on the Alameda Creek Watershed which has included; removal of dams, construction of fish ways/ladders, and a serious restoration and rehabilitation effort thanks to Jeff Miller and the Alameda Creek Alliance.

Unfortunately, the folks who control Calaveras Dam and its releases are not acting in good faith to ensure that the ACA's efforts will result in future healthy populations of steelhead and salmon.

Below is more info. Please read and attend the public hearing if possible.

Thanks,
Mark Lynn


To the Alameda Creek Alliance e-mail list:Please Attend the Sunol Hearing on Calaveras Dam December 14

Environmental review is underway for the Calaveras Dam replacement project, potentially the most significant restoration opportunity for Alameda Creek. With all major fish passage projects in the watershed now underway, stream flows for fish below the San Francisco dams is a critical last piece of the puzzle for the full restoration of Alameda Creek.

The San Francisco Planning Department will hold a final public hearing on the flawed draft Environmental Impact Report for the Calaveras Dam project on Monday, December 14, 2009 at 6:30 pm at the Sunol Glen Elementary School 11601 Main Street in Sunol.

Come speak at the public hearing in Sunol. Talking points for speaking are posted here:

http://www.alamedacreek.org/Press_Releases/Calaveras%20Dam%20EIR%20released%2010-7-09.pdf

This is the most controversial project of the entire Water System Improvement Program. We need a strong showing of public support for restoration to send a clear message to the SFPUC that they need to comply with environmental laws and restore steelhead as part of this project. Wear your Alameda Creek t-shirt to the hearing.

The SFPUC is proposing to operate the rebuilt dam in a manner that is incompatible with restoring steelhead below the dam. The proposed operation of Calaveras and the related Alameda Diversion dams and stream flow releases for migratory fish are inadequate. The proposed mitigations for what will be significant construction impacts on habitat for numerous endangered species are meager and inappropriate.

Read our Frequently Asked Questions about the problems with the project and EIR.

Please Sign Your Group or Organization Onto Our Group Comment Letter on the EIR.

Click here to read the letter and contact me to sign your group onto the letter by December 14.

Jasonh
12-06-2009, 01:34 AM
Hi Mark,

Thanks for posting this. Jeff Miller has done an amazing job for Alameda creek and I hope things continue to improve. It is really cool to realize that in this world of declining fisheries that we still have a few wild steelhead returning to a small stream in the heart of the Bay Area. Anyone who cares about preserving our fisheries and have a future fishery for the younger generations to come needs to stand up for wild fish and their preservation.

Mark, thank you very much for posting this and for continuing to be a great steward for the rivers you care so much about. Please keep us posted on this and hopefully we will see more steelhead returning to Alameda creek in the next 50 years.

JH

STEELIES/26c3
12-16-2009, 12:09 AM
Thanks for the acknowledgment Jason`

I did attend the public hearing for SFPUC's plan to rebuild the Calaveras Dam.

There were roughly 80 in attendance.

20% were engineers and other workers whose livelihoods are affected by the stalled building of the proposed dam.

The remaining 80% comprised the pro-steelhead faction and was made up of ACA, CCFFA, CSPA, Ohlone Indian Tribe, steelhead anglers, teachers, parents and stragglers like me...

The project manager (SFPUC and US Army Corps of Engineers) made his case for the new dam and discussed how it would unfold.

Each of us was given 3 minutes for public comment.

Many different approaches were taken to spell out the same message = that steelhead and salmon viability is contingent on a healthy flow regime. Damn, where have I heard THAT before?

The consensus is that the DAM-ners are provisioning for the needs of resident rainbow trout and the current plan does not address the needs of anadromous migrating adults and out-migrating smolts. Other flaws in the plan include a reactive rather than proactive approach to management, a less-than-holistic approach to future habitat restoration and management and that flow regimes are being allotted according to two very different data sets which in turn gives false information about what the fish need to recover.

Nothing was actually determined or decided upon last night. However, it was still an important milestone for many reasons; to have on record, public disapproval of the dam project as it now stands (with half-measures to restore and protect salmonid populations in the waters below the dam) , to affirm that the current EIR is flawed and subject to further review, and most importantly, now ACA has more time to work with organizations like NMFS to force compliance with NEPA, CEQA, ESA and other acts which will hopefully legally bind the SFUPC to proper stewardship of the watershed they intend to have a major impact on.

It sucks that we actually have to fight and fight and fight for things that should be inherently and automatically protected...

But WE MUST!

Long live the steelhead~
M