Pescadero Steelhead disaster

[Jeff F]

This is extremely disturbing......

Didn't know there were that many steelhead that ran up Pescadero Ck. What a shame......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5yBvffF-Ew&feature=youtu.be

http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/11/06/pescadero-more-steelhead-deaths-frustrate-residents/

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Very sad....

Sometimes there is too much partially treated sewage going into a drainage?

De-watering for uses upstream?

.

[Mark Kranhold]

Thanks for the link! Very disturbing and sad!

[mogaru]

Sad, really sad. I used to fish Pescadero creek when I lived in the Bay Area. This is stupid, the government declares steelhead an endangered fish, and California states park, a branch of the state government is killing these fish because they want to have a marsh land adjacent to the Pescadero lagoon. These fish die when the water from the marsh spills onto the Pescadero lagoon and the fish can't escape to the ocean because of the sand bar. The only way to solve this is with a lawsuit from Cal trout or similar entity. It's pretty obvious the state is not willing to do anything about it.

[Darian]

This is a sad situation. I fished Pescadero often back in the late 60's through the mid 70's; always thought it was special but had no idea that the Steelhead run had that many returnees.

This situation is a bit confusing to me. The marsh has always been there but maybe changed/expanded by State Parks. Is all AG water around there diverted from and returned to the creek untreated?? No mention of a small dam in the article but wouldn't a low dam of some type be needed to back-up water upstream to create a marshy area?? If it's there, it probably needs to be opened peridically to allow periodic release/refresh of the water behind it. Lots of development in/around that area but no mention of potential pollution from street run-off, etc. Since I have good memories about that place, I sure hate to see it disappear.... :(

[Rick J]

it does sound like a natural phenomenon as it sounds as if there was a marsh connection prior to farmers changing things. What is unclear is if something else we have done has exacerbated the problem causing more sediment in the system. Would be interesting to see how the system functioned long ago. Do hope they can find a solution without too many more years of studying the issue to death!!

On the Russian there is environmental outcry every time the folks unnaturally breach the sand bar at the mouth causing other issues

[yubaman]

WOW! It never seems to amaze me how the wheels of government can grind to a halt when faced with a large expenditure. This is a big deal. I hope something happens here in the form a solution. I doubt anything can happen quickly . . .

[Walter]

WOW! It never seems to amaze me how the wheels of government can grind to a halt when faced with a large expenditure. This is a big deal. I hope something happens here in the form a solution. I doubt anything can happen quickly . . .

What they need to do is reroute the creek back to its historical route through the marsh and flush it out so the hydrogen sulfide killing the fish doesnt build up the way it does now. But they wont spend the money to do that since a parking lot was constructed along the north cliffs where the mouth used to breach....its actually quite simple. Just expensive and a hassle. Like trying to figure outfish passage above and back through Lake Shasta. They are very simple and straightforward issues. Just expensive and not at the top of the list.