Bringing back the Little Shasta river for the salmon........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IZf4M0lHIE

This is just one more step to saving the salmon in California.

Appreciate the video apologies if I am too fired up.

Myself and a local group formed Friends of the Shasta River to counter balance the long standing and completely ineffective, in terms of better fish numbers or improved water quality, advocacy for fish and water quality in the Shasta Watershed. Despite only contributing 1% to total Klamath flow the Shasta is the source for up to 50% of all Klamath Fall Chinook. The Shasta once produced similar proportions of Coho and Steelhead but these fish need cold over summer flows and agricultural water use practices turn the glacial source springs into hot sewage almost as soon as it flows from the ground.

The Hart Safe Harbor is a feel good story with ZERO benefit to salmonids as the stream is completely dry all irrigation season and well into the early winter in dry years. Coho have no access to this ranch. Hart got $millions$ in exchange for the dedication of 1.5 cfs..., which is not enough to keep a salmon's back wet. The "dedicated" water is then sucked out by the next user(s) downstream. Huge public funds were also spent to improve Hart's diversion though it is also dry most of the year.

There is also a Safe Harbor proposal for the main stem Shasta, an agreement that was negotiated in secret (it included select/corporate enviro orgs who signed confid. agreements) and, because landowner diverters objected, excluded the California Water Board. The ranchers don't want the Water Board involved because that agency has teeth and is in charge of getting the Shasta River off the Clean Water Act list of impaired water.

The Shasta has been in decline for decades because the "collaborative voluntary partnerships" do not work unless both sides have equal power. The diverters have power because the Shasta Valley water was divided up long before fish were a consideration such that the water is allocated well beyond available supply. The biggest diverters aren't struggling little guys but rather wealthy (at least 2 billionaires) entities that arguable have enough gravy on their plates. That power, on the environmental side, must be won through aggressive advocacy and no one has pushed that envelope up here.

Our current advocacy does not support Safe Harbor. One participant got a ton of funding approved for diversion improvements who has now been cited by the Water Board for unlawful riparian involving huge amounts of that same diverted for decades Shasta River Water. Safe Harbor negotiators refused to consider the potential illegal diversion during negotiations.

Several times this summer the Shasta has been essentially dewatered. We are encouraged that, based on a CDFW finding of excessive dewatering this year is harming salmon, the Water Board is about to issue curtailment and minimum instream flow orders. This may tip the power balance toward a more willing to compromise diverters but they are fighting the proposal tooth and nail.

Goliath sized environmental organizations funding slick looking media does not make up for the absence of water and fish in the Little Shasta or Shasta mainstem. The fish numbers speak volumes.

Andy

https://nativefishsociety.org/watersheds/shasta-river
https://www.shastariver.org/about-us/

I guess as we get older we don't trust most organizations because money runs all.

Andy is correct that the Little Shasta deal was a feel good project between the world's largest private conservation organization, agencies and the Hart family. The Harts are good folks and Blair has tried for years to wean his ranch off surface water, knowing that eventually, there wouldn't be enough to go around. They got improvements paid for to help them be more water use efficient and independent with as Andy points out, zero salmonid benefits. Good for Blair and Susan for getting it done so that their daughter will be able to carry on the family legacy.

CDFW has been poised to purchase land that had good water rights from willing sellers for many years. They were close to a deal with one of those billionaires until a separate incident (lawsuit) forced the landowner to scuttle the deal. Those negotiations lasted 2 years and included Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge/USFWS as a primary partner. The Federal Refuge System even produced scoping documents about the property. When the outright purchase fell through, CDFW attempted to negotiate a conservation easement with the same landowner which would have allowed him to continue ranching while protecting key spring habitat. That also didn't work out.

The Nature Conservancy did purchase the Shasta Big Springs Ranch which is at or near the headwaters of Big and Little Springs Creeks and consists of cold, spring water. CDFW biologists discovered coho, chinook and steelhead rearing in Little Springs Creek - which had previously been diverted for irrigation for well over 100 years. CDFW purchased a conservation easement for the property and also had first right of refusal when TNC decided to sell. The property is now owned by the Department.

I'm not convinced the Shasta River Watershed will ever be re-adjudicated. Most of the water users aren't corporate billionaires, they are ranch families just trying to make a living. Yes - all of the water and then some has been appropriated and/or adjudicated. Some of those rights go back to the 1800's. The County is opposed to removing any more property from their tax base which makes purchasing land with good water rights more challenging. Even if properties are purchased, changing water rights to allow instream flow dedications is a long and difficult process.

CDFW could enforce current regulations (streambed alteration/FGC 1600) to provide relief and ensure bypass flows to support healthy aquatic systems. However, the Department has shown little stomach for going this route. It may take a Mono Lake style Public Trust lawsuit to change business as usual... I'm personally stunned it hasn't happened already.

Andy, how can I donate to Shasta river org?

Hey Rossflyguy we'd love (and desperately need) donations because so far its all volunteer work and $. We are still waiting on a final approval letter from the Feds to enable the donations to be tax deductible, should be coming soon. If you send me your email via DM (I won't share it)I will keep you in the loop about that and what we are doing.

The sometimes selfish steelheader in me wants to bring the Shasta back, not just because its a natural treasure, but also because it used to crank out steelhead smolts which will make the Klamath fish better for me ... or my young son.

Thanks for the support!

Andy

Andy - thanks for all you do for my home water. Please keep me in the loop as well - I will DM my email.

Despite the Little Shasta's spring headwaters and numerous spring sources along it's journey to the Shasta the Hart diversion, which was part of this multi-million dollar "Safe Harbor" project is dewatered.

Attachment 17306

Though I don't have the credentials of a fish biologist I'm comfortable with the bold statement, "salmon can't survive or spawn in a dry riverbed."

You are correct Andy - the whole project was never intended to provide water for fish, rather it was to be a feather in the cap for the NGO's and agencies and provide incentive for other landowners to come to the table. That hasn't happened.