Salmonid Restoration Federation (SRF) will be hosting a Community Water Meeting on Thursday, November 19 at the Beginnings Octagon. The purpose of the meeting is to convene water stakeholders and community members in order to explore solutions and build capacity for water conservation efforts that could improve instream flows for threatened salmon and local residents.
Click here for additional information about the Community Water Meeting in Briceland, CA on November 19.
California is in our third year of extended drought. Under the California Water Action Plan, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has identified five priority watersheds for instream flow projects in California. The South Fork Eel River was identified as a priority watershed because it is key for the recovery of coho salmon and suffers from low summer flows. Cool water tributaries that flow into the South Fork Eel provide critical refugia for juvenile salmonids.
For three years, SRF has been conducting a low flow study in Redwood Creek, the 26 square mile watershed that borders the Mattole River and flows into the South Fork Eel River. Tributaries in Redwood Creek include Dinner Creek, China Creek, Miller Creek, Seely Creek and Upper Redwood Creek. These tributaries historically supported coho salmon, steelhead, and Chinook salmon. “This watershed has grown in population and due to logging and human settlement, the forest landscape and natural hydrology of this area has been dramatically altered. Extended drought coupled with unregulated water diversions has contributed to lack of flows and creeks becoming disconnected early in the dry season,” explained Dana Stolzman, Executive Director of SRF.
SRF has been doing community outreach and building capacity for water conservation strategies that would improve flows and serve as pilot projects for other rural communities. With the passage of the Water Bond and the launch of Proposition 1 funding, there is the opportunity to design water conservation projects that would improve water flows in rural watersheds. SRF recently submitted a Proposition 1 implementation proposal for nearly one million gallons of water storage in Redwood Creek that includes three large ponds for private landowners and the Beginnings School. The proposed project is the first phase of a long-term water conservation strategy that will ideally protect fisheries habitat, improve instream flows, and provide water security for the community.
The community water meeting will offer short presentations about current water conservation efforts, navigating water rights, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Cannabis Cultivation Waste Discharge Regulatory Program, Water Bond restoration opportunities, as well as roundtable tributary discussions so landowners and residents can discuss water stewardship for their particular tributaries. Resource professionals including representatives from Salmonid Restoration Federation, Sanctuary Forest, Trout Unlimited, Stillwater Sciences, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the NCRWQCB will be available to circulate amongst the breakout groups to offer assistance and resources to help tributary groups conceptualize how a water management plan or charter could inform community-based water stewardship practices. Organized tributary associations are in a better position to work with local non-profits to develop community-based water conservation projects that could be funded under Proposition 1.
This water meeting was made possible with support from the California Department of Fish and Game Fisheries Restoration Grant Program and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board’s 319h grant program.