An attempt to restore the population of endangered Southern California steelhead trout living in the Santa Ynez River is being opposed by some jurisdictions that rely on the river and Cachuma Lake for their water supply.
The number of trout, which travel to and from the ocean throughout their lifecycle, in the river began declining after the construction of Bradbury Dam on Cachuma Lake in 1953. Prior to construction, there were about 20,000 adult fish living in the Santa Ynez River, but with the dam limiting their ability to travel to and from the ocean, the population dropped to 100 adult fish by 1991, according to the State Water Resources Control Board.
“This river had about half of the steelhead trout in Southern California. That makes it a very important river,” said Brian Trautwein, environmental analyst and watershed program director with the Environmental Defense Center.
More recently, Trautwein said that since 2008 the highest number of trout identified in the river in any year was four.
Since the fish were declared endangered in 1997, numerous stakeholders have held hearings and discussions to identify measures to prevent the trout from going extinct, while not harming the rights of jurisdictions that rely on the water.
In 2000, the National Marine Fisheries Service issued a biological opinion calling for an increase of flows from the lake to the river, among other measures, to help the fish reach the ocean. Earlier this year, the state water board released a revised draft order building on this opinion and outlining additional changes to help the trout, said Michael Buckman, hearings unit chief with the water board’s division of water rights.
After releasing the order, the water board sourced public comments from various water users and stakeholders interested in the dam’s operations. Buckman said the water board could potentially vote on this order or review it during closed session in July.
While the proposed order is similar to the biological opinion, one key difference is the order calls for increased releases from the lake during years when the area receives additional rain. Buckman said the increase in flows during these years will provide more habitat for juvenile trout to complete their lifecycles.
“Basically, what’s happening now is there isn’t enough flow in the river at all times,” Buckman said. “That is leading to increased predation, that’s leading to the fish getting stranded … and generally leading to decreased survival rates for juvenile habitats that are in the river system downstream of Bradbury Dam.”
However, in its comment letter on the draft order dated May 28, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates Bradbury Dam, said increasing water released for fish changes the intended use of the dam. According to the letter, the dam was originally built to supply water for irrigation and municipal use for cities in south Santa Barbara County.
North County jurisdictions downstream from the dam also rely on the lake for their water supply. Occasional releases from the lake into the Santa Ynez River recharge groundwater basins that communities such as Lompoc rely on. The city is concerned that the increase of releases for fish could disrupt water releases for municipal usage.
“The city of Lompoc has concerns that the [revised draft order] fish releases may shift the timing of water releases to the Santa Ynez River in a manner that provides fewer replenishment and water quality benefits to the Lompoc Plain groundwater basin than [the biological opinion],” Lompoc public information officer Samantha Scroggin wrote in an email to the Sun.
In addition to the increased releases, the draft order calls for numerous studies to identify other ways to restore the steelhead population, Buckman said.
One of the primary studies would look for ways to allow the trout to bypass the dam to reach habitat upstream better suited for rearing and spawning, which Trautwein said the EDC has advocated for and believes would help restore the population.
“We need to get some fish [upstream] into the [Los Padres] National Forest, where the creeks flow year round,” Trautwein said.
According to the draft order, the Bureau of Reclamation would be in charge of carrying out this study. However, in its comment letter, the federal agency said that it can only do so if directed by Congress.
“We are not aware of any legal precedent which allows the state board to reauthorize federal reclamation projects or studies through water right terms and conditions which supersede the normal processes under the federal reclamation laws,” the letter states.
Lompoc and the Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District also expressed concerns over future studies in their comment letters to the revised draft order. In its letter, the conservation district stated that if additional studies to benefit the trout are completed, the water board should also commission studies that evaluate any impacts to water users downstream from the dam.
“Such reciprocity is consistent with the twin objectives of the proposed project and revised draft order, that is to protect both public trust values and downstream water rights,” the conservation district’s letter states.
Staff Writer Zac Ezzone can be reached at zezzone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 13-20, 2019.
