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California Department of Fish and Game Issues Final Environmental Impact Report for Incidental Take Permits for Scott and Shasta Rivers
CDFG issued the final EIR for incidental take permit (ITP) for agricultural activities in the Shasta and Scott River basins for coho salmon under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) on September 21, 2009. Member tribes of the Work Group have expressed strong reservations about both ITPs (see linked documents below). The local agricultural interest groups that would be ITP permittees would be vested with enforcement authority for CDFG Codes, including Section 5937 that requires that flows be left in streams. Instead of improving enforcement to provide water for coho, CDFG will sanction these illegal practices. Coho salmon are currently in “jeopardy” status under CESA guidelines in both the Shasta and Scott River basins and the actions taken under the ITPs are not sufficient to reverse their decline. Consequently, the ITPs do not meet CESA guidelines and should be opposed.
The CDFG ITPs are also scientifically deficient. The Department failed to obtain and analyze water quality data indicative of suitability for coho salmon. They use summary data from agricultural interest groups that lack scientific rigor and there is no trend monitoring required to track whether future habitat conditions will once again meet coho salmon requirements.
Critiques of Shasta and Scott Draft ITPs by Quartz Valley Indian Community on behalf of Klamath Basin Tribal Water Quality Work Group:
Quartz Valley Indian Community. 2006. Scoping Comments on Shasta River Basin Agricultural Coho Salmon Incidental Take Permit. Submitted to CDFG, Region 1 by QVIR. ITP filed with CDFG. 20 p
Quartz Valley Indian Community. 2008. Comments on Draft Shasta River Basin Agricultural Coho Salmon Incidental Take Permit. Submitted to CDFG, Region 1 by QVIR. ITP filed with CDFG. 13 p.
Quartz Valley Indian Community. 2006. Scoping Comments on Scott River Basin Agricultural Coho Salmon Incidental Take Permit. Submitted to CDFG, Region 1 by QVIR. ITP filed with CDFG. 23 p
Quartz Valley Indian Community. 2008. Comments on Draft Scott River Basin Agricultural Coho Salmon Incidental Take Permit. Submitted to CDFG, Region 1 by QVIR. ITP filed with CDFG. 29 p.
To request a hard copy or a CD of the ITPs, contact:
Mr. Bob Williams
California Department of Fish and Game
601 Locust Street
Redding, CA96001
bwilliams@dfg.ca.gov
Submit your comments about the ITPs to:
Director Donald Koch
CA Department of Fish & Game
1416 Ninth Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-653-7667
Director@dfg.ca.gov
Summary of Issues - Shasta River Coho Salmon Incidental Take Permit (ITP) DEIR
- California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) should not issue an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) for Shasta River coho salmon because the actions under the permit are not sufficient to recover the species.
- The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) rejects Dwinnell Dam removal option when its operation is illegal under CDFG Code 5937 and removal is critical to coho salmon recovery and water pollution abatement.
- DEIR failure to address needs of steelhead and Chinook salmon in the DEIR and ITP implementation impacts fails California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements for analysis of cumulative effects.
- DEIR ignores epidemic problem in the Shasta River basin of non-enforcement of laws related to stream flow and water allocation by CDFG, State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Water Rights Division (WRD) and the Department of Water Resources (DWR).
- The ITP will not restore flows to streams that have been dried up illegally, reduce over-extraction of groundwater or increase flows in the lower Shasta River canyon to meet legal requirements and biological needs; therefore, coho will not be recovered.
- Lack of improvement of flows in the Shasta River and its tributaries means that recognized water temperature problems will not be resolved, and abatement of temperature pollution is critical to coho recovery.
- CEQA requirements compel CDFG to share all data from the existing DEIR and the Department needs to commit itself and the Shasta Valley RCD to full disclosure and public sharing of all data, including raw data.
- Decades of increasingly intensive agricultural activities in the Shasta River, including flow reductions, have caused increasing levels of “take” of coho salmon to the point that the species is at high risk of extinction, also known as Jeopardy under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).
- Current activities pose Jeopardy and changes in existing practices are not sufficient to prevent continuing loss of coho salmon and their habitat; therefore, ITP implementation would contribute to Jeopardy which makes it illegal under CESA and CEQA.
- CDFG Is wasting a huge amount of time and money on the Shasta and Scott River ITPs, which are driven by water extraction interests, and your Department’s resources should instead be channeled into enforcing existing laws and abating problems.
Summary of Issues - Scott River Coho Salmon Incidental Take Permit (ITP) DEIR
- California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) should not issue an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) for Scott River coho salmon because the actions under the permit are not sufficient to recover the species.
- The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) is strongly biased toward farm and ranch interests and is not scientifically justifiable; therefore, it does not meet California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements for use of “best science.”
- Failure to address needs of steelhead and Chinook salmon in the DEIR or ITP implementation impacts on them fails CEQA’s requirement for analysis of cumulative effects.
- DEIR ignores epidemic problem in the Scott River basin of non-enforcement of laws regarding stream flow and water allocation by CDFG, State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Water Rights Division (WRD) and the Department of Water Resources (DWR).
- The ITP will not restore flows to streams that have been dried up illegally, reduce over-extraction of groundwater or increase flows in the lower Scott River canyon to meet legal requirements; therefore, coho will not be recovered.
- Lack of improvement of flows in the Scott River and its tributaries means that recognized water temperature problems will not be resolved, and abatement of temperature pollution is critical to coho recovery.
- The ITP will pay water diverters through a Water Trust to keep flows in streams for coho salmon, when it is their legal requirement to do so under existing statutes. This is unnecessary and an unacceptable precedent.
- CEQA requirements compel CDFG to share all data from the existing DEIR and the Department needs to commit itself and the Siskiyou RCD to full disclosure and public sharing of all data, including raw data, in all processes.
- Continuance of extensive livestock grazing in riparian zones of high habitat potential coho salmon streams under the ITP is unacceptable.
- Decades of increasingly intensive agricultural activities in the Scott River, including flow reductions, have caused increasing levels of “take” of coho salmon to the point that the species is at high risk of extinction, also known as Jeopardy under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).
- Current activities pose Jeopardy and changes in existing practices are not sufficient to prevent continuing loss of coho salmon and their habitat; therefore, ITP implementation would contribute to Jeopardy which makes it illegal under CESA and CEQA.
