Wednesday June 21, 2023
Eureka Times-Standard —
On Monday, the California State Water Resources Control Board scheduled a public hearing to consider setting minimum water flows for Scott River, a Klamath River tributary in Siskiyou County.
The groups that petitioned the board last month, including the Karuk Tribe and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, say that setting minimum flows in the Scott River is critical for restoring the state’s salmon fishery.
California’s salmon fishery was closed this year after abysmally low counts of juvenile salmon. Most of the coho salmon left in the Klamath use the Scott River at some point in their life cycle, said Craig Tucker, a natural resource consultant for the Karuk Tribe.
“The physical characteristics of the Scott are such that coho salmon love this place. It’s a low gradient meandering stream, fed by a lot of groundwater,” he said.
The coho salmon are listed under the Endangered Species Act and salmon along with other threatened native fish use the river to spawn.