Wednesday August 23, 2023
Eureka Times-Standard —
Last week, the state Water Board heard a petition to retain minimum water flows for the Scott River, a key Klamath tributary. The petition was brought by the Karuk Tribe, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and the Environmental Law Foundation. The board eventually directed staff to reinstate the emergency regulations for both the Scott and Shasta rivers, a major win for the petitioners who say flows must be maintained to protect endangered salmon. The board also directed staff to begin work on permanent regulation for flows in the Shasta and Scott rivers.
The meeting went late into the night and saw public commenters who traveled hours to Sacramento to speak.
“This is the first time that provision has been used to ask for a flow regulation, it’s really a result of nothing else working,” noted Craig Tucker, a natural resources consultant for the Karuk Tribe. He said that, in his mind, this is the best outcome of the petition.
The petition was filed in May and centered around an expected end to emergency drought minimums. The lapse began on Aug. 1, with water levels in both rivers dropping below these minimums since. In a presentation, water board staff noted that around Aug. 10, water levels on the Scott River dipped below the emergency drought minimums. On the Shasta River, flows immediately dropped below the minimum after the regulation expired.