Program to be operated by the Siskiyou RCD
June 19, 2006
ETNA — State and local wildlife officials dedicated a
series of 32 fish screens along the Scott River on Wednesday.
The Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB), California Department of Fish and
Game (DFG) and Siskiyou Resource Conservation District (SQRCD) held the
ceremony at at a diversion site along the river’s French Creek tributary
near Etna. The WCB funded the fish screen program, designed to protect the
threatened coho salmon with screens, head gates, diversion and riparian
improvements on the properties of 20 private landowners, through a $565,741
grant.
“This program will help solve the ongoing conflicts
between the needs of threatened and endangered species and the agricultural
needs of farmers and landowners,” said DFG Director Ryan Broddrick. “The
program’s objective to ensure protection of thousands of juvenile
anadromous fish each year succeeds through the efforts of several agencies
and the support of landowners who recognize the importance of such an
undertaking.”
The Scott River Fish Screening Program began in 2002 and supplements the
ongoing fish screening efforts of DFG and the SQRCD to protect salmon that
travel through the Klamath River basin. The program fulfills the mission of
both the SQRCD and the Scott River Watershed Council to improve anadromous
fish populations and habitat while maintaining existing resource economies.
The federal Natural Resource Conservation Service is also involved in the
program.
The Scott River Watershed is an 812-square mile drainage
in extreme northern California. The headwaters reach more than 8,000 feet in
elevation and stretches 70 stream miles to the Klamath River at an elevation
of 1,600 feet. The main stem of the Scott River begins at the southern end
of Scott Valley.
Designers of the self-cleaning fish screens ensured that they met
specifications developed by DFG and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. Contractors built screens along diversions on the Scott
River and tributaries to the Scott River that are accessible to chinook and
coho salmon, steelhead and native rainbow trout.
“Prior to the fish screen program, thousands of juvenile anadromous fish were routinely lost to the unscreened diversions. These screens prevent losses by keeping juvenile fish out of diversion ditches and returning them safely to the stream,” said SQRCD district manager Carolyn Pimentel. “With the tremendous help from the Wildlife Conservation Board, the SQRCD was able to make a significant contribution to the protection of anadromous fish in the Scott River watershed.”
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Source: http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/articles/2006/06/19/news/