The Caddis Fly: Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

From WaterWatch (one of the most awesome conservation groups in Oregon):

This week, the Oregon Court of Appeals delivered a victory for Clackamas Riverc salmon and steelhead in an opinion determining that municipal water users must leave enough water in the Clackamas River for imperiled fish populations. The decision was also a win for WaterWatch of Oregon, the river conservation group which originally challenged a state decision to allow increased water diversions from the Clackamas despite the risks to struggling fish runs.

“This is a welcome decision for all those who value Oregon’s incredible rivers, salmon, and steelhead, and especially for those in the Portland metro area who regularly enjoy the Clackamas River,” said Lisa Brown, WaterWatch Staff Attorney.

The decision addresses the proper conditions needed on state-issued permits allowing withdrawals of 100 million gallons of water per day (150 cubic feet per second) from the lower Clackamas River. These permits are held by the City of Lake Oswego, the South Fork Water Board (which serves water to Oregon City and West Linn), and the North Clackamas County Water Commission (which serves areas including Damascus, Oak Lodge, Happy Valley and additional unincorporated areas of Clackamas County). The 100 million gallons of water per day at question would come on top of another 100 million gallons of water per day already allowed to be diverted from the lower Clackamas River for municipal uses. The Clackamas River flows into the Willamette River near Oregon City.

In 2008, WaterWatch filed protests against the orders issued by the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD), raising concerns that the fish protection conditions placed on the permits were inadequate. A 2005 state law requires undeveloped permits such as these be developed in a way that maintains the persistence of struggling fish populations listed under the state or federal Endangered Species Acts. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has identified five populations of fish in the lower Clackamas which qualify for such protections: cutthroat trout, winter steelhead, spring chinook, fall chinook, and coho salmon. Chum salmon would also qualify, but are considered extinct in the area.

The Court interpreted a law that many cities across Oregon are already successfully implementing. On rivers with imperiled fish, the law allows cities to meet their reasonable water needs and develop more water but in ways that allow imperiled fish to persist into the future. On the Clackamas, the cities argued that the law only required enough water to ensure that the listed fish species do not vanish altogether from the affected portion of the river. Thankfully, the court rejected this interpretation.

“There is plenty of water to go around in the Portland metro area without putting the Clackamas River and its fish at risk,” said John DeVoe, WaterWatch’s Executive Director. “For example, the Bull Run system is underutilized, and many other utilities are tapping into the Willamette River. The fact that the state allowed the Clackamas River—the Portland metro area’s backyard gem—to be put at risk when there are clearly other better solutions highlights the shortcomings of Oregon’s water planning requirements.”

Although the ODFW identified river flows needed for the fish, the Oregon Water Resources Department issued orders allowing the permits to be developed without protecting these streamflows.

“Even though the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife indicated that struggling fish would need 650 cubic feet per second of river flow in the summer, and 800 cfs in the fall for spawning salmon, OWRD’s permits set no limits on the new water diversions if river flows fell below these levels in the summer months, and inadequate controls during the rest of the year,” noted Brown.

The permits at issue tie up an amount of water clearly in excess of what the permit holders’ need, but under Oregon law this water can be sold to other municipalities. The City of Lake Oswego is doing just this, by allowing Tigard to use its water in exchange for Tigard footing a significant portion of the bill for Lake Oswego’s massive infrastructure upgrade currently under construction.

“The Clackamas may have the last run of self-sustaining wild coho salmon in the Columbia Basin,” said Lisa Brown, WaterWatch Staff Attorney. “We shouldn’t be sacrificing Clackamas fish populations when there are other, less risky options readily available.”

From The Redsides:

The January meeting has been moved up to TODAY!

Due to the conflict with the Ducks in the National Championship game on the 12th, we’re moving the meeting up to Monday, the 5th (That’s this Monday as in, two days from now).

We apologize for the change, but we don’t think many (if any) people will want to show up at the January TU meeting in the middle of the Ducks National Championship game.

The general meeting will be held at Izzy’s Pizza, 1930 Mohawk Boulevard in Springfield. at 7:00pm. The board meeting will follow at 9:15 or so.

We also decided that since some people have had trouble making the board meeting at 6:00, we would move the board meeting to after the general meeting.

So to review:

We have a new location at Izzy’s Pizza in Springfield
The meeting has been moved up to January 5th (day after tomorrow).
The board meeting will take place after the general meeting.

Again, we apologize for switching things around on you. Our goal is to settle on a location and meeting day and stick to it. We’ll make some time to hear from you at this meeting and in future meetings, so if you have any questions, suggestions, comments or you just like to hear yourself talk, come out and speak up.

The Redsides

From McKenzie River Trust: The Willamette Valley is peppered with old gravel pits, sites where the meandering river has deposited gravel for millennia. The Coburg Aggregate Reclamation Project (CARP) is one of the best opportunities in the region to restore one such site, enhancing its value for native fish and wildlife.

CARP’s location on Green Island amplifies the impact of restoration because the habitat enhancements lie within a 1,100-acre habitat conservation area. By re-establishing the natural river processes that once impacted this area, the McKenzie River Trust and our partners are creating areas that are much friendlier to native fish like Chinook salmon.

Fish and wildlife on the property

Waterfowl and fish are common in the CARP ponds. The species of native fish that have been found on the site are: largescale sucker, northern pikeminnow, prickly sculpin, peamouth, three-spine stickleback, Upper Willamette spring Chinook salmon, cutthroat trout, and pacific lamprey. Notable waterfowl are hooded merganser, wood duck, pied-billed grebe, great blue heron, and green heron. CARP is also home to western pond turtle, and red-legged frog, river otter, and beaver.
Gravel pit restoration

Beginning in 2010, the McKenzie River Trust worked with engineers from River Design Group to create a plan to restore the CARP site. Restoration will benefit native Willamette spring Chinook salmon and other species such as Oregon chub, waterfowl, herons, native frogs and turtles, river otter, and beaver.

Problem: The gravel pits were disconnected from the natural river floodplain. When high water comes up in the winter, the pits fill up like a bathtub. As the water drops, fish don’t get the signal that they need to get out of the pits, leaving them stranded. Although native fish can survive in the pits, they run the risk of being eaten by non-natives, such as large-mouth bass, who favor this warmer water.

Solution: Re-connect the pits to the backwater channel to provide entry points and exits for native fish. As river levels rise and drop, these new connection points will give native fish more opportunities for refuge and escape across the seasons.

Problem: The slopes of the pit walls are steep in a former gravel mine. These pond edges provide few places for native vegetation to take hold. There are also few hiding spots for young native fish looking for refuge from birds or bigger predator fish.

Solution: Use heavy construction equipment to re-grade the slopes to a more natural rise of one foot up for every ten feet out. Then, plant thousands of willows and other native trees and shrubs along the pond edges. As the plants grow up, they’ll offer fish plenty of places to hide from predators.

MRT is a fantastic organization. If you’re looking for year-end donations, please consider donating these folks.

President Obama took action to protect one of Alaska’s most powerful economic engines and one of America’s greatest national treasures: Bristol Bay.

He signed a Presidential Memorandum that withdraws these beautiful and pristine waters from all future oil and gas drilling. “These waters are too special and too valuable to auction off to the highest bidder,” the President said.

Great post here.

Check out this great video on the Calapooia Watershed Council by Freshwaters Illustrated.

Calapooia Watershed Portrait: Finding Natives from Freshwaters Illustrated on Vimeo.