CALIFORNIA SPORTFISHING PROTECTION ALLIANCE
P.O. BOX 357
QUINCY, CALIFORNIA 95971
Edward Anton, Chief November 8, 1996
Division of Water Rights
State Water Resources Control Board
P.O. Box 2000
Sacramento, CA 95812-2000
Re: Water Right Application 30261; Carlene Kent Shade, Applicant; Pescadero Creek; Response by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance to Letter of October 25, 1996 by Stanley Skeehan, Agent, for Applicant
Dear Mr. Anton:
We received and reviewed a letter of October 25, 1996, from the applicant's agent to the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance regarding Water Right Application 30261. Please see attachment.
We received from the applicant's agent, and we have reviewed, a copy of a protest filed by the California Department of Fish and Game against Water Right Application 30261. The protest is dated August 8, 1996. Please see attachment.
We received from the applicant's agent, and we have reviewed, a copy of a letter from the applicant to the CDFG, dated October 13, 1996. Please see attachment.
In the letter of October 25, 1996, the applicant's agent made the statement that it is assumed if the CDFG protest is accepted by the applicant, that would meet the CSPA conditions for dismissal of the protest.
This is to advise your staff as well the applicant and the applicant's agent, that the CSPA will not dismiss its protest based on the assumptions made by the applicant's agent.
The processing of water right application 30261 has just commenced. The applicant has agreed to funding the instreamflow studies provided the studies do not cost a lot of money.
There are a host of issues which need to be studied before the CSPA dismisses its protest as follows:
1. Instreamflow studies are very important to determine the daily amount of water needed to protect steelhead trout and their habitat in Pescadero Creek, including other public trust resources.
2. There are a number of water right applications pending before the SWRCB to store, divert, and use the waters of Pescadero Creek. Application 30261 in conjunction with other pending water right applications will have a cumulative effect to the amount of water available for appropriation in Pescadero Creek. Application 30261 and other water right applications will have a cumulative effect to the amount of water necessary to keep the steelhead and their habitat in good condition in the watershed.
3. The staff of the Division of Water Rights should prepare a water availability analysis to determine the amount of water available for appropriations, and the season of appropriation, in the Pescadero Creek Watershed, to determine whether water is available for appropriation in the watershed for water right application 30261.
4. In conjunction with the recommended water availability analysis and the proposed instreamflow studies, the Division will then know the amount of water needed to keep the steelhead in good condition in the Pescadero Creek watershed, including the amount of water available for appropriations.
5. In conjunction with the water availability analysis and the proposed instreamflow study, the Division will need to prepare a CEQA document. That CEQA document should disclose, evaluate, and mitigate all potential cumulative impacts to the steelhead and other public trust resources in the Pescadero Creek Watershed as a result of water right application 30261 and other pending water right applications.
6. It is early in the process. Consequently, it would be unreasonable for the CSPA to dismiss its protest at this time without having the opportunity to review the water availability analysis; review the instreamflow studies; and review the CEQA document for the proposed project.
7. Steelhead trout are being proposed for listing under the protection of the federal ESA by the USNMFS. The USNMFS is proposing to list steelhead in the Pescadero Creek Watershed area of California as endangered. In the event steelhead are listed, a recovery plan will be developed by the USNMFS, which should include the Pescadero Creek Watershed.
We believe that the SWRCB should hold in abeyance all pending water right applications on streams in California which sustain steelhead, which includes water right application 30261.
8. Pescadero Creek also sustain coho salmon which have been recently listed as threatened under the protection of the federal ESA by the USNMFS. We believe the SWRCB should hold in abeyance all water right applications on streams which sustain coho salmon, which includes water right application 30261, until a recovery plan is recommended by the USNMFS and implemented.
Please be advised that the CSPA will not dismiss its protest against water right application 30261.
Respectfully Submitted
__________________________________________
Robert J. Baiocchi, Consultant
For: California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
P.O. Box 357
Quincy, CA 95971
Bus Tel: 916-836-1115 or 916-283-1007; Fax: 916-283-5017 or 916-283-4999
cc: Stanley Skeehan, Agent
Water Rights Consultant
For: Carlene Kent Shade, Applicant
210 16th Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
Mike Sherwood, Esquire
Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund
180 Montgomery Street, Suite 1400
San Francisco, CA 94104
Jim Crenshaw, President
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
1248 East Oak Avenue, Suite D
Woodland, CA 95695
Jim Lecky, Chief
Protected Species
Management Division
U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service
501 West Ocean Blvd, Suite 130
Long Beach, CA 90802-4213
John Turner, Chief
Jerry Mensch, Water Rights
Environmental Services
Department of Fish and Game
1416 Ninth Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Terry Snider
Division of Water Rights
P.O, Box 2000
Sacramento, CA 95812-2000
Interested Parties
Attachments: To all parties