A Karuk Tribe study of Scott Valley water says increased groundwater pumping is resulting in lower flows in the Scott River (which provides spawning habitat for Chinook salmon, endangered coho salmon, and steelhead), and will likely have implications regarding water management in the embattled, largely agricultural Scott Valley.
From the Siskiyou Daily News:
“The results show that as groundwater pumping has increased in Scott Valley over the years, stream flows have decreased,” a press release announcing the report’s completion stated.
“We believe that this will have a critical effect on all natural resources,” Karuk Chairman Buster Attebery said in the release.
The report is based on a study of data presently available in the public record, “including over 1,000 well logs, soil and geologic data, groundwater elevations, well tests, high-resolution land surface elevation data, crop and riparian vegetation mapping, climatological data and stream gage records,” the release stated.
As demands for environmental uses of water have increased, or to supplement reduced surface water deliveries during drought years, agricultural users have increasingly turned to pumping groundwater.
Several recent studies have shown that most of that pumping is not sustainable; water tables are falling fast in areas of the California’s Central Valley.
Now, according to the Karuk study, overpumping groundwater means lower flows in the Scott River and tributaries for salmon and steelhead.
The Karuk study was conducted in parallel with a Siskiyou County study in part because the Karuk tribe fears the county study would be based more on politics than science — a sign of the factionalization occurring in Siskiyou County.
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Peter Moyle is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Associate Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, at UC Davis. He is author or co-author of more than 240 publications, including the definitive Inland Fishes of California (2002). He is co-author of the 2017 book, Floodplains: Processes and Management for Ecosystem Services. His research interests include conservation of aquatic species, habitats, and ecosystems, including salmon; ecology of fishes of the San Francisco Estuary; ecology of California stream fishes; impact of introduced aquatic organisms; and use of floodplains by fish.
Robert Lusardi is the California Trout/UC Davis Wild and Coldwater Fish Researcher focused on establishing the basis for long-term science specific to California Trout’s wild and coldwater fish initiatives. His work bridges the widening gap between academic science and applied conservation policy, ensuring that rapidly developing science informs conservation projects throughout California. Dr. Lusardi resides at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and works closely with Dr. Peter Moyle on numerous projects to help inform California Trout conservation policy. His recent research interests include Coho salmon on the Shasta River, the ecology of volcanic spring-fed rivers, inland trout conservation and management, and policy implications of trap and haul programs for anadromous fishes in California.
Patrick Samuel is the Conservation Program Coordinator for California Trout, a position he has held for almost two years, where he coordinates special research projects for California Trout, including the State of the Salmonids report. Prior to joining CalTrout, he worked with the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum, a non-profit that supports the eight federal regional fishery management councils around the country. Patrick got his start in fisheries as an undergraduate intern with NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division in Sacramento, and in his first field job as a crew member of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Wild and Heritage Trout Program.