Streamkeeper’s Blog – November 2016
Streamkeeper’s Blog – November 2016
Reaching Milestones
A word from CalTrout’s ED, Curtis Knight
Success. It defines 2016 for CalTrout. We met significant milestones this year—restoring Sierra meadows, revitalizing Hat Creek, and scaling up our successful proof of concept to grow fish in rice fields in the Central Valley.
And in 2016, it was settled. The Klamath dams are coming out in 2020. Success. I often think about the diverse groups involved with this effort—the Native American tribes, the commercial fishermen, the agencies, the conservation groups, all dedicated people who believed we could make this happen.
Personally, it’s a milestone. My first Klamath dams meeting was in January of 2001, my eldest daughter was not yet a month old. Today she is a sophomore in high school, a reminder of the long-term commitment needed, by so many, to accomplish big things.
Opportunity. This defines our thinking always, seeking out the next big thing. As we highlight below, dams have a tremendous impact on California’s rivers and fish. But we see opportunity to better manage, modify and in some cases remove obsolete dams.
The Matilija Dam on the Ventura River is a great example of a deadbeat dam that needs to be removed. We are fully engaged with the Surfrider Foundation and Patagonia as part of the Matilija Coalition to get this dam and and let Southern steelhead again access the upper reaches of the Ventura River.
On the Eel River we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to achieve historic fish abundance. Our Headwaters-to-the-Sea approach is high gear, including our focus on the Potter Valley project—two dams on the Eel River that have no fish passage and divert water out of the basin.
These projects will take years; my daughter will be in college when the Klamath dams crumble. With your support, CalTrout will be there, creating lasting impact benefiting fish and people.
For the fish,
