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Topic: North Coast Rivers

Overview April 24, 2014

North Coast Rivers

Eel RiverThe Klamath, Trinity, Eel, Russian and Smith rivers are the major northern streams that drain this sparsely populated, forested coastal area that stretches from San Francisco to the Oregon border. These rivers and their tributaries flow west to the Pacific Ocean and account for about 40 percent of the state’s total runoff.

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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 Wild Rivers Outpost

Tar is still leaking into the Smith River after last month’s suspected DUI crash, officials confirm

Gobs of oily tar continue to slip past containment booms and drain into the Smith River, nearly a month after an overturned trailer spilled 2,000 gallons of the hot asphalt binder onto U.S. 199 between Hiouchi and Gasquet. Spokesperson Eric Laughlin with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response confirmed with the Outpost that the toxic goop is actively leaking into the Smith River, and that the agency received new reports of the material traveling downstream on Friday.

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 Mercury News

North Coast trail plan complicated by US rail ruling

A ruling by federal regulators has put a damper on plans to turn 300 miles of rail line from Humboldt County to Marin County into the Great Redwood Trail. The Surface Transportation Board issued a decision Tuesday that it will not prioritize trail use … Maintaining the rail line along the Eel River is financially infeasible because of landslides and other risks, but the North Coast Railroad Co. wants to take over that portion of the line. … U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman and state Sen. Mike McGuire … issued statements saying they weren’t surprised by the decision, but that they are taking steps to ensure the “toxic coal train” doesn’t become a reality on the North Coast.

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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 The Washington Post

High winds, heat boost fire threat as California faces long season

Fire danger is on the rise in California, as warm, dry and windy weather heralds a potentially long and difficult season. For several consecutive years, increasingly extreme, climate-change fueled wildfires have devastated parts of the state. The area of greatest concern late this week is in Northern California, where strong northerly winds will combine with dry vegetation in the Sacramento Valley…. The risk of fast-spreading blazes may ease this weekend, but officials have expressed serious concerns about the months ahead as the entirety of California contends with a historically severe drought that has turned many areas into a tinderbox.

Related articles: 

  • Courthouse News Service: Heat, winds stoke fears of wildfire in Northern California
  • San Francisco Chronicle: Parts of the Bay Area will be under a red flag warning starting Thursday, signaling a critical wildfire threat
  • KRON4-San Francisco: Wildfire season is on the way, says Santa Rosa Fire Dept.
  • Sonora Union Democrat: Forecasters issue red flag warning for western Tuolumne County
  • Klamath Falls Herald & News: Private forestland deal wins acclaim, though doubts remain
  • ESRI: Tribe maps where to burn to restore Northern California forest to balance
  • Arizona Republic: Forests often regenerate after wildfires. Why the climate crisis could change that
  • World Economic Forum: US wildfires threaten nearly 80 million properties as climate risks grow
  • Scientific American: If Sea Ice Melts in the Arctic, Do Trees Burn in California?
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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 Ukiah Daily Journal

Mendocino County mulling sales tax to fund water projects, fire services

Despite two board members expressing doubts that a new spending measure would be approved by voters, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward with a possible sales tax ordinance to fund projects protecting local water supply and boosting local fire services.

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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

Scientists have just learned an amazing new fact about California redwood trees

California’s towering redwoods have been around for thousands of years, but the trees are still yielding some surprises about what makes them so resilient. UC Davis scientists recently discovered that redwoods have two different types of leaves … The trees’ peripheral leaves, like those on most trees, are food producers that convert sunlight into sugar through photosynthesis. But the axial leaves serve an entirely different role, researchers found — absorbing water. … [T]he study is further evidence of the big trees’ ability to adapt to environmental changes — including drought.

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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 KUOW - Seattle

Seattle fish research could shake up global tire industry

Research in Seattle-area creeks has discovered tire bits shedding lethal amounts of a little-known, salmon-killing chemical called 6PPD-quinone. … In December 2020, 27 coauthors published an article in the journal Science identifying 6PPD-quinone as the coho killer. Within weeks, the U.S Tire Manufacturers Association asked California officials to treat tires with 6PPD as a priority under the state’s toxic-chemical laws. Coho salmon is an endangered species in California. The California rule, once finalized, would give manufacturers of tires sold there 180 days to assess any known or potential alternatives to 6PPD in tire rubber.

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Aquafornia news May 2, 2022 Eureka Times-Standard

McLean grants benefit Eel River watershed

Local watersheds in the Eel River Valley and Southern Humboldt County will benefit from five grants recently awarded by the McLean Foundation. Grant recipients are the Eel River Recovery Project and Friends of the Van Duzen, the Salmonid Restoration Federation, Mattole Restoration Council, Friends of the Eel River, and Friends of the Lost Coast. 

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Aquafornia news May 2, 2022 SF Gate

Truck driver dumped 2,000 gallons of ‘asphalt binder’ in California forest, CHP says

A truck driver who law enforcement believes was driving under the influence dumped 2,000 gallons of “hot asphalt binder” in a California forest this week. … Officials from Six Rivers National Forest said the trailer contained 2,000 gallons of “hot asphalt binder,” which began seeping into the Smith River. … A quick response by forest workers, Caltrans, Del Norte County Office of Emergency Services and other agencies minimized the spread of the chemicals. They believe there are no impacts to water quality.

Related article:

  • Associated Press: Truck crash spills hot ‘asphalt binder’ in California forest
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Aquafornia news April 29, 2022 Eureka Times-Standard

Continuing drought is bad news for upcoming fire season

This year has started off as the driest in recorded memory across most of Northern California, including Humboldt County. That spells bad news for water availability and the upcoming fire season. The Eureka area has only accumulated 8 inches of precipitation since the beginning of the year; the area has usually accumulated 21 inches by this point in the year. The last time the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recorded precipitation levels that low in Eureka it was 1923.

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Aquafornia news April 29, 2022 High Country News

Siskiyou County’s sheriff is suddenly interested in policing ‘environmental crimes‘ (The rise of the nature cop)

Last summer, Siskiyou County’s recently appointed sheriff, Jeremiah LaRue, released a video on YouTube to explain two controversial new county groundwater laws. The drought was severe that year, he said, and the “wasteful extraction” of water for illegal cannabis cultivation was making it worse. … The environmentalist rhetoric and talk of water policy signaled a shift in how LaRue’s department policed the illicit cannabis industry. 

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Aquafornia news April 25, 2022 Redheaded Blackbelt

Blog: ‘Everyone knew it was coming’: Eel River waters continue to be diverted as PG&E granted annual license for the Potter Valley Project

No one was surprised by Thursday’s letter granting PG&E an annual license to run the Potter Valley Project until April of next year. And, while a last-minute mystery application did provide a few moments of titillating speculation, the enigmatic Antonio Manfredini failed to generate any real suspense. The 50-year license to operate the Potter Valley Project, which diverts water from the Eel River into the east branch of the Russian River to Lake Mendocino by way of a tunnel, a pair of dams and reservoirs, and a small hydropower plant, expired on April 14.

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Aquafornia news April 25, 2022 Mashed

The truth about salmon-safe alcohol

Northern California farmers use pumped river water during freezing spring nights to coat the growing grapes with a protective layer of ice, and without this protection there could be significant losses to crops. That water, however, comes from the homes of the hook-mouthed coho salmon and the threatened steelhead trout. Once plentiful, the coho salmon is now a protected species under threat (via NOAA Fisheries). Salmon-Safe seeks to protect important species in California and beyond, while still supporting the many brewery and winery industries that need water to thrive.

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Aquafornia news April 22, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

California’s radical plan to defend homes from sea level rise: move them

As Gleason Beach’s last homes cling to the edge of the bluff, Highway 1 itself is threatened at several other points along Sonoma County’s 55-mile coastline. Now, after decades of studies and debates, Gleason Beach has become the guinea pig for California’s foray into a bold and controversial strategy: to remove buildings and infrastructure from the coast and relocate them farther inland. The $26 million project, headed by Caltrans, involves moving nearly a mile of roadway several hundred feet inland and erecting a new, 850-foot concrete bridge.

Related articles:

  • Knee Deep Times: Retreat by any other name
  • ABC 10 San Diego: Climate Change brings the more droughts, more floods and sea-level rise to San Diego
  • KPBS: Southern California wetlands may help slow climate change
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Aquafornia news April 21, 2022 North Coast Journal

Spring rains a bonus for North Coast rivers

With very little rain falling throughout our region from January to March, most of us were already preparing for summer. However, the April showers hitting the coast are providing a second winter. These rains will definitely impact the health of future salmon and steelhead runs, which will likely be stronger a few years down the road because of it.

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Aquafornia news April 21, 2022 Bay Nature

The lamprey, an amazing fish that needs a makeover

To its side is the oldest fish counting station in California, the Van Arsdale Fisheries Station, run by the California Department of Fish and Game since 1922. The station overlooks a fish ladder, built as part of the agreement to allow construction of the Scott Dam, which allows fish like salmon and trout to travel upriver to spawn. Unfortunately, from the beginning it also overlooked, and not in the scenic way, the needs of the lamprey, a much-maligned fish that also needs access to the Eel’s headwaters and unlike its salmonid cousins can’t swim up a ladder.

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Aquafornia news April 20, 2022 Jefferson Public Radio

Environmental groups intend to sue PG&E over Potter Valley Project

The 100-year-old Potter Valley Project consists of two dams along Northern California’s Eel River. The upstream Scott Dam blocks salmon and steelhead from reaching prime spawning grounds, according to Alicia Hamann, the director of Friends of Eel River. Both fish are threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Friends of the Eel River are one of a handful of environmental groups planning to sue PG&E to seek protections for these dwindling fish populations.

Related article:

  • Redheaded Blackbelt: An expired license, a mysterious applicant, and a threat to sue: what else can we expect as the fight to control the waters of the Eel River continues?
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news April 19, 2022 Press Democrat

Fishery groups plan to sue PG&E over Potter Valley plant and related Scott, Cape Horn dams

A coalition of fishery groups has formally notified PG&E that it plans to file suit under the Endangered Species Act, alleging the continued injury to once abundant federally protected salmon and steelhead trout as a result of operations at the utility’s aging Potter Valley powerhouse. The legal maneuver is part of an effort to expedite removal of Scott and Cape Horn dams, which pose a threat to vulnerable fish species in the Eel River and block access to hundreds of miles of prime habitat upstream.

Related article: 

  • California Trout News Release: Eel River Dams & Notice Of Intent To Sue  
  • Read more
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Western Water October 24, 2019 California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Understanding Streamflow Is Vital to Water Management in California, But Gaps In Data Exist
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: A new law aims to reactivate dormant stream gauges to aid in flood protection, water forecasting

Stream gauges gather important metrics such as  depth, flow (described as cubic feet per second) and temperature.  This gauge near downtown Sacramento measures water depth.California is chock full of rivers and creeks, yet the state’s network of stream gauges has significant gaps that limit real-time tracking of how much water is flowing downstream, information that is vital for flood protection, forecasting water supplies and knowing what the future might bring.

That network of stream gauges got a big boost Sept. 30 with the signing of SB 19. Authored by Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa), the law requires the state to develop a stream gauge deployment plan, focusing on reactivating existing gauges that have been offline for lack of funding and other reasons. Nearly half of California’s stream gauges are dormant.

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Aquapedia background September 1, 2016

Eel River

Eel River in Northern CaliforniaThe Eel River flows from the Mendocino National Forest to the coast a few miles south of Eureka, traversing a topographically diverse area of mountains, canyons and redwood forests in Northern California. Including its tributaries, it drains more than 3,500 square miles and is the state’s third largest watershed.

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Video May 27, 2014

The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages (60 min. DVD)

For over a century, the Klamath River Basin along the Oregon and California border has faced complex water management disputes. As relayed in this 2012, 60-minute public television documentary narrated by actress Frances Fisher, the water interests range from the Tribes near the river, to energy producer PacifiCorp, farmers, municipalities, commercial fishermen, environmentalists – all bearing legitimate arguments for how to manage the water. After years of fighting, a groundbreaking compromise may soon settle the battles with two epic agreements that hold the promise of peace and fish for the watershed. View an excerpt from the documentary here.

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Video May 27, 2014

A Climate of Change: Water Adaptation Strategies

This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an excellent overview of climate change and how it is already affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are underway to plan and adapt to climate.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

California Water Map, Spanish

Spanish language version of our California Water Map

Versión en español de nuestro mapa de agua de California

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Maps & Posters April 17, 2014 California Water Bundle

California Water Map
Updated December 2016

A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect gift for the water wonk in your life.

Our 24×36 inch California Water Map is widely known for being the definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts – including federally, state and locally funded projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects, wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado River.

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