Fall 2009 Fisheries Newsletter, Kings River Conservation District Newsletter

8/2/2019 Fall 2009 Fisheries Newsletter, Kings River Conservation District Newsletter

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Enhancing the rivertogether

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With the Kings River flowing as a backdrop, the Kings River Fisheries Management Programextension agreement is signed on June 26, 2009, by (from left) California Department of Fish

and Game Regional Manager Jeff Single, Kings River Water Association Chairman NormanWaldner and Kings River Conservation District President Mark McKean.

A New Decade For Fisheries ProgramExtension Signed During 10-Year Anniversary Ceremony

A model consensus-based KingsRiver environmental program hasentered into its second decadewith the enthusiastic support of itspartnering agencies and membersof the public.

This past summers agreement,

signed June 26 with the KingsRiver and its fishery as a beautifulbackdrop, extends the Kings RiverFisheries Management Programsfinancial commitments another 10years. The remaining componentsof the existing agreement remainunchanged.

Signatures by representativesof the Kings River ConservationDistrict (KRCD), Kings RiverWater Association (KRWA), and

California Department of Fish andGame (CDFG) were a highlight of aceremony, held in Fresno CountysAvocado Lake State Park, thatcommemorated the programs 10thanniversary.

Signing the agreement wereKRWA Chairman NormanWaldner, KRCD President MarkMcKean and CDFG RegionalManager Jeff Single.

The programs renewalrepresents a partnership built ontrust and a common theme ofprotecting the river and preservingits beneficial uses, said DavidOrth, KRCD General Managerand a member of the ExecutivePolicy Committee. It took timeto build positive relationships andovercome differences that onceexisted between anglers and thewater community.

Orth said that the programsagreement, rooted in compromise,provided the framework neededto create a partnership that hasstrengthened over the programsfirst 10 years. Cooperation andconsensus have been demonstratedto be a successful model for resourcemanagement, he said. The programsExecutive Policy Committee,

Technical Steering Committee andPublic Advisory Group have workedtogether in setting objectives,gathering data, gaining knowledge,and getting things done.

There was no hesitation amongthe partnering agencies in renewingthe agreement for another decade.

Kings River Watermaster SteveHaugen, the programs Executive

Officer, pointed out that the 2KRWA member units voluntaricontributed water and 12 percent their total storage capacity to creaa Pine Flat Reservoir temperaturcontrol pool of 100,000 acre-feet andoubled minimum flows releaseinto the river from the dam.

And KRWA has worke

hard with all of our partners ansupporters to provide low-flotemperature management that hhelped trout through late-seasohot weather events in more thanfew of these past 10 years, Haugesaid.

KRWA and KRCD have annualcontributed a total of $100,000

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Fisheries News Fall 2009


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Fisheries Program Renewed, continuedAbout the ProgramSince it was enacted on May

28, 1999, the unique Kings RiverFisheries Management Program(Program) has resulted in manyvaried activities aimed at improv-ing habitat in the river as well asin Pine Flat Reservoir.

The program came about inthe wake of a 1991 public trustcomplaint that was filed by anumber offishing and environ-mental organizations and soughtto impose a reservoir minimumpool and much-increased mini-mum fishery releases.

After lengthy and complexnegotiations, a number of agree-ments were enacted in 1999 toestablish the Program and adjust

Kings River operations accord-ingly. Keys to the rivers commit-ment to the Program included:

Enhanced Flows

KRWA members provide en-hanced minimum flows of at least100 cubic feet per second (c.f.s.),twice that required under theprevious agreement in most yearsas well as more limited flows intothe Lower Kings River. In above

average years, minimumfl

ows in-crease to 250 c.f.s. Parties agreedto avoid unacceptable impacts tobeneficial water uses or users.

Stream Temperatures

KRWA and KRCD agreed touse good faith efforts to maintainwater temperatures suitable fortrout between Pine Flat Dam andFresno Weir, nine miles down-stream. This has been done suc-cessfully with the cooperation

of the U.S. Army Corps of Engi-neers, often under drought andhigh air temperature conditions,with strategies devised to pre-serve cold water in the reservoirfor release when needed mostto protect the downstream troutfishery.

million in all over the programsfirst 10 years and will continue thatlevel of support under the newagreement.

The CDFG, which relies on thestate budget, has contributed a totalof $700,000 during the past decade

and plans to continue itsfi

nancialsupport of program projects andactivities in the future as statefunding is available.

Any day that we Californianscontribute to improving fisheryresources is a good day, saidSingle, a member of the programsExecutive Policy Committee.

And thanks to the Kings RiverFisheries Management Program, thecare and concern for this beautiful

and important river has never beengreater.

Single said that it is exciting tobe part of an established programwith such innovative and flexiblestrategies that have broughttogether Kings River water usersand their organizations, anglers,state agencies, and others who careabout the river. How wonderful tobe surrounded by people from suchvaried perspectives who recognized

that collaboration rather thanconflict would benefit everyone.

The programs master ofceremonies, KRCD-KRWA PublicInformation Consultant J. RandallMcFarland, noted the ceremonyseuphoric mood was considerably

different than when the originalagreement was signed on May 28,1999. We all knew then it was ahistoric achievement but I recallthere being an air of uncertaintyin that room, over what thisprogram was going to mean andwhat it would do, and among theparties and the angling publicthemselves.

That soon changed becauseall concerned worked with greatdetermination and a tremendousamount of effort to make theprogram succeed. And we haveseen, with great satisfaction,what collaboration, consensus,and cooperation can do.

Doing the complex scientificplanning and analysis that is behindevery decision, project and activityundertaken by our programsExecutive Policy Committee is atalented and committed TechnicalSteering Committee made up of

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With flows low, a few of the thousands of boulders placed within the channel bythe Kings River Fisheries Management Program can be seen. The boulders provide

shelter for trout when the river is running higher, enhancing the fishery habitat.


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staff representatives from eachpartnering agency, Haugen said.

And right there activelyhelping us are the most eagerand dedicated anglers youll findanywhere in California, he added.They include not just the hard-working and imaginative membersof the programs Public Advisory

Group but many others whoeagerly volunteer to help advancethe program, and the fishery, in somany encouraging ways.

Hank Urbach, who chairs theKings River Fisheries Management

Programs Public Advisory Group,speaks during Junes anniversaryand agreement renewal ceremony.

About the Program, continuedTemperature Control Pool

KRWA member units modified operations to main-tain Pine Flat Reservoir storage of not less than 100,000acre-feet, subject to conditions beyond reasonable con-trol of the KRWA and its members. This has helped

maintain a pool of colder water. KRWA member unitsvoluntarily made available some 12 percent of theirstorage rights.

Over the past decade, the program has also estab-lished an extensive planning, data collection, moni-toring and scientific analysis process. That has led tonumerous habitat improvements, including placementof boulders, spawning gravel and shoreline coves andjetties, and other channel improvements.

Broadened scientific study lies ahead, as doesstepped-up monitoring and data collection, the goal ofwhich is to build Kings River habitat understandingwhile refining Program management objectives.

A few of the possible projects under considerationinclude a water pump-back facility to move water fromthe river at Fresno Weir to the Gould Canal, headworksof which are more than a mile up the river, in orderto increase riverflows for a longer distance; a secondlarger recirculation, also to increase riverflows for alonger distance downstream; and a variety of furtherchannel habitat improvements, including placement ofwoody debris.

The program is examining how to gain betterfish-ing conditions and improved public understanding.

Hank Urbach, who chairs thePublic Advisory Group, in hisremarks expressed appreciation feltby anglers for the efforts put forthby the programs partners.

The program has also benefittedgreatly from ever-growing technicalexpertise among the staffs of KRCD,CDFG and KRWA.

The U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers, which operates Pine Flat

Dam, has also helped the programwith many reservoir projectsand temperature managementoperations.

And we have had the assistanceand courtesy of so many propertyowners along the river whohave been so kind, for so long, ingranting the access we need for

studies, monitoring and channelimprovements, Haugen said.

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Mechanical activities on the Kings River channel have been frequently seen duringhabitat improvement work undertaken over the past several years as equipment

is used to spread tons of spawning gravel, rip the channel bed, and place boulders.


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Documents

Fall 2009 Fisheries Newsletter, Kings River Conservation District Newsletter